nice job, i have some astrophyums and others and they havent even sprouted yet, its been like a week. (sigh) oh well!
cactuscrazy

Your Faucaria has no name, hence Faucaria sp. It may be a new species or it may be an unusual form of an existing species. Its a shame that it has no field collection number but you can refer to it as MG 1505.45 to identify it uniquely.

The Faucaria and Lithops could do with some sun to help them fatten up and stand up, but no panic about it. The Echinopsis already has plenty of light ;)

Astrophytums are amongst the fastest seeds to germinate, usually some shows in 3-4 days. Maybe try a little warmer?

Shrubs...they are in a south window with plenty of light...I think they are leaning because I had just finished spraying them down...they pop back up after a bit...

I will be anxious to see what the Faucaria looks like when it is mature....I found a great pic of the Lithops and am very excited about that one...

Did you find a picture of the "special texture" form? I would be interested in seeing that. The regular C046 has a slightly textured network of dark lines, becoming much finer towards the edge of the leaves, on a brown background.

Is this it?

Here is a link that might be useful: Lithops

That's a "standard" C046 L. aucampiae, quite a nice one. Yours may look quite different. I'm not familiar with the "special texture" form so I don't know what is special about it :)

Guess I will just have to be surprised then! Takes about a year for them to mature, no?

Takes about a year for them to mature, no?

NO! LOL.

You should expect to see the first true leaves a few months after sowing, so you'll then have an idea of the pattern and colour, but they'll be tiny, 1/4"-1/2" across at best. With luck you'll get a second set of true leaves the following spring, bigger and easier to see. Then at 3-4 years old you can start hoping for flowers.

I guess I should have been more specific...I didn't mean flowering maturity, just mature enough to take on the characteristics of the mature plant....so I will be able to see what it is going to look like. Shame on me for not being more clear...lol! I am happy that it will only take a few months...I will be waiting rather impatiently...they have grown quite a bit since those pics were taken...cute little buggers.

I'm jealous!
A few years ago I tried to grow Lithops but they didn't survive.

Hey Shrubs...can I put them outside? They would be in a protected area with all of my wintersown perennials...

What do you think?

Ouside is fine, but keep away from direct sun. One technique I tried that worked well was to tape some supermarket bags to a large piece of glass (i.e. old window) or plastic (you can get it at Home Depot)...the plastic bag material would dampen strong sunlight, you just need to position it somehow (be creative!) so that it is stable over the pots, but still allows air circulation below.

Be cautious also of excess moisture during cool and cloudy weather. Lithops and Faucaria are more tolerant and will put on growth slowly even if it is not very warm, but the cactus need warmth (50's night, 70+ day) to grow well.

Hope that helps.

you said they grew since that pic, now I am eager to see, can you post more pics.....I have a cactus baby too, just one....lol, they are so cute.

Lithops seedlings grow fastest with consistent warmth and moisture with fairly high humidity. This works well for the first couple of months to put on a lot of growth quickly. Eventually, certainly once the first true leaves come through, you'll need to give them strong light, lower humidity, and more temperature variation, or they will just bloat up so badly they will die.

Lithops seedlings are also quite happy in the sun, even very strong sun, but they must not be allowed to overheat. On a cool day or when there is a reasonable breeze, full sun is fine. On hot still days in summer you will definitely need to shade them. Lithops will colour up strongly even before the first true leaves appear, this is normal. L. aucampiae will go a dark reddish brown. Any sign of bleaching is a warning that they are overheating. A boiled Lithops will go completely white or transparent, it is then effectively dead.

In the sun you will need to water quite frequently during the first summer. Don't allow the pots to completely dry through until winter is approaching. Although regular water is needed, you probably still want to protect the little Lithops from torrential rains or long continuous periods of rain.

Faucaria seedlings will grow under more or less the same conditions. Definitely don't allow them to dry out completely.

Most cactus seedlings, your Echinopsis for sure, will not like full sun at this size. Try some morning sun when they get a little bigger. Watch the colour carefully, dark green is good, some brownish shades like yours is OK, strong red is too much light, crimson or pink is damaged by the light. Pale green or yellow usually means they need more light but be careful since it could also indicate overwatering, too cold, or nutrient problems. Cactus seedlings will grow successfully for the first year or two with constant high humidity. I keep seedlings in a propagator for at least two or three months. In the open air they should be watered regularly and not allowed to dry out completely until cooler weather arrives in autumn.

hey,
i am really intrested in lithops and i have jus got about 1000 seeds of all differnt types of them andhave put some in pots and nothing after a week i have tryed befor and faild ? am i doin some hting wrong?
please could you give me advice like what to plain them in like sand soil ?
and should i put them in a propagator will taht make them grow ?
also i have a question if u follow the link could some one please tell me the type of lithops it is in the center bright green rreally nice kind reaggard ash
email- alibal22@googlemail.com

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:530195}}