MrXeric's seedlings 2021 (and beyond...)

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MrXeric
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Re: MrXeric's seedlings 2021

Post by MrXeric »

Fatich wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 4:35 pm Did you sow the haudeana seeds directly or treated them with acid?
I sowed 5 seeds directly and I scarified the remaining 5 with sandpaper. One of the sanded seeds germinated. I tried cracking the other 4 sanded seeds near the hilum, but that failed since those seeds (along with 2 of the untouched ones) molded over.
Fatich
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Re: MrXeric's seedlings 2021

Post by Fatich »

MrXeric wrote: Sun Jul 11, 2021 2:55 am
Fatich wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 4:35 pm Did you sow the haudeana seeds directly or treated them with acid?
I sowed 5 seeds directly and I scarified the remaining 5 with sandpaper. One of the sanded seeds germinated. I tried cracking the other 4 sanded seeds near the hilum, but that failed since those seeds (along with 2 of the untouched ones) molded over.
Thank you! I ve never scarified with sandpaper before but used the cracking method. The disadvantage of the cracking is the mold problem, if they do not germinate fast enough they are mold over.
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Steve-0
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Re: MrXeric's seedlings 2021

Post by Steve-0 »

I used this method. It worked for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGG2-YpGDWA
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MrXeric
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Re: MrXeric's seedlings 2021

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Here is an update on Batch 5, now at 4 months old. This was a rather disappointing Batch in that overall germination was low and several species didn't germinate at all. I suspect my overheating issue that killed off one pot also killed off more than a few seeds from the other pots of this Batch.

Ariocarpus trigonus 'elongatus'. I had not checked on this pot for several weeks and I was alarmed to find it overrun by this whitish, powdery fungus or bacteria. When I opened the bag I was hit by a very pungent, unpleasant "spicy" odor, not unlike human body odor. :-& However, I was surprised to find only two seedlings succumbed to whatever this is, while the rest appeared unaffected. Not wanting to take the risk, I repotted the seedlings in fresh substrate. But despite rinsing the seedlings, I suspect traces of the fungus/bacteria will inevitably be transferred so I decided to keep the pot in open air rather than putting it back inside a bag.
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Echinocereus fitchii 'reichenbachii' ssp. bergmannii (L1061).
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Gymnocalycium spegazzinii var. recii (JO820).
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Mammillaria lasiacantha (SB1063)
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Sclerocactus mesae-verdae (SB1010). These kept etiolating despite increasing light intensity, so I decided to put these in indirect sunlight. Seems to have worked. Unless these are supposed to be this tall? :-k You can also see some seeds on the bottom covered in mold; I discarded these since they most likely are dead.
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Turbinicarpus pseudomacrochele ssp. krainzianus (FO259).
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Geohintonia mexicana.
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Gymnocalycium mix (gift). This is the only seedling that didn't damp off, but judging from that rust stain, maybe it will!
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Batch 5 Table.PNG
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Licespray
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Re: MrXeric's seedlings 2021

Post by Licespray »

Keep em coming. In living vicariously through you.
Ferocactus best cactus :mrgreen:
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MrXeric
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Re: MrXeric's seedlings 2021

Post by MrXeric »

Here is a 4 month update on Batch 6, the last batch. Or at least it was supposed to be the last batch! :lol: I ended up sowing more seeds soon after this batch and throughout the summer, mostly seeds I harvested from my plants. I'll post updates on those when they're 3 months old. But for now, Batch 6!

Epithelantha bokei (SB416).
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Frailea atrobella (VoS08-322). I'm really liking the colors on these!
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Gymnocalycium bruchii v. niveum (WR727).
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Leuchtenbergia principis v. trachythele. Surprised by how far these have come along! :o
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Mammillaria sanchez-mejoradae.
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Rebutia albidula (RH1098). These were etiolating in my prop box, so I placed them outdoors for better light about 2 weeks ago. They seem to be taking it well!
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Sulcorebutia heliosoides (LH1544).
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Weingartia kargliana (M48). These were also placed outside. They've gotten noticeably thicker.
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Fatich
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Re: MrXeric's seedlings 2021

Post by Fatich »

Is that a double head kargliana or one is in the back of the other? :)
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MrXeric
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Re: MrXeric's seedlings 2021

Post by MrXeric »

Fatich wrote: Mon Aug 16, 2021 12:12 pm Is that a double head kargliana or one is in the back of the other? :)
Double head! :D
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MrXeric
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Re: MrXeric's seedlings 2021

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A little over 3 months ago I harvested seeds from three of my Mammillaria plants and sowed two pots of each species, one pot of each placed inside my prop box and the other placed outside in partial sun, all inside sandwich bags. All pots had the same substrate soaked in a fertilizer mixture.

First, with the most dramatic growth difference, are these two pots of Mammillaria bocasana.
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Quite the difference as you can see! The bagged pot on the left was left outside with some direct sun in the morning, while the pot on the right was inside my prop box with LED lights.

Next are these two pots of Mammillaria mystax.
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The size difference between the seedlings isn't as dramatic as the M. bocasana pots, but the spines on the seedlings of the outdoor pot on the left are clearly denser.

I was pleasantly surprised to see my recently acquired Mammillaria hernandezii push out these fruits
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and here are the three month old seedlings.
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I don't see much difference in the two pots. Maybe because these are slower than the other 2 Mammillarias?

I didn't count the seeds for this batch (Batch 7), so I don't know how the germination rate differed between pots. I did note that that the outdoor pots took 1-2 days longer to germinate than the indoor pots.
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MrXeric
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Re: MrXeric's seedlings 2021

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A little late, but glad to see the forum back up! I haven't had much time this last month to do anything other than casually browse through the forum, but I finally had the time to gather some pictures for an update on my 2021 seedlings.

Since my last post I sowed a lot more seeds, mostly harvested from my plants.

Here is a list with sow dates (Edit: I apologize for the blurry text :oops: ):
2021 latter half seeds
2021 latter half seeds
Screenshot 2022-01-29 at 17-48-34 2021 latter half seeds - 2021 latter half seeds pdf.png (189.48 KiB) Viewed 5227 times
I certainly kept myself busy :wink:

Here are some highlights of that sowing:

Pyrrohocactus villicumensis DJF362 La Laja, San Juan, Argentina. 7 months old. I sowed a pot of these earlier in the year, but I accidentally scorched and killed all the seedlings. I decided to try again. :D
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Frailea asterioides (castanea). I bought a group of three plants, just about a year ago, and they were labeled as such. Last summer two of the plants flowered about a month apart, though the buds never bloomed! Here are the older seedlings at 7 months.
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Astrophytum asterias. My two plants flowered several days apart (and the flowers only lasted one day) so I clipped off some stamens from the earlier flower and had them sitting on a piece of paper until the other plant bloomed. The seed pod contained 68 seeds and I sowed in two pots, one placed inside my grow box and the other outdoors. I let the outdoor pot dry out by November and let the seedlings go dormant. After about 3 months of no water, they still look alive, just smaller and browner than my indoor seedlings. I didn't take a picture of the outdoor seedlings (since they're not that interesting to look at right now) but here's the indoor pot at 6 months:
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The plant below was labeled "Astrophytum ooibo". From what I've seen on the internet, the "ooibo" cultivar refers to asterias plants with very large, fluffy areoles. My plant looks more like a capricorne-asterias hybrid to me. Whatever it is, it's neat and I like it. :)
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I pollinated a flower from this plant with the A. asterias stamens I saved and like the A. asterias seeds, I sowed in two pots, one indoors and one outdoors. Here are the indoors seedlings at 6 months.
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As summer progressed, more Astrophytum flowers bloomed, but I didn't take care to prevent uncontrolled cross-pollination. Although it does bother me slightly to not know the exact origin of the resulting seed pods, curiosity got the best of me and I sowed the seeds anyway. Maybe I'll get some interesting looking hybrids. :D Here's one plant (a hybrid itself) I collected seeds from. It was labeled "Astrophytum ornatum", but the A. myriostigma character is obvious. I'm thinking it's a hybrid involving myriostigma, ornatum, and/or capricorne. The spines are sharp and rigid, unlike my capricornes' spines, so I'm leaning more towards a myriostigma x ornatum hybrid.
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and here are the seedlings at almost 5 months old.
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Drosera spatulata. Not a succulent! I really like dewy leaves on this carnivorous plant, but as it turns out, it's difficult to keep happy outdoors in my climate. It just too darn dry here! No dew formation whatsoever. I put the plant inside a cheap glass terrarium from walmart and it liked it enough for it to produce dew and flower. Turns out it is self-fertile. The seedlings here are less than 4 months old (there were older seedlings in the pot, but those got scorched :oops:)
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Euphorbia sp. I bought two plants that at first glance I thought were E. obesa, but now I'm not so sure. One of them produced both male and female cyathia, so I crossed them. Turns out the plant was self-fertile! One seed pod matured and ruptured. I found 2 of 3 seeds nearby and sowed them. Here is the only surviving seedling at just under 5 months old. Looks meloformis-llke? Infausta? Hybrid? Too young to tell? :-k
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and here is the mother plant now, showing the male and female cyathia from the previous fall (and new buds emerging).
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I bought one more seed shipment from Mesa in October when I saw that they were offering seeds of Astrophytum capricorne v. crassispinum cv. Taiho, a Japanese cultivar with massive spines (see it here!) Here are the seedlings at 3 months old.
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I also bought Tephrocactus alexanderi v. bruchii Poman, La Rioja, Argentina. As you can see from the list above, I had sowed T. geometricus seeds from my single ball that flowered, but the seeds never geminated despite many dry/wet cycles. However, the Mesa seeds did! It only took 2 months and 3 drying and rehydrating attempts. :wink: Four of ten seeds germinated and the seedlings here are just under 2 months old.
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This post has gotten a little long, so that's it for now! I plan on rolling out updates as the seedlings become 1 year old, so that'll be in a few weeks for the first group. I also finished sowing seeds for 2022 just yesterday so expect a new thread on those sometime soon!
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Re: MrXeric's seedlings 2021

Post by keith »

Seedlings look very good. How did the conophytums turn out ?
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MrXeric
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Re: MrXeric's seedlings 2021

Post by MrXeric »

keith wrote: Sun Jan 30, 2022 3:51 pm Seedlings look very good. How did the conophytums turn out ?
Thanks keith. Most of the conophytums are still with me (had some scorching issues) and I will update with pictures soon!
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Re: MrXeric's seedlings 2021

Post by LateBloomer »

Great post… glad to see my Frailea asterioides are about the same as yours I was thinking I was abusing mine too much but I think it’s just the right amount.
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MrXeric
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Re: MrXeric's seedlings 2021

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Here is the 1 year update on the first batch of seeds I sowed!

Conophytum mixed species. These continue to be kept in the garage under shop lights and they started their second sheathing earlier this month. 6 of 35 seedlings survived so far; most never made it from their first sheathing, others randomly dried up throughout the year.
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...I realized I never showed the first true leaves of these so here are the same seedlings 3 months ago.
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Conophytum bilobum 'brevisectum' [MG1411.5] RR 1136 Nakanas, Port Nolloth, Northern Cape, South Africa. These are just starting to sheathe over and their first true leaves are still visible. I moved several of the mesemb pots outdoors in January of this year and this was one pot that most of the seedlings (17 of 25) survived a sun shade mishap during a heat wave that month. I didn't secure the window screen properly and the wind blew it away, exposing the seedlings to direct sun for several hours before I noticed ](*,).
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Conophytum calculus subs. vanzylii [MG1468.811] SH 434 Bok Crest (Bushmanland?) South Africa. About half of these did not make it through their first sheathe. These were also moved outdoors and only one survived the scorch, after which I returned the pot to the garage. I say survived, but this seedling has been looking like this since January. :-k With any luck, the meristem was undamaged, since it hasn't dried up and disappeared like the other burned seedlings.
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Conophytum herreanthus subs. herreanthus [MG1524.9] DH 637 Umdaus, Northern Cape, South Africa. Mesa has these listed as subs. rex, but after looking up the locality data, I found that it belongs to subs. herreanthus (see this page from Hammer's 2002 Dumpling and his Wife, New Views of the Genus Conophytum). I decided to label the pot after subs. herreanthus until my plants are older to ID more correctly, though even the plants shown for this listing on Mesa's website appear to conform to the subs. herreanthus description ("sharp pale keels, apiculus very prominent, pale green, usually unspotted") rather than the subs. rex description ("rounded reddish keels, pale green, usually spotted").

My seedlings shown below actually started to erupt from their second sheath last month, but they have since stalled and presumably have gone dormant. 10 of 23 seedlings survived scorching in January, with a few that never made it past the cotyledon stage before that.
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Conophytum ratum [MG#1473.19] "Japanese import model, ex Horn". This pot did not suffer sun burn, but it has been the most disappointing of the conos. Last time I posted an update on these, I noted that they appeared sickly (yellowish and slightly transparent), and indeed they slowly dried up one by one soon after that. Only one seedling (of 26) remains and it is tiny and has not erupted from its first sheath. Overwatered? Not enough light? Kept too dry? I remember the roots were mostly on the surface when I took the pot out of the bag and may have dried out?
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Cheiridopsis peculiaris [MG1391] SB 770 w Steinkopf, Northern Cape, South Africa. I lost most of these from sun burn and only 9 of 26 remain.
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Didymaotus lapidiformis [MG1478.1] Beukesfontein, Western Cape, South Africa. I'm not quite sure why, but I lost the majority of the seedlings before taking the pot outdoors (at that time there were 5 out of 30 still alive). They slowly dried up throughout the months, so maybe I kept them too dry? Too hot is probably another reason. Anyway, 4 of the 5 remaining seedlings burned and this lone survivor scraped by with just burnt leaf tips. The new leaf pair is stretching, so maybe it's ready for full sun?
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Mitrophyllum grande [MG1779.58] Lekkersing, Northern Cape, South Africa. Similar story with this one: most of the seedlings stalled after sheathing and dried up without breaking through their sheath before I took them outdoors, 10 of 32 seedlings still remain. Surprisingly, none of the seedlings burned in the January heat wave and continue to get direct sun for part of the day.
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Lithops gracilidelineata 'waldronae'. I lost a good chunk of these from scorching, while others never emerged from their sheath, 29 of 84 seedlings remain (yikes!). These are on their second set of true leaves. Note the two odd seedlings near the center, with the undulate leaves that wrap around each other; could they be crested?
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I have failed to keep the following alive up to this point:
Dinteranthus vanzylii: very low germination, the few that did soon died; pot accidentally tipped over and therefore discarded.

Diplosoma retroversum [MG1484.01] Baboonskoik: very good germination, but I suspect I kept them not only too dry, but also too hot over the summer, since although these (along with all the mesembs) were kept indoors with air conditioning during the day, the A/C was off at night and night temperatures over 80F/27C were not uncommon. This may also explain why I lost so many of the other seedlings. In the future, I think I'll sow mesembs in the fall rather than late winter.
keith
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Re: MrXeric's seedlings 2021

Post by keith »

Dinteranthus vanzylii: very low germination' I sowed tis species and every time I watered them they would die and more would sprout so finally I stopped watering them , or watered very little. 2 made it .
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