u/JTDoggo

and the conos are STILL not showing any activity....

Noticed it this morning in my Diplosoma Retroversum & Juttadinteria ausensis e Aurus 50/50 pot! Very excited to see what this grows into, and would love if someone could identify the species!

(Yes it's completely my fault for not labeling, completely forgot about that...)

Hey y'all! Recently ordered some seeds from Mesa Gardens and I wanted to show you guys the progress in case it helps anyone!

Note: Just a bored college student working off of observations on my dorm windowsill. Please don't take this as factual advice! Everybody has different climates.

Some nerdy stuff and shortcomings before I start. I definitely should've looked into the seeds more, but I could really only match them by growing season and family tree, I am running out of space on this windowsill!

As for the nerdy stuff:

Soil is 80%~90% inorganic pumice and other gritty rock/fired clay. Didn't use any perlite at all. The rocks are allegedly 1~3mm but I would errr on the side of caution and get smaller ones if you try. The remainder is just whatever organics I had on hand, coco coir, succulent potting soil, whatever.

I would definitely recommend getting seed starting soil, fine grit, and a bit of sand if possible.

Microwaved the organics until steaming, probably was too hot, then watered the grit and organic mix with 1.5% hydrogen peroxide and 1% neem oil. Threw in some slow release succulent 10-10-10 fertilizer into the pot too.

But honestly liquid fertilizer would be your best bet, I just used what I could get.

I covered with plastic wrap/ziploc bags until I was happy with the germination, control moisture however you want but I let the seeds air out with frequent misting after I lifted the covers.

I would worry less about the moisture if the seeds had a layer of sand on top.

As for planting, most of the seeds were just sprinkled onto the pot and watered to help them slip under the rock cracks, some needed a bit of repositioning to get them down. Nature will find its way though (it's a whole thing with gravity sensitive signals), so I wouldn't worry too much unless your rocks are gigantic. A fine layer of sand on top of soil/inorganic would be ideal but I didn't have that.

I'm in southern california hardiness zone 9-11, western facing windowsill.

I mist/drip surface water to keep the top layer slightly moist, I would recommend bottom watering if possible.

Anyways!

All were 20-30 seed packs other than 40-60 for pleiospilos and 0.05 grams for lithops (yes I know I might've messed up here.)

1, 2: Lithops mix, sprouted very quickly and uniformly. I misted constantly to avoid drying out. They're also the two pots that receive the most sun as they're not behind glass. Seems to have some algae growth with the brown stuff but it should be harmless. Minor sun stress?

3: Gibbaeum Cryptopodium & Glottiphylum Neilii, iffy and slow spouting, but the survivors so far are growing vigorously! One of the species look more like lithops seedlings and the other looks like pleiospilos, but I forgot to label.... The slow sprouting could be due to it being the most shaded pot.

4: Conophytum mix, I'm honestly stumped on this one, there's no activity whatsoever so I'm letting it sit in the ziploc jail. Conos are scary!

5: Diplosoma Retroversum & Juttadinteria ausensis e Aurus, again I should've labeled. Very unique seedlings but one species definitely germinates a lot faster! Using a squirt bottle to keep the unsprouted side moist.

6: Pleiospilos mix, very quick and vigorous growth. Seedlings take on slight sun stress coloring at the edges, not sure if it's a cause for concern. Not much to say other than I'm happy!

7: Free Parodia Notocactus pack, very slow germinators but they look like cute little green boba pearls! Many blogs say they can't take moisture fluctuations too well so I'm proceeding with caution with these.

8: Schawntesia Rudebuschii & Dinteranthus Pole Evansii, not much going on.... might get put in ziploc jail soon, maybe the seedlings are slow at pushing upwards.

9: Argyroderma mix and Lapidaria Margaretae, similar slow situation, at least both pots seem to have a hint of green beneath the rocks.

10: Hereroa Pallens & Rabiea Difformis, clearly different germination rates but both sprouts are similar in form. Not much to say other than I'll be treating them like pleiospilos seedlings for now.

11: Ruschia Pulvinaris, different germination rates between itself, but honestly I'm glad it's alive and going at its own pace!

12: The seed pack haul, honestly amazing germination considering my poor experience and limited research materials (Google, succulent blogs, facebook and reddit groups, youtube, and a dream)

The sprouts are not done peeking out from the soil yet! Give them some time to slide past the... alleged 1-3mm pumice.

I will say that the pumice is AMAZING for helping plants grow upright, they won't peek out and establish leaves until they can maneuver around the rocks, at which point it will be supported!