Random seedlings report (13 pics)

It's always fun to grow plants from seed. Even if you know approximately what to expect you never know what their growth pattern will be or how the seedlings will turn out in the end. It is even more fun to grow something from seed that you have not grown before. Sure, most of the time you are just guessing how to care for such seedlings. And you do make mistakes. But this is all part of the fun of discovery and will help you understand the plants later.

I have tried growing Conophytums from seed before but they either didn't germinate or died right after. And so I consider my latest attempt the actual first try. They went through a couple of leaf changes and they are still alive. Being one year old, they went to sleep in the spring just like adults. But they were so very tiny! I really didn't want to let them do that, thinking they need to get bigger first. They didn't listen, of course, and were just doing their thing. I woke them up again recently and luckily all of them seem to be alive underneath the sheaths. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to wake them up a month early but that's also part of the experience.

Conophytum pillansii

I'm happy to report that Oophytum nanum seedlings (1 year old) are also slowly coming out of their slumber. I was really worried they wouldn't.

Below are Meyerophytum meyeri (MG1778.65) seedlings I grew last year. Another of the firsts. The plants have turned out to be easy to grow and very eager to branch out. I understand, as winter growers, they also should be in sheaths but I didn't let them do that out of the usual concern - too young and small for such a long time without water. I worry too much. These guys are tough.

I liked them so much that I sowed more this year. They make very cute seedlings (2 months old).

Meyerophytum meyeri (MG1778.65)

Meyerophytum meyeri v. holgatense (MG1778.7)

My youngest lithops seedlings are too small for photos so I will report on the second youngest bunches. I still have some of the seedlings of which I don't know the names. A couple of them look like L. olivacea. The rest I'm still not sure. They are uniform though and once they are bigger I'll probably be able to match them with my sowing list of around that time (most likely C266). We'll see.

L. dorotheae de Boer from the seeds of my own plants are also growing. You can even already see the characteristic lines and dots and colors.

This year I'm also growing Neohenricia sibbetii (MG1782.12) from seed. Mainly because my own adult plants are all cuttings of the same plant and I'd really like to be able to produce seeds. It might take years until they flower.

Can you guess what these tiny blobs are? That's right, Adromischus mariannae v. herrei. This is the first time for me to attempt them from seed. They look crazy! Just spheres with a root. Really hope I won't kill them. Very curious to see them grow.

MG2129.54

MG2129.56


Last year all my Delosperma harazianum got eaten by bugs and then froze on the balcony where they and the bugs were banned to. So now I'm starting again from seed. They are already beautiful (3 months old). Now to keep mites away from them...

And these are the red flowering Delosperma "garnet" seedlings. Because why not :)

Plant similarities (5 pics)

I wanted to write something clever about how Neohenricia sibbetii and Delosperma sphalmantoides are similar in looks and growing pattern when in fact I just wanted to post a couple of pictures I recently took of these two plants. They have finally started growing after their winter rest and show off their beautiful leaf tips in the mild spring sunlight. 

Even though they don't grow new leaves in the fall and winter months I've been watering them a little once in a while when I felt they looked too sad. They reacted by getting firmer but never by proper new growth. It's nice to see them happier now that spring has come. Both species dry off patches of leaves in the fall making them look scruffy but it all gets better once they start growing and cover the bald spots. In fact they will grow out of their containers before you know it! Neohenricia goes "overboard" every year and within 3 years since I've had it it went from half a pot to two pots and several cuttings I gave away. D. sphalmantoides is slower. I've had two plants, one of which was spreading like crazy just to dry off leaves rapidly at some point without compensation. It died soon after. The one that is left is more compact and I try not to stimulate rapid growth. It is important that there is a balance between growing new leaves and drying off old ones. I reckon, when it grows too many new leaves it leads to problems later as it will have to keep it up. Better to have it grow few new leaves and dry off few. I'm still figuring out how to achieve that. Probably diet.

The flowering pattern is completely different for these two species. While Neohenricia flowers eagerly all summer long (at night!), D. sphalmantoides only sometimes graces me with flowers in spring. Does not look like it's gonna happen this year though. But, as with so many other plants, I am content with looking at their leaves and see flowers as a rare treat, not a rule.

Recent flowers (8 pics)

I'm sorry I haven't been around for a while. It's been busy and stressful lately, I barely could look at my plants at all and I hope I can get to answering the emails soon... My life is mostly work and sleep and work. No time for a clear thought. 

I was trying to take pictures of the flowers in the evenings though. This is what has been flowering since my last post.

Lithops dorotheae C300 has skipped a year but developed a beautiful flower again this time.

Delosperma harazianum has opened another flower and is growing two more at the moment. Utterly cute!

Crassula ausensis ssp. titanopsisis having a second wave of flowering (smells like cheese)...

... while Neohenricia sibbetii has grown its last flower for this season. It has been at it since May! It loves the company of an Adromischus by the way. I like to think that the pairing is mutually beneficial.

Once of the Stomatium alboroseum seedlings (even though it's not a seedling anymore) has grown a second flower this season which is pretty neat.

Two of the Conophytums are blooming, too.

As well as one of the Tanquana hilmarii plants.

All in all my plants are getting on with their lives perfectly without me...

Naohenricia seed capsule (2 pics)

According to Steven Hammer hybrids between Neohenricia and Stomatium are possible and since both were flowering on my windowsill recently I tried cross-pollinating. At the moment I'm very proud to present you the nice and fat seed pod that my Neohenricia sibbetii is currently growing. This is the first time I see one on a Neohenricia and it's quite exciting. 

Also, this particular Neohenricia is friends with a Haworthia limifolia which is in fact this little cutting a year later. Neat! ;)

Neohenricia sibbetii 2014

One of the cuttings of my Neohenricia sibbetii has already started the flowering season. I had to stay late just to take the pictures - the flowers opened fully around 23:00!

Plant friendship

This could be a plot for a sitcom. Three different plants were made to share one pot and the hardships of their life together has made them into the best of friends. :)

The plants in this case are Gibbaeum geminum, Neohenricia sibbettii and Adromischus marianae v. herrei 'green form'. I potted them together last September because I didn't have the room (planting every small plant into its own container is a luxury on the windowsill) and I did so without knowing they would be compatible. I think they like growing together very much. 

Repotting the Neohenricia (4 pics)

It was about time. My Neohenricia sibbettii, once so cute and tiny, has outgrown its pot a while ago, going overboard with its branches (in 15 months or so). Another sign that a plant desparately needs repotting is the fact that water doesn't go into the soil... which means there's no soil, only roots. 

After quite a lot of squeezing and shaking I've finally managed to get the plant out of the 5x5x5cm pot and yes, roots, roots everywhere. For a crawling mesemb you wouldn't expect it to grow large and deep root system but here it is.

After a procedure that only can be called "roots massage" I've removed the pumice and devided the plant into eight cuttings. I will only keep three of them so please feel free to email me if you want some of the others! :)

The result doesn't show much difference. Only that it stays within the pot borders (for now!) but the transplantation was surely good for it and refreshing for its root system.

Neohenricia's open flowers

Yesterday I had to wait until 23:30 to see fully open Neohenricia flowers! Looks pretty and smells nice (in small quantities) but you can't enjoy it much if you're sleepy. Photos help with that. :)

Neohenricia's tiny flowers coming up

Only several sunny days and it's mostly cold and dark again. Good thing Neohenricia sibbettii doesn't need sunlight to open its flowers. I've counted 5 flower buds so far, most of them growing out of the parts that went "overboard". I'll be checking on them at night.

The pot is definitely too small. If I had more room I'd put the plant in a large but shallow container and let it grow in all directions. A large Neohenricia carpet must look really pretty.

Apropos Neohenricia (2 pics)

I was looking for a post to link to Neohenricia sibbettii for my last entry and as I saw an almost a year old picture of my plant I was pretty surprised to see how it has grown. Check this out:

Now

June 2012

I tried to cut one branch off and implant it separately but it didn't take. Even though the parts hanging over the border have some sort of roots they are rather dry and don't soak in water. Anything I should be aware of when making them take root?

Neohenricia sibbettii still flowers

There's still not much going on with Lithops, only one flower is visible. But at least some other succulents are flowering. My Haworthia limifolia has grown another flower stalk and there's a seed capsule even though there's no partner plant around. The Neohenricia sibbetii is flowering since almost three months non-stop! I've counted around 40 flowers so far. Still I think it weakens the plant itself a bit.

By the way, the scent isn't pleasant at all :D

Nightly flowers 3

Finally! Yesterday they've opened fully and I could take more or less proper pictures. The silky flowers are light-yellow with magenta-pink-ish tips. Tiny leaves, tiny flowers, very cute. :)

Nightly flowers 2

It's like those night photos of rare and endangered big cats in the wild. Here are the elusive Neohenricia flowers in their "almost open" state (the nearest I could get so far) at midnight. I guess the strong sweet fragrance is there to lead insects to the flowers in the dark. Too bad there's no fragrance-sensitive camera that would automatically go off when the flowers open. :)

Nightly flowers

Well, it's 11PM and here I am trying to catch the Neohenricia flowers. They just won't open fully BUT the scent is really strong (and nice!) even though there are only three tiny flowers (and more coming up). Any idea how to make them open all the way?

The flowers look pinkish-yellow but are probably near white when opened.
UPD: Patience is the key. It's 23:25 and the flowers are almost there.

Avonia and Neohenricia update

You can see big progress with the Avonia and Neohenricia flowers but they're still closed. They might need more evening sun or are just not ready yet. At least they have waited for me. Now they can take their time. :)

Neohenricia flower

Well, this is a surprise. I didn't think it would flower in the summer, unless it can do that at different times a year. Winter was my guess for two reasons. First, I got it with a dried up flower. Second, Steven Hammer writes he has successfully created hybrids of Neohenricia and Titanopsis (Neonopsis) which would mean they flower simultaneously, i.e. in winter. Maybe the plant is just confused like the fulviceps, it's only one flower after all. So far. Nevertheless I'm excited to see it. :)

The flowers should be odoriferous. But I guess there need to be twenty of them to notice something. Here's a picture with my finger still in it to show how tiny it actally is!

PS: Avonia alstonii has developed flower buds, too. I'll be away next weekend - hopefully both plants will bloom before (or after) that. 

Neohenricia sibbettii

Having very little room I'm trying to only buy small plants nowadays. I thought Neohenricia sibbettii were tiny bushes but it was actually a root-string with branches. Didn't even know how to pot it. After a little hesitation this lovely textured plant got over the condition change and is now pushing countless new leaves. I'd love to see it as a tight cluster one day.