Friday, April 13, 2012

pricking out seedlings

I've been watching my nine months old lesliei ssp. burchellii C308 pushing and squeezing each other in their far too small container long enough. Yesterday they needed to be transplanted, and even though they still don't have much room in the new pots it took three of them with 15 to 17 plants in each to shelter them all. I'm very glad to see how quickly they've grown and how nice and fat they've turned out. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with so many plants of one kind since I didn't expect them all to survive but it's nice to see them grow and develop deverse and pretty patterns.
Before
After (arranged in order of size)
You can trace the development of these seedlings clicking on the seedlings 2011 tag below. ;)

8 comments:

  1. Wow! They are awesome for their age, great result! Their strong roots are especially impressive! I like C308 too, their pattern is unique. I ordered the seeds last autumn twice, but failed to get them (((. Maybe this year. And where did you get 'Fred's redhead' seeds, Rika?

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    1. Thanks Eugene :)
      My seedlings normally grow slowly so I'm expecting them to take a break soon. Can't wait to see their "grown-up" pattern, C308 really are beautiful (auc. fluminalis seem to have similar properties, they are my another must-haves). I might be selling some of C308 sometime when they are bigger, in case you're interested.. The biggest are now 1 cm.
      I got 'Fred's Redhead' from Steven Hammer two years ago. The color is pretty crazy :)

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  2. You really have some nice pics and lithops Rika, you are certainly doing a great job. I am new to blogging, but started and will slowly develop my blog http://lttreasures.blogspot.com/
    and also show some of my lithops babies.

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    1. Thanks! I'm glad you like it :)
      I've checked your blog. You have some amazing photos posted. Are the plants all yours? The Aloinopsis is love. Looking forward to seeing your lithops kids.

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    2. Thanks! Yes, they are all mine. My collection is mostly on Crassula, Mesembs, Aloe and Haworthia.

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    3. They look great, congrats! I don't have room for more succulents but I'm very interested in other Mesembs (and not only Mesembs). I own a cute crassula rupestris which is growing very fast at the moment. I'm worried the braches will get too heavy and break or pull the plant down. Do you think it needs some kind of a support frame?

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    4. The stem of Crassula rupestris is pretty tough usually to stand the weight of the branches. But if this weight becomes threatening one may use supporting frame, it won't cause any harm anyway. You can also cut several branches or their parts and put these cuttings into the soil under the main plant. The cuttings will root themselves easily and will be not only of additional support for the main plant, but will form a little grove or bush.

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    5. Thanks Eugene! I guess I'll need to consider cutting if it grows at this rate. The thing is - one branch has now five or more new bramches growing at it's tip, making the main branch heavy. I'll see where it goes. Thank you again for answering :)

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