My first experience growing non-lithops Mesembs from seed was growing Delosperma and Frithia. I don't have much room here but just couldn't resist sowing some more. Looks like I'll be posting a lot of baby pictures, bear with me. :) Here are the young Titanopsis calcarea seedlings from before (own seeds). It's fun watching them - so tiny and already all the cute warts are visible.
They look very nice. Your close up photos are very good. My recently sown lithops are coming up but they are too small to get a good picture. To get the camera close enough for a picture I block out all the light! I have Lithops lesliei v. hornii and Lithops bromfieldii sown and now beginning to germinate. I find myself checking the pots several times a day, as though that will make the seeds germinate faster!
ReplyDeleteBelieve me, I do the same. With a little luck you do find some new green coming up from time to time. :)
DeleteThanks! I use the macro function on my camera for plants. For this particular photo flash was necessary, otherwise everything would be blurry.
Hello again! How did you learn to grow these? Do you have a book or good online resource you could refer me to? One question that comes to mind while looking at your babies is -- when should one let these babes start to dry out? I've heard that the more warty a titanopsis is, the less water it's been given. (Perhaps I read that on your blog, I'm thinking!) My adult (that I bought as a teensy plant from a grocery years ago) is covered in warts and I adore it. I've seen others for sale online that are much more stemmy/leafy appearing and much less warty.
ReplyDeleteHere's a picture :) http://imgur.com/uNqB23J
Anyway I would love to do my own research and hate the thought of pestering you for information, but I'm finding little to none online information about the germination and early-life development of these guys. Could you suggest anything?
Thanks again for the wonderful blog!
Hi again to you too :)
DeleteI didn't learn it anywhere. I generally just sow the seeds and see what happens. I treat all my mesemb seedlings like lithops. Letting the soil dry out depends on their size. Titanipsis get big enough quite quickly compared to lithops. They won't give you any trouble. Just watch them closely and react to what they do.
About the warts, it's certainly true. But you shouldn't concern yourself with that just yet. You should not go hard at your tiny seedlings. It only goes for adult plants. With those indeed, the less water the better their shape. BUT! The main factor is sunlight. Water is secundary. You basically adjust your waterings on the light the plant gets. The plant will have great (meaning small) shape and beautiful warts if grown in full light. It will be beautiful even if you water a lot. If the light conditions are rather bad you need to compensate by giving as little water as possible to maintain the good shape. This goes for all mesembs.
The plant you got is very beautiful ! :) Lots of sunlight and little water will keep it that way. You can look forward to some flowers this year, too ;)
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