supergodzilla seed growing

[bartab]

I received some E. abdita seeds from Succseed not very long ago and just got around to putting them up about 10 days ago. Checked last night and saw a good percentage of them coming up. I will get a photo of them this weekend. I am sorry that I am not as formal and couldn't even tell you how many I planted, probably around 10. My catalog number for the abdita seeds was 9344. I will tell you one thing. My thermostat came out from between the mat and the dish, creating a really, really warm environment. Was like that for a couple of days anyway. Planted the same number of Echinomastus unguispinus at the same time and I see none of those as of last night.

[bartab]

E. abdita planted on 1/5/20.

[supergodzilla]

Yes, I’ve had 2/5 E. seeds germinate so far.

[supergodzilla]

Newly sown seeds are doing well, but while I give them some time to grow, I thought it would be interesting to revisit some of the succulent seeds I sowed quite ambitiously in the cool days of winter. For today: three Pachypodium, two Euphorbia and two Dorstenia. I've never grown any of these genera from seed before, much less on a heat mat under lights, so every step of the way has been purely experimental. Let's get into it.

Firstly - Pachypodium namaquanum. Winter growers; all the literature suggests sowing these in summer so that they get in a full twelve months or so of growth before going dormant in their second summer. Instead, mine were sown on May 29 (making them almost 8 months old) -- the very tail of the Sydney autumn. As such, they're currently quite dormant, but otherwise looking pretty good. I give them an occasional splash of water but they don't really seem to need it.

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Second - Pachypodium horombense. I didn't have a lot of luck with my other Pachypodium seeds (go back a few pages and you can read all about the fungal eruption) but I did manage to germinate a three or four P. horombense. Until recently, they were sharing a pot, but I've recently potted them up individually and they're thriving. Out under 30% shade cloth, soaking up some 40C Sydney temperatures without any troubles. These were sown on June 21, placing them at 7 months.

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Thirdly - Pachypodium baronii v. windsorii. Only one strong seedling germinated, and this is it. Like its Madagascan brethren P. horombense, this guy has been soaking up the summer sun. It was planted on August 16, making it the baby of the Pachypodium seedlings at about 5 months.

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Now, some Euphorbia. I sowed a huge variety of Euphorbia over winter, all of which were summer growers. Euphorbia seed can be a nightmare to germinate, so I've had mixed success. I've had some species with close to 100% germination, others with 0%. It's all to do with freshness, and buying Euphorbia seed commercially is a massive gamble as a result. I thought I'd look at two species that both germinated well, but whose growth since has been notable in its difference.

Firstly - the classic Euphorbia obesa. Seeds germinated easily and, despite urgent treatment for mildew and absolute uncertainty about the cultural conditions required for very young Euphorbia seedlings, they have grown quickly and readily. I did a lot of experimenting with the E. obesa and they took most of the abuse and shrugged it off. Here's just one pot of many - sown August 7, these are just 5 months old.

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In contrast, I'd read that Euphorbia unispina and its kin are slow growers, but nothing could have prepared me for the glacial pace these seedlings have moved at. After relatively easy germination, with a big, goofy pair of cotyledons, these seedlings did... almost nothing. Their stems swelled up a bit, and when the temperature warmed, the cotyledons went red, dried up and - as can be seen - fell off for two seedlings. Finally, now, I can see the first signs of movement in the growing point. Hopefully something happens before winter comes around and they give up for the year. Pictured - 7 month old seedlings.

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And finally, the Dorstenia. A somewhat more obscure genera, but I can't get enough of them. Firstly, Dorstenia foetida, from self-harvested seeds last Autumn. They germinated relatively well and grew rapidly over the winter on the heat mat, needing a few quick pot changes to accommodate. Now we're in summer and the largest seedling is already flowering, despite getting a little overambitious and introducing them to too much sun too quickly. (The leaves went read and fell off... but grew back readily in the shade.) Here are my 9 month old seedlings:

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To finish off, the king of Dorstenia - Dorstenia gigas. Legendary plants from Socotra, which grow huge for this genera. Much slower growing than my D. foetida, but also being treated with much more care. These were sown in August, placing them at just 5 months.

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[supergodzilla]

Yesterday, I sowed two pots of some seeds that had been at the top of my most desired list for quite some time.

Rauhocereus riosaniensis - 50 seeds

[supergodzilla]

I've been building an overly complex spreadsheet with which to track my seedlings. Makes it a lot easier to report their progress in this thread. Lots of things have been popping up lately, here's how it looks:

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[Shane]

I just started a similar spreadsheet today funny enough...

[supergodzilla]

Thought I'd update the thread with some recent photos of some seedlings... I've been sowing lots of strange and unusual things lately so will update the thread more comprehensively soon!


Euphorbia obesa, 7 months old.


Euphorbia bupleurifolia, 8 months old.


Euphorbia pachypodioides, 7 months old.


Lithops karasmontana ssp. bella, 9 months old.


Lithops dorotheae 'Zorro', 7 months old.


Lithops julii 'Kikosiyugyoku', 7 months old.


Lithops aucampiae 'Rudesheim Ruby', 7 months old.


Adenium socotranum, 6 months old.


Pachypodium namaquanum, 9 months old.

Plus a bonus...

Haworthia (mostly truncata), 2+ years old.

[Edwindwianto]

Brovo on L. dorotheae
I read that it is very rare in habitat

[supergodzilla]

As some of my seedlings reach one year old, I thought I would reflect back on the process, which may offer advice and/or suggestions for anyone else thinking of sowing these plants. This is not to suggest at all that my methods are perfect (or even good!) but for many of these species, there is almost no information online about growing from seed and so I have needed to apply a great deal of guesswork.

First up...

Pachypodium namaquanum
Date sowed: 29 May 2019
Seeds sowed: 22
Germinated: 10
12 month survival: 8

P. namaquanum is a winter growing plant from Namaqualand in South Africa. The online advice suggested sowing in summer and allowing them to grow continuously through their first winter before experiencing their first dormancy... but I received the seeds at the beginning of the Australian winter and, since their viability is supposed to be quite short, opted to sow immediately. They went into baggies onto my heat mat under lights. Like most Apocynaceae seeds that I've sown, fungus was a massive issue -- in future, I think I'll sow without using a baggie to try to keep mould under control. I lost two seedlings to mould before removing the humidity. They grew contentedly over the winter with a bit of extra heat and then in spring went into the greenhouse.

Summer arrived and they went into dormancy, losing most of their leaves. At this point, I stopped watering and let them rest. As autumn arrived, though, growth resumed and so too did watering. They're slow growers but seem happy and are making good progress.

Here's a pair of photos showing their development. The first shows them at 20 days old, the second is just this week.

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