Sorry, to say so, but Jojo's right about vermiculite being bad news for succulents; it holds water which is the exact opposite of what one wants w/ succulents, which is for the mix to be as fast draining as possible. Miracle Gro potting mix has peat (bad for C&S) & likely also wetting agents (also bad for this). The mixed in gravel doesn't help either. I've got a west window full of Aloes that I'm only watering abt every 2 wks now. Also these plants do better in clay pots than plastic.

Thank you so much for your reply! I really appreciate all of the information. I didn't even think to pollinate all of them - I just did 3 because the videos I watched had only pollinated one or two and I thought that would be enough. Unfortunately, my all of my paternal plant's blooms have fallen off (too many suckers, a lot of the blooms were on their way out when I had bought them, but the plant itself looks very healthy. It's growing rapidly - I can't believe it. It's a good time to repot though, since it's not like I have to sacrifice my pretty little flowers). By the way, about how long does it take for new flowers to bloom after repotting? Once both plants are ready, I'll try again. I'm so excited! That's a great idea as well! I had just tied strings around the ones I pollinated. I had seen a few people take off the petals of their pollinated ones, but I wasn't sure how much of a difference it'd make. And even if that is just a superstition, I wouldn't be surprised if it were true. It may be the mother plant's fault - but I also don't know if I pollinated too late? The flowers had been quite open by the time I pollinated, and the paternal plant's pollen was also a bit old (though, I read older pollen is actually considered better in some cases). Thank you for the suggestion, I'll give it a go! Would getting a humidifier do the same job, or would it not help as much since all of the humidity wouldn't be concentrated in one little space? (I think all the plants could use a little more humidity) Will do :) Wow, your seedlings look great! The leaves are very interesting - good luck with them!

Stromanthe. You can see the two leaves in this photo, the one that dried up is in the front and then the healthy one is in the back. There's also obvious new growth on the stems. The raggedy leaf in the back is worse for wear and not indicative of the other leaves! This is my oldest plant and it had it near death experience in my amateur care before I figured it out. And here are the two shoots that died. The first, larger, is on the right of the leftmost clump. The other one, smaller, is in the very front of the rightmost clump.

Some plants finally sprouted in my unheated 6'x5'x3' greenhouse (today and/or yesterday—I didn't check yesterday): Green De Belleville sorrel, Alisa Craig onion, Dwarf Greek basil, Santo Domingo Winter watermelon, and a couple weeds in my seed-starting mix. They each took about 8 to 11 days to sprout—so, longer for the okra than in 2017, and longer for the watermelon than in 2016. That's pretty quick for basil and onions, though if I remember right (compared to Spicy Globe Bush basil last year, and He Shi Ko bunching onions last year). I'm guessing the reason for my hypothesis about magnetizing the seeds increasing germination speed of large-seeded species may have been due entirely to other factors. There are some okra varieties, Torpeda melon, White Scallop squash and I believe other things with roots growing, though (roots have been there for a while), but last year, the okra took about 3 days to sprout; in 2016, watermelon took about 4 days to sprout. However, other variables were in play here (this year, the soil dried out a lot faster and that may have impacted germination). Last year, I planted everything in early April instead. In 2016, I probably planted the watermelon a couple weeks later than this year (but still in March). I'm pleased to find that Santo Domingo Winter is my first watermelon to sprout, this year, since it was a favorite last year. Yes, I know people usually start onions much earlier—but this is a long-term onion project (I don't intend to harvest them this year). I want to see if I can get them to grow like potato onions, since I've read that people have done so with regular onions that most people assume are biennial. Note that I don't keep things in the greenhouse. I transplant them in the garden usually in May or so. Anyway, I planted lots of stuff—so these things are the earliest of the earliest to sprout.