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

[MrXeric]

These mesemb seedlings are waking up for the winter. They'll be 3 years old in February.

Cheiridopsis peculiaris SB 770.


Mitrophyllum grande Lekkersing.

[keith]

Winter growers nice time of the year in S CA . I just planted some Mesemb seeds 4 little pots one of Lithops brandbergensis, One of Conophytum maughanii and one of conophytum IDK my own seed one of Agyroderma and not sure which species . All germinated now to keep them going.

[jerrytheplater]

I like your sundew. They are cool plants.

In 2020 my wife and I spent a week in the Pocono's in Eastern PA. I borrowed a Kayak and went out looking for carnivorous plants along the edge of the shore and on the edge of the bog mat. Here's a shot of Drosera rotundifolia hidden down among the Sphagnum moss, along with other bog plants. I had to wedge the Kayak into the shore and use the paddle to hold me still while I grabbed the camera and composed the shot as best I could. All while hoping I didn't capsize and get soaked.

Thanks Jerry. I bought the mother plant on a whim one day, but these little sundews are definitely growing on me. I like that little D. rotundifolia. Even to my untrained eyes, that leaf shape is quite distinctive! I would like to grow that one day.

These plants form a winter resting bud called a Hibernacula. They lose their roots and leaves and are just a bud. Very easy to transplant at that point. This photo shows a D. rotundifolia hibernacula and the rotting old leaves.

rsz 2018-11-17 Drosera rotundifolia hibernacula.jpg (210.76 KiB) Viewed 10219 times

[MrXeric]

I like your sundew. They are cool plants.

In 2020 my wife and I spent a week in the Pocono's in Eastern PA. I borrowed a Kayak and went out looking for carnivorous plants along the edge of the shore and on the edge of the bog mat. Here's a shot of Drosera rotundifolia hidden down among the Sphagnum moss, along with other bog plants. I had to wedge the Kayak into the shore and use the paddle to hold me still while I grabbed the camera and composed the shot as best I could. All while hoping I didn't capsize and get soaked.

Thanks Jerry. I bought the mother plant on a whim one day, but these little sundews are definitely growing on me. I like that little D. rotundifolia. Even to my untrained eyes, that leaf shape is quite distinctive! I would like to grow that one day.

These plants form a winter resting bud called a Hibernacula. They lose their roots and leaves and are just a bud. Very easy to transplant at that point. This photo shows a D. rotundifolia hibernacula and the rotting old leaves.

rsz 2018-11-17 Drosera rotundifolia hibernacula.jpg

Very cool Jerry! I knew Pinguicula do something similar for the winter, but I had no idea Drosera can do this too. I am not sure if my Drosera do this, since I don't recall seeing such drastic shedding of leaves on my plants.

[jerrytheplater]

Not all Drosera form hibernacula. D. intermedia does for sure. So does D. filiformis. Those are the three species in NJ.

D. intermedia

2020-2-5 D. intermedia.jpg (124.89 KiB) Viewed 10195 times

D. filiformis taken in late spring when it is starting to unfurl and grow again. Don't have any of mine taken in full hibernacula stage.

2020-4-30 D. filiformis 2.jpg (50.09 KiB) Viewed 10195 times

[jerrytheplater]

Man, I'm taking your thread way off topic-but you kind of set the example!

[MrXeric]

Man, I'm taking your thread way off topic-but you kind of set the example!

It's alright Jerry, I am learning a lot! I looked up D. spatulata and according to wikipedia they do not develop hibernacula. Reading more on hibernacula, they are an adaptation to survive the winter. D. spatulata grow in the various tropical regions of Southeast Asia and Oceania, where cold winters aren't really a thing, so it makes sense for your NJ native Drosera to develop hibernacula!

[MrXeric]

More seedlings from 2021, around 2 years old when I took the pictures.

Frailea castanea 'asterioides'. The slowest growing Frailea for me, active spring and fall and mostly dormant in summer.


Astrophytum asterias. I killed the parent plants, so I am glad these are still alive!



Astrophytum asterias-capricorne hybrid x asterias, not too sure what the mother plant was, but it looked like asterias x capricorne to me. Pollen came from pure asterias. I lost the mother plant of this too.


Another complex hybrid where the mother plant is a bit of an unknown, Astrophytum myriostigma-capricorne hybrid x capricorne.

[Tom in Tucson]

More seedlings from 2021, around 2 years old when I took the pictures.

Frailea castanea 'asterioides'. The slowest growing Frailea for me, active spring and fall and mostly dormant in summer.

Astrophytum asterias. I killed the parent plants, so I am glad these are still alive!

Astrophytum asterias-capricorne hybrid x asterias, not too sure what the mother plant was, but it looked like asterias x capricorne to me. Pollen came from pure asterias. I lost the mother plant of this too.

Another complex hybrid where the mother plant is a bit of an unknown, Astrophytum myriostigma-capricorne hybrid x capricorne.

If you ever are inclined to publish some examples of how cactus seedlings can look, be sure to include a few of those. Well done. Their exceptional growth, and your lighting for the subjects are superb!

[MrXeric]

If you ever are inclined to publish some examples of how cactus seedlings can look, be sure to include a few of those. Well done. Their exceptional growth, and your lighting for the subjects are superb!

Thanks Tom! Don't hold your breath waiting for any book though.

[MrXeric]

Instead of making a new thread for every year I sow seeds, I decided to just post future sowings here (I'll keep the 2022 thread I made active for that sowing).

Here's the first part of the 2023 sowing:

The setup and procedure is much as described here: viewtopic.php?t=47059. One exception is that this time I soaked the seeds for a couple days before sowing. I wrapped the (rinsed) seeds in a bit of paper towel and placed the little bundle inside a sandwich bag. I added water until the paper was fully soaked. Each species got its own bag that I reused to seal in the pot after sowing. I left the bags undisturbed indoors for 2 days before sowing in pots.

I also used a mineral mix as sowing medium instead of the vermiculite/peat mix I used previously.

Mostly pumice, decomposed granite and scoria.


I did not sow directly on that mix; I added a thin layer of fine pumice sand over the medium and sowed on the surface of that. I do this to prevent tiny seeds from falling through the cracks of the larger grained sowing medium.

I sowed the first of the 2023 seeds January, all purchased from ADBLPS.

Here are the winter growing succulents, mostly South African geophytes.
Albuca concordiana [ADBLPS 12268]
Albuca unifoliata JAA 1661 Doringwater, north-east of Steinkopf, Northern Cape, South Africa [ADBLPS 12281]
Bulbine inamarxiae [ADBLPS 12289]
Bulbine torta JAA 2540 Pakhuis Pass, South Africa [ADBLPS 12292]
Bulbine wiesei [ADBLPS 12293]
Crassula barbata RH 3272 Sutherland R355 650m, Western Cape, South Africa [ADBLPS 8547]
Drimia uniflora JAA 628 south of Klawer, Western Cape, South Africa [ADBLPS 12298]
Haworthia arachnoidea var. scabrispina JAA 2512 Laingsburg, Western Cape, South Africa [ADBLPS 12299]
Tylecodon singularis Namibia [ADBLPS 12337]

I kept the bags of these winter growers outdoors all day in bright shade. Temperatures were 50-70F (10-21C), mostly mid-50s to low 60s during the day and low 40s (~5C) at night. I would bring in the pots whenever nights dipped down to the mid 30s (~0C). I opened the bags about 2 months after germination and would water whenever the substrate dried out.

Pictures from a few days ago, all seedlings 1 year from sowing (most germinated within 2 weeks of sowing).

A. concordiana. 100% germination.


A. unifoliata JAA 1661. Also 100% germination. Both Albuca lost their leaves and went dormant early in the summer, so I paused watering until September (late summer going into fall).


B. inamarxiae. Only 5 of 10 seeds germinated. These refused to go dormant for the summer and kept growing new leaves (albeit more slowly), so I kept watering lightly about once a month.


B. torta JAA 2540. Slow to germinate. It took 2 months with 1 short period of keeping dry early on before 1 seed germinated. It was March and a little warmer by that time, so I wonder if there was some sort of stratification going on? I saved the rest of the seeds that sowed this fall to no success. I been keeping dry and will try again soon. The seedling went dormant for the summer and I kept dry.


B. wiesei. 100% germination, though a few damped off. Unlike the inamarxiae, these lost all their leaves and went dormant for the summer.


C. barbata RH 3272. Only 4 of 20 seeds germinated, 1 seems to have been smothered by these two, while the other germinated a couple months after I opened the bag, so I transplanted it to its own pot. I kept these growing through the summer, but allowed a short, dry pause during the hottest weeks.


D. uniflora JAA 628. 100% germination, though only 7 came back in the fall. These showed very little growth after germination, the cotyledon leaf was small and buried in the sand. I assumed they went dormant for the summer since I couldn't find the tiny leaves anymore, so I kept them dry. These were the last to come back from dormancy in the fall, I thought they were dead. They haven't done much since growing their leaves.


H. arachnoidea var. scabrispina JAA 2512. These kept growing through the summer, but these aren't really winter growing. Two seeds did germinate in the fall, about 10 months after the initial sowing.


T. singularis. Seed came labeled with the locality "Namibia", which isn't very informative since the species is endemic to that country. Only 1 seed germinated, the rest I assume were lost. Seed is dust-like and I should've used a thicker layer of sand to keep the seeds in place. This put out new leaves all through early summer before it appeared to go dormant. Some time early in the fall when I resumed watering, it put out one new leaf and hasn't grown much since.


That's it for the winter growers. I'll post the cactus sometime after I find time to take pictures!

[MrXeric]

Here is the first part of the ADBLPS cactus seeds I sowed January 2023. Instead of giving the seedlings a cold winter rest, I've kept them growing inside the heated propagator box all year. I originally sowed the seeds in small disposable shot glasses and repotted the seedlings into larger pots in October 2023.

South American cacti, mostly Argentinian and a few Chilean species (plus one Bolivian!)
Acanthocalycium thionanthum 'chionanthum' P 67 Portrero (El Potrero?) 2500m, Salta, Argentina [ADBLPS 6528]
Copiapoa angustiflora CS 23.2 93 Guanillos Valley 237m, Antofagasta, Region II, Chile [ADBLPS 8925]
Copiapoa atacamensis PH 247.01 Morro Moreno 300-800m, Antofagasta, Chile [ADBLPS 6580]
Eriosyce napina AWC 410 Puerto de Huasco, Huasco, Atacama (Region III), Chile [ADBLPS 2676]
Frailea chiquitana MU 364 Roboré, Santa Cruz, Chiquitos, Bolivia [ADBLPS 7743]
Gymnocalycium esperanzae TOM 436.1 west of Nueva Esperanza, La Rioja, Argentina [ADBLPS 12538]
Pterocactus araucanus SAR 9052 route Gualjaina to Cushamen, Cushamen, Chubut, Argentina [ADBLPS 9890]
Pterocactus australis RH 2313a (OR) Lago Viedma 260m, Lago Argentino, Santa Cruz, Argentina [ADBLPS 8814]
Reicheocactus bonnieae RFPA 245.01 22km west of Fiambalá to Quebrada Las Angosturas 1990m, Catamarca, Argentina [ADBLPS 12385]

A. thionanthum 'chionanthum' P 67. The locality is given as 'Portrero', but I couldn't find such place. I did find a village by the name 'El Potrero' in the Salta province of Argentina, so I wonder if the original annotation was misspelled? Anyway, this is a white flowered form of A. thionanthum (thion=sulfur, ie yellow; anthum=flower), previously described under the name A. chionanthum (chion=snow, ie white), 5 of 10 seeds germinated.


C. angustiflora CS 23.2 93. Only 2 seeds of 10 germinated (usually get 0 for Copiapoa, so an improvement!)


The seedlings are curiously woolly for their first few months of life. Here they are at 3 months old.


C. atacamensis PH 247.01. Best germination yet I've had for Copiapoa at 7 of 10 seeds (though 2 ended up damping off). Grows slower than the angustiflora, here are the 2 largest seedlings.


E. napina AWC 410. 90%+ germination.


F. chiquitana MU 364. Supposedly these are non-cleistogamous, so I may just be able to see a Frailea flower in my collection.


It was difficult to get their pretty bluish-green color in the sun, so I took this pic inside my propagator box under LED lights. They look better in person.


G. esperanzae TOM 436.1. 90%+ germination.


P. araucanus SAR 9052. 2 of 3 seeds germinated. They grew quite well before I repotted them. Here they are in October, still in their germination pot.


Unpotted, along with the other South American seedlings (plus a Mammillaria!).


Unfortunately, they resented being repotted and lost their roots soon after. I managed to save the stems and they rooted without issue. Here they are now.


P. australis RH 2313a. My second attempt at this species. Managed to coax 1 seed to germinate a few months after sowing by letting the pot dry for a few weeks at a time. Not looking forward to repotting this for fear of rotting like the araucanus!


R. bonnieae RFPA 245.01. Also my second attempt at sowing this species, this time with much better germination (80%+). They're growing faster than anticipated; you can see the unpotted seedlings in the pic above (next to the red cup) and what they look like now, just 3 months later.


One seedling seems to be a mutant. Twice now it has terminated its growth and put out a new branch. The seedling in the center, notice how the original stem seems to have its apical meristem disappear. The branch it grew on the side has itself a new branch growing from the apex.


I also sowed Discocactus placentiformis 'multicolorispinus' HU 542. Here they are at 3 months old.


4 of 10 seeds germinated, but they all succumbed to some infection I haven't seen before. Each seedling had a black lesion at its base that over the course of weeks spread higher into the stem, but the roots remained unaffected. I tried grafting one seedling after cutting away the dead tissue, but failed.


I also sowed Frailea gracillima 'stockingeri', but none of the 20 seeds germinated.

That's it for now! I will post the Mexican cactus species once I take pictures.

[Nino_G]

All of the seedlings look great, but I particularly like E. napina and F. chiquitana youngsters.
Cleistogamous Fraileas do flower occasionally, but they need very hot weather and full sun. My F. angelesii flowered this summer (beautiful pale pastel yellow flower), but F. grahliana and F. castanea went straight from bud to fruit (as usual).

[Tom in Tucson]

All of the seedlings look great, but I particularly like E. napina and F. chiquitana youngsters.
Cleistogamous Fraileas do flower occasionally, but they need very hot weather and full sun. My F. angelesii flowered this summer (beautiful pale pastel yellow flower), but F. grahliana and F. castanea went straight from bud to fruit (as usual).

I'm sure that in your climate heat, and full sun might both be requirements for getting the buds to open, but here in a much hotter climate, full sun would be deadly. Heat is all that's needed here in the desert.

[MrXeric]

All of the seedlings look great, but I particularly like E. napina and F. chiquitana youngsters.
Cleistogamous Fraileas do flower occasionally, but they need very hot weather and full sun. My F. angelesii flowered this summer (beautiful pale pastel yellow flower), but F. grahliana and F. castanea went straight from bud to fruit (as usual).

Thanks Nino!
Tom is right, full sun in summer around here will kill Frailea (though I am pretty sure his Arizona summers are hotter than my California ones!). The other species I have tend to put out buds between July and August, when temperatures are between 90F (32C) and 100F (38C), often approaching 115F (46C) on some days, yet they still go straight to fruit.