Avonia quinaria seedling

[harryharry]

Hello everyone! a few months ago i saw some Avonia quinaria seeds, and after some days one of them sprouted. Since my experience with this kind of plants is very limited and not knowing what to do, i thought it was a good idea to place it in a transparent box to keep it away from air drafts and to sustain some level of humidity. It's been there a few months now, and despite it's initial fast-ish growth, it remains as it is in the photo. Today i tried to straighten it up a little by poking it with a small stick, and it got out of the soil. No visible roots were there, but instead there was the pointed green edge of the plant. I placed it back in the soil, trying to put it a bit deeper than it was before. At this moment i have no clue what i am doing with it. Should i leave it in the box until i see some signs of new growth? Any ideas and guidance will be much appreciated! Thanks in advance and sorry for the wall of text!

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[Tom in Tucson]

It's been a few years since I grew these from seed, but if nobody else responds, I thought this response is better than nothing.

like all the other species of this genus, they typically germinate quickly. After a few days I removed them from a humid environment to avoid rot, like many other succulents from Africa. I remember that it took a month or two before any stem growth would start. I kept them in a shaded location during the time before the stem started to emerge from the succulent globe. I gradually moved them into a little more light as the stem elongated..

I assume that most members of this genus begin life under the surface of quartz crystals where the sunlight can be tempered while the roots develop.

I hope other forum members can elaborate further.

[harryharry]

It's been a few years since I grew these from seed, but if nobody else responds, I thought this response is better than nothing.

like all the other species of this genus, they typically germinate quickly. After a few days I removed them from a humid environment to avoid rot, like many other succulents from Africa. I remember that it took a month or two before any stem growth would start. I kept them in a shaded location during the time before the stem started to emerge from the succulent globe. I gradually moved them into a little more light as the stem elongated..

I assume that most members of this genus begin life under the surface of quartz crystals where the sunlight can be tempered while the roots develop.

I hope other forum members can elaborate further.

Thank you so much for your response! My plant is having direct morning sunlight in an indoors location, so maybe that is the reason for it's stunted growth then. I will move it somewhere away from direct light for now to see how it will do. I guess i can try removing the cover too and let it dry out a bit to see if that helps.

[C And D]

I had 1000s of Alstonia quinaria alstoni seeds the last couple years
so I threw a bunch into a seed bed to see what would happen
I had pretty good germination, but some died from being under watered early on
The ones that did make it are about 1/2" with a little bottom bulb and a white worm growing out of it

I had really good luck using covered pots
But had problems in the summer, they needed water all year long to make it through their first year

[harryharry]

I had 1000s of Alstonia quinaria alstoni seeds the last couple years
so I threw a bunch into a seed bed to see what would happen
I had pretty good germination, but some died from being under watered early on
The ones that did make it are about 1/2" with a little bottom bulb and a white worm growing out of it

I had really good luck using covered pots
But had problems in the summer, they needed water all year long to make it through their first year

Thank you for your input! Can you please share their sun / light exposure?

[C And D]

These seedlings (sowed in Oct. 2023) were raised on indoor lights
then put outside last month
Some smaller Anacampseros comptonii can be seen on the left

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These are growing in a coir/perlite seed bed outside under 40% shade cloth

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This same seed bed grew these Aloinopsis spathulata to this size in less than a year
Doing a little succulent harvesting from the garden

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