Lena. Something to look out for is sudden greening of the seedlings. 1. 5 5. Daily inspect pots and remove ones showing acceptable germination. Once you get into serious sowing, you will need a faster approach. Direct sun on closed containers will cook the seeds! Any container that is at least 5cm deep will work, provided it has ample drainage holes. ( Log Out /  Place the plant in a southern facing window for optimum light entry. Moisten the mix with water and fill it into a pot with drainage holes, up to about 0.5 inches (1.3 cm) from the top. To grow lithops from seed, prepare a pot with free-draining cactus compost and additional grit. karasmontana var. It is typically connected to too wet conditions in the pot for too long. But they gave no instructions on what to do next. If you find success with an alternate product, please let us know. I am not sure if it makes a difference and I have had great success without doing it when using the wet tray method described here. Thank you so much! Another non obvious issue is sowing the seed without forming clumps – once they’re on the substrate there’s no way of spreading them out further. Step 1: Germinate your lithops seeds using by using your favorite technique – my favourite is using a re-sealable sandwich bag (e.g. Before putting the pots in the tray, I add 3L water treated with 3mL Funginex (Triforine 190 g/l). For sowing, I tilt the packets and tap lightly as I move the packet over the substrates. Mix equal parts of potting mix and perlite. Any hints or tips on ways of doing this? Divide seed into batched of 50 or so and start numbering pots or add details. Other growers move the pots from the humid environment as soon as they germinate and directly into full light similar to that of adult plants – with excellent results. Lithops can be grown from seed. Germinating Lithops seed is easy. Because of this, I’m afraid to test on Lithop seedlings. After about two weeks 3 out of the 20 in the control dish germinated and 7 in the dish with treated seeds. Compliments. Check that seeds do not stick to whatever you are using to compact the soil, especially if soil is moist. quickly from seed, and can be expected to fl ower in 3 to 4 years under optimal conditions. Thank you for spending so much time creating this document. Excess water can be left in the tray while seeds are germinating. Set a seed on top and sprinkle a light layer of sand over the top. The succulent plants, which resemble stones and grow a daisy-like flower, come in various shapes, textures, and colors. I have found seedlings to be very resistant to fungus and bacteria. Lithops Aucampiae Jackson's Jade C395 -15 Seeds - Living Stones Succulent Lithops Aucampiae Jackson's Jade C39515 SeedsLithops Aucampiae is a native to South Africa's Cape Pr.. £1.95 Thank you! As the lithops gets older during the growing process it will naturally begin to divide itself, one plant will produce 2 pairs of leaves. I have germinated Lithops in many soil types, including pure vermiculite (obvously with some added nutrients since vermiculite are inert on its own). The best time to start is autumn or spring, and it’s advisable to use a heated propagator or heat mat so that the seeds are kept at a steady 20ºC as they germinate. I have many now that have sprouted and nice green colour. Soil that have have become too dry (especially if it contains copious amounts of fine organic matter) can be difficult to wet. Once tray is full add water and cover up. Most people propagate lithops from seed. I will be going for a business trip and this is nerve wrecking. Some growers claims degradation and reduction in viability once seeds are older than 7 years. In tropics, you can start seeds anytime except summer. It can be problematic in certian climates. Is it better for me to get a proper lux meter or better LED? Subscribe now and be up to date with our latest news and updates. So if you vary distance from source, lux readings will differ. Lithops seeds are tiny, so you may have to use tweezers to place them. 40% of the seed then germinated relatively quickly. The tricky part is that I live in Boston, MA, USA, so I have built my own LED lights and doing it entirely indoors. Evenly distribute the seed on the surface, using about 100 seeds per 100 square centimeters (10 x 10cm pot). I also belief that moist mixed particles give rise to a substrate that is different from the one obtained during dry mixing. I prefer to use 10cm plastic pots for sowing. However, living stone plants can also be propagated by division. Shallow watering tends to cause a fibrous root system close to the surface. Hi Jacques, The first obstacle is sourcing good quality seeds. You can try aquarium sand. Hi, thank you for replying. In an experiment I stored some fresh seeds (2-3 months after harvest) with silica gel for week and placed 20 of these seeds on wet cotton in a petri dish as well as 20 untreated seeds as control. All rights reserved. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. The pot in Figure 3 is hosting one third of a karasmontana capsule sown 60 weeks before. Based on this, if you obtain seed try to establish when it was harvested and wait 5 to to 6 months after harvest before sowing. Keep in mind that a moist substrate will create a false sense of security as it will stay into the pot but as soon as it dry out, all of it with fall through the drainage holes. After a couple of months there are 74 seedling in the pot with sterilised substrate and 47 odd in the other one. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. If you really want you can mix it with fine sand and then sow the sand… As soons as pots have germinated you can move them out of the water bath to a light (not direct light) and cool spot. Trying to write on the pots when they are already filled with substrate can be awkward. I am wondering if it is enough for seedlings? The seedlings are very small for a long time, so the quicker they can start to grow the better. Lithops, also known as Living Stones, can add an interesting accent to your home or garden. Given all that, I have 19 out of 20 germinated sets of seedlings in 10cm pots after about 6 to 7 days. Best germination results tend to coincide with rainy weather and slightly cooler temperatures. May plant with the cotton? The only minor uncertainty is finding a water soluble fertilizer giving understandable dilution ratios. A soft (6B) pencil is very useful for marking the pots or labels and markings can be erased later if you opt to re-use the pots. Growing Lithops from Seeds. Part of the Aizaceae family and this group, of plants include a number of succulentsdiffering in form greatly. The disease can spread very quickly and wipe out an entire pot. Alrighty, let’s move unto the next part of this post where I share my experiences growing lithops from seeds. Some growers prefer to sterilise bulk substrate in microwave or oven before scooping into pots. Even though Lithops can be grown by division of the adult plant, growing them from seed is economical and can be a rewarding experience. Aim for a temperature of approximately 65 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit (18 to 27 degrees Celsius). Lightly tap pipet to concentrate seeds and expel onto a piece of paper , labelled with appropriate data. If you have a little more experience growing cacti and succulents, you might want to go for something harder to challenge your gardening skills. In my opinion deep watering, followed by periods of drought helps to develop a strong tap root. Cover the seeds very lightly with a layer of sand and keep them moist by misting often using a pump-style mister. I was just wondering what program you use for the QR code on the label? I’m about to do a round of sowing and I bought some cheesecloth to line the bottom of the pots. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. I bought seeds off Amazon and they supplied a plastic portable condiment container with a lid and cotton. 8. I want some lithops seeds. Wet the ingredients slightly when mixing to get equal distribution and to prevent the fine particles settling out to the bottom. Or do i need more? Hi, there are many grades of hydrogen peroxide available in SA. Some growers prefer to mist spray the pots twice a day. Sow the seed during the warmer summer months when it will germinate quickly. Figure 7 shows a 12.5 cm pot sown with Lithops subsp. Varieties include. As pots with germinated seedlings are removed from the humid atmosphere, they are moved to a shady area of the greenhouse with good ventilation (I use a fan). Simply place your seeds on a damp paper towel and place the towel inside the bag. A quick question, can i seal the bag after i germinate the seeds as i want to keep lithops seedlings moist for 2 months or so? Thanks for the tips and tricks. Set the pot in a bright and warm spot and keep the soil moist but not wet until a seedling appears. When sowing large quantities I would assign number to the items in Excel, keep it safe and only write the number on the pot with a 6B pencil. by pvdw » Sun Jun 03, 2018 1:19 pm 3 Replies 2066 Views Last post by Compkaf Sun May … Very interesting reading! Lithops seed resembles dust, so sowing requires nimble fingers, or mix the seed with silver sand for easier handling. Thanks again! As seedlings mature watering can be reduced to once a week or so (depending on conditions) and allow soil to dry out for couple of days before watering again. Growing Lithops from seed can take many months to get them established, and years before they resemble the parent plant. This does take some patience though. In a future post we will look at transplanting seedlings. But so far most of them look ok. Great info ! x. I’m getting enough small pots planted out that my koki on a sucker stick labels are getting a bit tired! It is fascinating to see this for the first time. 7. I’ve started my second batch of 20 pots with seeds ordered from you. Benomyl also appear to be a suitable fungicide that will not inhibit germination. Thanks for the feedback. Even though Lithops can be grown by division of the adult plant, growing them from seed is economical and can be a rewarding experience. Place the pots in a sunny windowsill. Growing Lithops is possible from seeds and cuttings. It looks like the hold out pot is just slow, and I’m expecting it to show signs of life in the next week or so. Do you sell seeds? Hi, how old would the seelings be by the time you leave? Hello Jacques, If you have been given whole capsules, you will obviously have to extract them first so read on, otherwise you can skip the following section and jump to the section after that. Make sure all seed have washed trough. Store the master sheet on cloud, local pc and hardcopy, Hi Jacques, I have begun raising Lithops (mixed) seeds here in Tasmania, Australia from late December. Keep slightly moist until germination occurs, … The soil must be as pest-free as possible. I use a Brother PTouch700 for waterproof labels. L. karasmontana from the Karas mountains, oval shaped and variable in colour. Another way to extract the seed from the water is to swirl the container – it works like a centrifuge and viable seeds collect in the center. The basic ingredients discussed here are easily accessible in the South-African market. Water the tiny seeds gently so they aren’t displaced. A common watering mistake is to water too lightly during the first couple of weeks and even months, assuming that the soil is wet. Decant excess water from the seeds. As with plants in most parts of the world, lithops are under threat from agriculture, mining, urban development and commercial collecting; so far they are managing to survive apart from a … I’ve started some of your seeds yesterday. I wonder if Fungus Fighter Concentrate ( bayer garden ) 125ml is a good idea. Place a napkin or smooth kitchen towel over a glass, poke a dent into it and decant the seed-water mixture onto it and leave it to dry. Leave to dry for a couple of hours. If there is fine debris that are difficult to decant, everything can be poured through a kitchen sieve, collecting the seeds at the bottom. The seeds germinated maybe three or four days ago, and it looks like a pretty high germination rate. Too wet conditions can cause rot as shown in Figure 16 where the entire half of the pot was already lost. Depending on what I could find the day I would mix it down to get to 6% equivalent. Don’t worry – you will not damage the seeds. Thank you for the useful information. In the photo below, the older leaves are shriveling away and new leaves are growing. Here is a link to the webpage where I am documenting the progress. After a month they should survive watering interval of a week. Their flowers look just like daisies and range from white to yellow to orange. The seed is held inside a hydrochastic 4-8 chambered fruiting capsule, which only opens when moistened, exposing the tiny seeds. Thanks for you great job in this blog I enjoyed reading it. This helps to ensure that a humid environment are maintained which seems to be essential for successful germination. You will need to grow the Lithops for about one year in the container before transplanting. Now place the pots in the cat litter tray so that they soak up the water from the bottom. I see most people use course and very course sand. Thank you sooo much! After a couple of minutes you will notice the surface of each pot glistening indicating that the pots are saturated with water. I have had very good results with seeds that were stored for up to 13 years in their capsules. zip-loc) method. Click to enlarge. Before starting the dry treatment, I dose the pot with a 6% hydrogen peroxide solution. Great information, I wish I had found this before I started mine. To grow Lithops from seed, prepare a small pot filled with cactus mix and moisten the soil. The lithops article in the r/succulents group info is very informative. Close. Transplant the seedlings to individual pots when the plants start to the crowd and are big enough to handle. Position indoors in a area that receives morning to midday sun and fill the pot with quality potting mix, such as Yates Potting Mix with Dynamic Lifter. I prefer to have info on the pots as back-up and to be able to identify contents of pots immediately without cross reference. This is a protective seed saving mechanism that only allow seeds to be exposed and wash out during rainy weather. Step up ventilation as soon as possbile and give good filtered light. Both sets will be attached to the same taproot. I suspect seeds need a certain level of dryness before they will germinate. Growing Lithops from seed is a rewarding experience once you overcome some of the obstacles. This offers some time to establish seedlings and somewhat harden them off before temperatures drop too low here. Hello, I would like to say thanks for this post, I’ve got a big collection of seed waiting to seeding but my concern is to kill them. Observations and experiences of a novice grower. They will also open up and release seeds but this is not important for this technique – just make sure you recover any seeds that were released during this time. It is extremely frustrating to see a sinkhole develop in the middle of your Lithops seedlings when you pick up a dry pot! Soak the seeds for a couple of hours in water to soften them. Questions about growing lithops from seed! Mix equal parts of potting mix and perlite. I just tried my first Lithops seeds in less than ideal conditions (living at a tropical location with temperatures not lower than 24/25 C at night and up to 40 C or even more during the day. Bottom watering is useful if a crust have formed on the top. This is the most complete and informative germination guide I’ve seen yet. Before sowing a batch, clearly label the pots with all the relevant information. Any tip for seeding these amounts of pots? Cover the seeds with a thin layer (no more than 1/4 inch) of fine-grained sand. Now loosely cover the the seeds and surface with 1-2mm layer of filter sand as depicted on the top right of the pot shown in Figure 12. Copyright © 2013-2020 World of Succulents. Jacques, what a fabulous blog. Use a small pot or container with drainage holes. We watchful for changes in pigmentation while the bodies remain plump. Can i just leave the bottom soak with water then? 2. Must be the work of an engineer…. Hi, remember one lux equals one lumen per square meter. To aid comparison with your specific climate condition, you can find reference to my climate profile in the About page. I would like to prepare around 200 seeding pot of different species. Keep the sand lightly moist until germination occurs, and gradually reduce watering. I don’t think all the physiological factors controlling Mesemb seed germination are fully understood yet, at least not by my. Lithops seedlings appear to have a much larger tolerance for over-watering compared to adult plants. Try to keep the soil moist throughout the germination period. A relatively fine mixture allows unhindered root development. Give them 20-25C temperatures and they should germinated into strong seedlings fairly quickly. I leave a toothpick or skewer in some of the pots and one can easily judging the moisture content of the pots when pulling it out. To pasteurize soil, put it in a shallow heatproof pan, place it in the oven at 300 °F (150 °C) for 30 minutes. I have killed, or at least severely stunned about 50 pots of Lithops by using a product that contains Mancozeb as active ingredient. I suspect this might be the cause of root rot terminating root tip followed by subsequent rooting again – something that would require energy that could have be channeled to vegetative growth. They will be more than 1 mth, around 1.5mths old by the time i leave. Place the pot in a warm, sunlit area. I could not proof this since I tried to rinse such coating off with a mild detergent and water but germination did not improve. After about two weeks 10% of seed had germinated. During this time, seedlings will start to look shriveled. Make sure all the seeds have been removed from the husk. Microwaving substrate first helps to kill algea spores. Wouldn’t fine sand be bad for the seedlings? Sometime when transplanting seedling a see a nice developed piece of taproot, ending in some bushy root growth. Originally from southern Africa, Lithops can withstand temperatures up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 degrees Celsius). At the moment I use a commercial germination mix that is pretty much 100% organic. Right now it’s day 6. The 3L water in this size tray will ensure that initially the water level rise close to the top of the pots. Imagine the struggle when a tiny Lithops seed get stranded on a rock or compost chip that is 1cm large. Some seedlings may still be sensitive to too strong light for several months. If not adviseable, how can i keep the seedlings moist for 8 days without watering? Clearly something waterproof and that will stick on the plastic pots securely…, Hi Jacot. Your blog is so inspiring! As we will discuss later, the pots need to be covered and this gap helps to initially keep some growing space between seedlings and cover, depending on what you use for covering. Again, move pots to good ventilated area, withhold water and apply 6% Hydrogen peroxide solution . I am so excited 🙂, Hi Jacques… Fantastiese inligtingstuk..Ék is gelee in Namibie en het n paar vrae rondom mistof en fungusweermiddels Wat as alternatief gebruik kan word Wat plaaslik beskikbaar is Beginners tends to latch onto this peculiarity to extract the seed – wet the capsule and when it opens, pick out the seed onto coffee filter paper with a toothpick and allow to dry. 1. Thank you 🙂 Keep in mind that the seed are freshly harvested and may germinate erratically. 1. This is especially true for species with high numbers of small seeds per capsules such as karasmontana, julii, halli, salicola and optica. Glad I found this. To plant lithops seeds, use a cactus-specific potting mix. Remove the plastic wrap or glass pane once the seeds germinate. Some suppliers use plastic Ziplock bag that is bit more difficult to use since the seed tend to stick to the plastic. I have performed this on a pot of 5 -6 months old seedlings and managed to rescue 36 plants. I have picked up a couple of cat litter trays for a mere R14 from large plastic product warehouses. For seeding large amounts of pots I do it in batched of 50 or so, depending on how many trays I have at hand. L. dorethea(pictured top right) are all worth seeking. However, I have also heard that fresh seeds have a germination-inhibiting coating and misting might help leach this off. Transplanting too soon will stun the seedlings. Take note: Having professional looking labels is not a pre-requisite for successfully growing Lithops! Any help? Sow the seeds on the surface of the soil. I sow batches of 12 pots at a time since 12 of the 10cm pots neatly fits into a cat litter tray. Thank you, Do u know good seeds seller? Otherwise I prefer to sow in August and September to get a head start before the heat of summer sets in. I am just starting a new project trying to grow lithops from seeds. Help/Question. The first obstacle is sourcing good quality seeds. Seedlings start to turn bright green and almost disappear within 24 hours. Are they available from Takealot or similar? Germinating lithops seeds is fairly straightforward, though living stones plants grown from seed aren’t mature enough to flower until they’re several years old. When the capsule becomes dry again, it closes again and locks up the remaining seed until the next rains. Thank you so much for putting this information out there! These seed types are usually hardy, and fortunately growing cacti from seeds is almost like growing other succulents. Too frequent watering can stun plant growth. If you cannot find Funginex DO NOT replace with something else. I realise that new grower might prefer to narrow it down a bit more so I will venture into giving some proportions. In my experience, most Ebay sources for Lithops seeds are not legitimate. Sow the seeds during the summer in sandy medium, covering with a very thin layer of fi ne sand. To start off, order your seeds from a reputable supplier. E.g. Although there are other methods of starting a Lithops collection, growing from seed is by far the least expensive and the most rewarding. 2. In practice, all lithops can be treated as summer-growing for cultivation purposes. If you will sleep better, use half strength, but in experiments I conducted I have used up to 5 times recommended dose without ill effects. Can you give a bit more info about the label stock you use for laser printing your labels? I enjoyed reading your blog. https://www.joshdoesathing.com/growing-lithops-from-seed, Hi Jacques! The new recipe has proven useless for those treating roses. This makes sowing easier. I like to leave a gap of 5mm or so below the top. I sewed my little seeds in it and now they have sprouted. Lithops are short in height, very rarely growing taller than an inch higher than the soil in which they live. The affected ones will quickly dry up and the healthy ones will remain plump. Water the soil with the plant misting bottle. This helps them to effectively absorb moisture before germinating. You can also have a look at what seeds I have to offer here. karasmontana subsp. Jim. For bulk sowing of 12 pots or more I prefer printing labels electronically as my handwriting is totally illegible. Figure 9 shows two pots of Lithops gesinea that was treated the same except the pot on the right was sterilised for a couple of minutes a microwave oven. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Provide Lithops with about five hours of sunlight per day. How quickly/soon should this be done? Wow, this was so in depth and helpful. If it becomes necessary to soak the pots, I simply add some water to the trays. Cover the pot with plastic wrap or a glass pane to help promote the soil moisture retention. We are in late summer here. Try and removed as much of the husk debris as possible as this may decay under fungal attack that can spread to the seeds. For now, leave them alone for at least the first year. Pick out the remaining ones with a toothpick. (Approx 50 seeds per packet) * $2.75 Trying to minimize the green stuff while growing seedlings. The seeds (at least the viable ones) quickly drop to bottom and the debris floating can be decanted and discarded. At this stage I do not mix the ingredients strictly by volume but eye-ball it as I go along. Now move it to a place where it receives bright light but not direct sun. It is of course important that they receive adequate light after germination otherwise they will become “leggy”. This is probably the most important step in sowing Lithops (and other Mesembs except Dinteranthus that are so small that they probably do better with no top layer). Offer some more shade should this happen. Lithops will probably germinate in many types of substrates but while many will support good germination, they can become problematic in the long run. Never in direct sunlight. After several mistakes, I now have the following objectives when creating a substrate for germinating Lithops. Questions about growing lithops from seed! Seeds remain viable for up to 10 years if stored this way. In our previous blog post we discussed Sources of Lithops seeds. Happy sowing! I was trying to get the swimming poll filter sand and seems quite expensive. In fact, if you have a few Lithops, you can get your own seeds! DUST-LIKE SEEDS. I have record of all seed received in an Excel database which I can import into my automatic label printing program. Rather not use anything at all unless you could ascertain from the label that the active ingredient is Triforien. Here’s an article about how to grow cacti and succulents from seeds. Or chicken grit. (I actually expect that is more a temperature issue than a light issue) Since they cannot photosynthesize any more, they will eventually die when they have used up all their resources. thops subsp. Fine sand has grain size of around 1/205″. I live alone, so i cannot ask anyone to help on this. 3. When you say 6% hydrogen peroxide, do you mean you mix your own solution (6 parts first aid hydrogen peroxide:94 parts water) or is there a 6% hydrogen peroxide available in South Africa? How to Grow Bamboo from Seed. Excellent info here.Just started with Lithops ,sowing from seed. While the water still swirling, suck up the seeds with a plastic pipet or eye dropper (South African reader – think Westpack). There is also some concerns from some growers that storing seeds in non-breathable envelopes for prolonged periods may affect germination rates. Growing living stones from seed is a long, time consuming process. Sometimes water will puddle on top and eventually drain along the sides without reaching the roots. L. lesliei 4. Sprinkle the seeds on the moist soil, bag them (transparent bag or cling wrap) and place the pot under grow lights or a west/east facing window. Sprinkle the seeds over the soil. To protect the seeds from dryness they are covered with a … Hi Juan, thanks for the kind feedback. When this becomes evident, I prefer soaking the pots in water so that air is displaced by the rising water level. Make sure you remove excess water after a couple of hours. Once temperatures start to drop again as autumn approaches, I will start sowing again, even up to April. 1. Prevention is better than cure but if you are face with this situation you can try and quarantine affected pots (i.e remove from tray that contain other pots to limit chance of it spreading to other pots), withhold water, and increase ventilation. Hi John. Seeds that are not going to be used immediately are, according to my current understanding, best stored in the whole capsules at room temperature. L. julii reticulata, 3. ( Log Out /  Remove the plastic bag and water when the compost becomes dry, but spray the surface with water regularly, to keep it moist.

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