Aizoaceae from seed

Peatmoss

Carnivore
Hi All,

I've been on a bit of a succulent bender lately, and have started a couple of species from the Aizoaceae from seed. These are interesting plants to start because they germinate very quickly (I had one lithops germinate in less than 48 hours), and they put on an impressive initial growth spurt, before (I assume) slowing down. I've had much better luck starting them than cacti, which I mostly managed to germinate and then quickly turn to mush.

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Lithops dorotheae, sown on Feb 25th, 2020.

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Lithops bromfieldii, sown on Feb 25th, 2020.

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Titanopsis hugo-schlechteri, Sown Feb 25th, 2020.

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This is a very fresh (2 days from germination) seedling of Monilaria moniliformis, sown on March 16th, 2020.

All the seedlings were sown on an entirely inorganic media (aquarium sand, perlite, vermiculite, and a thin layer of silica sand on the surface) that were held in high humidity while sitting in trays of water until the last of the seeds had germinated, and then moved into ambient humidity and allowed to dry. I'm still new at growing these so I'm not sure this is the best way to do things, but I didn't have any issues with mould, compared to the cacti seeds I placed on a media with organic components which got mouldy and dead very quickly. The Lithops and Titanopsis seeds are from Valley Succulents and the Monilaria seeds are from UnusualSeeds.

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Can't resist adding a photo of a relatively recently acquired Lithops fulleri (I think this is actually considered a subspecies of Lithops julii) that's in the splitting stage. These plants are really neat, but they trouble the part of me that likes to keep my plants wet.

Cheers,

Gabe
 

Peatmoss

Carnivore
Here are some updates on these seedlings:

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Lithops dorotheae - just starting to come out with the second set of leaves. Some of the seedlings never really took, I suspect this is partly due to allowing the seedlings to dry out too early, and never giving the later germinating seeds a chance to "catch up".

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Lithops bromfieldii - these are also on the second set of leaves, and are looking properly like Lithops now.
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Titanopsis h-s is working on a third set of leaves. This is a really neat looking plant.
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The Monilaria has grown into this interesting looking thing and has done absolutely nothing for about three months now. I keep expecting it to turn to mush. I'd imagine there's a temperature or lighting queue that I need to hit for it to go into dormancy or resume growth.

Unrelated to the topic of this thread, but here are some seedling cacti now that I've finally figured out how to keep them from turning to mush:
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Frailea pygmaea
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Lophophora williamsii
 

pitcherperfect

Carnivorous Plant Addict
Any tips on germinating lophs and keeping them from rotting while they are young and delicate?
What soil mix do you use? And when should I stop keeping them constantly moist?
Or if you have any other secret tips, im all ears!
I have a bunch of seeds on their way
 

Peatmoss

Carnivore
This is my first time growing Lophs from seed, and I'm quite new to the cactus growing game, but the soil mix is a ratio of 2:2:2:1 sand, perlite, peat, and black earth. Prior to sowing the seeds I soak the soil with boiling water to sterilize it (I've lost a lot of cactus seedlings to mould and damp off) and ideally would like to spray the soil and seeds with something like 3% hydrogen peroxide, but I've been unable to find it in drugstores lately. After I get the soil nice and damp they go into a wooden box with glass top that I built that provides high humidity and good drainage (it doesn't have a solid bottom so excess water drains out, and there's lots of airflow), so they don't sit in water and stay wet, basically I'm letting them gradually dry out and only adding more water when they get close (ish) to drying. I don't think it's a perfect system and I'm probably not getting optimal growth but it is working far far better than previous attempts. It seems (again, I'm relatively inexperienced) that the important thing is to have them be moist, but not wet, beyond that I'm still figuring things out!
 

pitcherperfect

Carnivorous Plant Addict
Thatll give me a good starting point anyway. Thanks :)
I dont know where to get "black earth" but i could probably substitute in worm castings or sea soil hey?
 

Peatmoss

Carnivore
Thatll give me a good starting point anyway. Thanks :)
I dont know where to get "black earth" but i could probably substitute in worm castings or sea soil hey?
Yeah I think any high organic content soil would do - I don't think it's entirely necessary to have that component, but I figured why not put something that contains some nutrients in there.
 
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