Mesembs sowing timing

[Geri88]

I have finally received my seed (Conos and Lithops) from the MSG, and I was wondering if it is still fine to sow now, of if it would be better to hold my fire until te beginning of next year.
Any thoughts?

[Terry S.]

You can sow any summer-growers now, Lithops, Dinteranthus, Faucaria, etc., it is an ideal time. But hold fire with the conos and any other winter-growers until cooler weather. Mesemb seeds last for ever (well, as long as I am likely to last!)

[ragamala]

You can sow any summer-growers now, Lithops, Dinteranthus, Faucaria, etc., it is an ideal time. But hold fire with the conos and any other winter-growers until cooler weather. Mesemb seeds last for ever (well, as long as I am likely to last!)

Crikey. Pretty cool weather in my area, Terry! I assume you mean Autumn.

I took that decision, for personal reasons, and yes the Cono seed (for which I am sure you deserve many more thanks than I can offer) I have no problem with storing up until next year.

As a slight aside - do you have any advice as to storing Cono seed in fridge to help preserve germination rates?

[Aiko]

You can sow them all now, the weather is still perfectly fine for them as nights are still nice and cold and daytime temperatures are moderate.

You could also sow the winter active species like Conophytums now (along with other winter active species), not just the Lithops. Treat them like any other succulent seedling during summer, and then in autumn continue to water these through winter, only to stop watering in spring at around this time.

I personally have more succes sowing Conophytums and such winter active plants in spring than in autumn. In autumn there are always very warm and sunny days where the little seedlings tend to burn away before they get to a decent size. If you sow now, they will be able to grow a bit before the real heat comes and they might enjoy the summer sun in their first year.

[Terry S.]

I am surprised to learn that the sun is stronger in October than in May in the Netherlands. Unless one has super cool conditions over summer, the winter-growing mesembs will be forced into a short dormancy maybe just a couple of months after germination and while they are still very small.

The problem I find with autumn (end Sept, early Oct) sowing in the greenhouse is that I get some damping off during mild but humid weather. Hence my penchant for sowing on 1st January. I have not tried it, but I suspect autumn sowing on a windowsill would be a good approach to try.

I have not tried storing mesemb seeds in a fridge, they last long enough in my spare room for my purposes. What I would not recommend is storing in a fridge immediately after harvesting. There is some evidence that mesemb seeds continue to mature and improve in germination potential for one or two years after harvest. So maybe two years at room temperature and then into the fridge. After Catherine's post about the unusual plant that had come from a batch of Aloinopsis seed I resurrected the batch of 7-year old MSG seed and sowed some, germination is starting after less than a week.

[ragamala]

I have not tried storing mesemb seeds in a fridge, they last long enough in my spare room for my purposes.

Thanks for the advice, Terry.

[Aiko]

I am surprised to learn that the sun is stronger in October than in May in the Netherlands.

If I sow in October, nothing will grow to a good size before next spring. At least not for me. I do my sowings in late August or preferably early September, so there are a few more weeks for the seedlings to enjoy sun. If I sow in October, by the time the seedlings germinate it would be november already; the second gloomiest month of the year followed by theh gloomiest of all...

If sown in September it comes up really well but an unfortunate warm day with a lot of sunshine can kill off little seedlings when they are still very tiny. It could get to 30C easily even in late September, the greenhouse will be much hotter.

So I sow in late March (when severe frosts are usually over, well, apparently not this year), they come up really well and then they have a few weeks of moderate heat in April to get to a size they can withstand the warmth of May and following months and enjoy make use of the sunlight provided which they don't get so easily in late autumn and winter.

[Roatavator]

I was given a few Cono seeds last year and as an experiment tried sowing early autumn. Like Terry I’ve had a lot of damping off. Previous year I had much more success with January sowing, unfortunately lost the lot in the very hot summer while I was on holiday in Wales.
If I’m successful in MSG order I might this year sow half now and half autumn for comparison.
Makes me wonder how the poor things survive in habitat, presumably germination in wet season is shortly followed by very hot and dry when the seedlings are still very small. I’d guess in the wild there are major losses, possibly those which do survive are in very sheltered positions? Any expert who has seen them in habitat able to advise and provide detail?

[rthr]

I agree with Aiko - I'd sow them all now. I have best results sowing most mesembs in March/April and have found that you can safely water the baby conos through the summer in their first year. They don't need and indeed don't much like the same long summer dormancy that adult conophytums do. Let them dry out for a couple of weeks after about 10 weeks of growth and then resume watering.
Catherine

[Christian]

I have sown Conos in March/April and kept them on a North facing windowsill, in the coolest room of the house. It worked quite well, and they are now going into their first proper dormancy. I am sure they were better down earlier in the year, but I never get round to doing it then.