Growing From Seed
This is a continuation of [Seedling Photos[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/seedling-photos-dsvw-vd~5166571), a thread started where I posted some photos of seedlings. As time went on, others joined in and there was some discussion. Perhaps this could be the place to discuss growing cactus and succulents from seed, in addition to displaying photos.
Comments (197)
fatich
4 years ago
isde02(zone5b)
4 years agoPachypodium eburneum
Pachypodium Densiflorum
Pachypodium Brevicaule sp. Leucoxanthum
Adenium Somalense "Nova Tanzania"
Jeff (5b) thanked isde02(zone5b)Related Discussions
growing from seed in an earthbox
Comments (3)Well I'll try to answer a couple of your questions based on my experience with Earthboxes. ;) First I assume you know that they are not intended for direct seeding but are intended for transplants only. So you are sort of starting out with 2 strikes against you by trying to direct seed to the EB. The best approach is to grow your own seedlings in a regular seed starting container inside and then transplant them to an earthbox after they are hardened off. That would be the standard approach. That said, it is sort of possible to direct seed in them IF you treat them just as you would a patch of outside ground the same size as the box. EX: for lettuce, at proper planting time outside, you'd (1) cut two narrow strips about 4-5" apart out of the plastic cover approximately the length of the box, plant your seeds in those rows and once they germinate well you thin the seedlings to 6" apart just as you would in a garden OR (2) leave the plastic off all together and scatter plant the lettuce seed all over the top, then thin the seedlings as needed. If wind is a problems for you then you'll have to construct some sort of wind shield for the planters or find a more sheltered location for the boxes. Some plants will require supports - definitely the tomatoes will and likely the cukes too. First I'll start with cool weather crops, and then once the weather becomes warm enough and the cool weather stuff has matured, I'll move onto warm weather crops. I have to say I think you are over-estimating what you are going to be able to plant with only 3 EB. Most of your so-called cool weather crops will still be going strong long after it is time to get your tomatoes and cukes and beans planted. ;) You'll be ripping out productive crops to get those other things planted. You don't say your zone like most of us do or where you live so I have no way of knowing how long your gardening season is but turnips and beets and even the lettuce and spinach are long lasting crops so their boxes won't be free for those other crops. You might want to consider cutting back on the number of things you try to grow with only 3 boxes or invest in more boxes. I'd suggest you use 1 box for mixed lettuce, spinach and a few radishes, skip the beets, turnips, and peas since you won't get much from them anyway, use one box for cukes, and 1 for tomatoes. Hope this helps. Dave...See MoreCarrot seeds sprouted, first time growing from seed!
Comments (7)Ashley: Carrots are notoriously slow to germinate. I plant them in my garden each year. It can take up to 15 days before they are up and visible. Be patient when growing carrots. I also find they are real slow growing for me once they do germinate for the first 1/2 of the season. I often wonder if they are going to amount to anything, then they always surprise me with how much root and shoot growth I get in August/September when they start sizing up nicely. Everything I planted in my garden in late may is growing well, big and looking good except my carrots. They just sit there for weeks on end and now are just starting to get some height. I know by Late September they will be good for harvest. I think eating carrots fresh picked are truly amazing in flavor. While they do store well for me in the refrigerator, nothing beats eating them very shortly after picking. Such a nice intense carrot flavor....See MoreTrees I'll be growing from seed.
Comments (77)9-12-2023: There's a story behind these two newer Tsuga c. ;-) This all started in Sept 2018 when I collected seed from (at the time) what was the Minnesota state champion tsuga c. I never grew much from seed before and by Sept 2019, the 3 or 4 little seedlings were barely an inch tall. I put them into the cold frame for the winter and got them to start growing better the first months of 2020 (april-may?) after I brought them into the house. At the same time, I started more seeds I collected somewhere out in northern New Hampshire. When the growing season began, end of May, I planted two of the best State Champ seedlings outside in the ground, in two sperate areas. My vision was a spot that might provide more protection from sun and wind during the winter (I was already struggling with a larger tree that sunburned every winter I didn't cover it). First area: State Champ tree #1. I figured the red pine would keep late winter/early spring sun off the tree, even though it might take a few more years for them to mature. Snow accumulates more in this end of the yard also. Second area: State champion tree #2. It doesn't show in the picture but the small shed is just right of the new tree. To the left is a red pine that I'll someday sacrifice when the tsuga is ready. Stupidly, I simply watered these without any fertilizer at all and by middle of summer, they didn't look good at all. Not wanting to keep messing with these struggling trees, I pulled them and sometime in midsummer of 2020, planted the last two Tsuga c. I had, that I had kept in pots and were growing quite well on the plant table under controlled conditions. One was a MN State Champ seedling and the other was from the New Hampshire seedlings. So, with more experience and a garden hose to get through the dry spells, they pretty much look like they do pictured above in my last post. Below shows the NH tree better in its sheltered location. I may have to sunshade it a year or two yet. This is a better shot of State champ tree (left center) on the SE corner of the yard. :-)...See MoreWhich citrus worth growing from seed?
Comments (6)Almost any citrus can be grown from seed and will be likely to produce good or decent fruit. Some seedless varieties of citrus are triploids (chromosome set) and so if a seed is grown from it, you will most likely get a very similar type of fruit except it will be full of seeds. Be careful about pollination because if the flowers were pollinated by a different citrus variety, the plant that grows from the seed may turn out to be a hybrid between two different varieties. Many citrus varieties produce mostly, or almost entirely, nucellar seed, which means the seed is a genetic clone of its parent. This really depends on the variety. In general, almost all oranges produce almost entirely nucellar seed. Most regular lemons and grapefruits might produce around 70% nucellar seeds. Also be aware that plants that are not grafted onto different special rootstock will take much longer before they begin producing fruit, and the tree will have to reach a bigger size before it begins fruiting. That could mean you have to wait many more years. This is true with most fruit trees, not only citrus. Growing from seed is kind of complicated and there are many things about that you should probably know. Things that I do not feel like wasting my time here writing, because this question keeps getting brought up over and over again, and nobody ever bothers to waste their time reading answers that were posted in past threads about the same question....See More
stupidlazydog CT zone 5b/6a
4 years agoisde02(zone5b)
4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
Ycloh1 (Singapore)
4 years agostupidlazydog CT zone 5b/6a
4 years agoisde02(zone5b)
4 years agostupidlazydog CT zone 5b/6a
4 years agoStefan
4 years agoisde02(zone5b)
4 years agoisde02(zone5b)
4 years agoisde02(zone5b)
4 years agoAnything up for you yet Wendy? Are you using a heat mat?
Ycloh1, have you received your seeds yet?
Sinnigia iarae, impossible to see in the picture but they're each starting to form a mini caudex.
stupidlazydog CT zone 5b/6a
4 years ago
Jeff (5b)
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoPotted some one and a half year old seedlings. Lithops, Faucaria, and Titanopsis. Largest pots are 3".
tanpexoctics Willis
4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
Not sure what this is going to be anybody want to start guessing lol
However it will be welcomed whatever it turns out to be
Jeff (5b) thanked tanpexoctics Willisisde02(zone5b)
4 years agoRepotted my pachypodium rutenbergianum a couple of weeks ago and they're growing like a weed.
Here is my pachypodium succulentum seedling that's taken off after I finally repotted it and gave it some root run.
Jeff (5b) thanked isde02(zone5b)isde02(zone5b)
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoOperculicarya decaryi doing well, ready for a bigger pot soon.
Aloe microstigma, more ended up sprouting than I expected. Maybe I should separate them now before all of the spines grow.
Euphorbia Venefica.
Jeff (5b) thanked isde02(zone5b)tanpexoctics Willis
4 years agotanpexoctics Willis
4 years agoNot fat plants but maybe bonsai one day
Couple chinese elm ..olive trees. ficus have some drawf pomegranate seeds starting to
Jeff (5b) thanked tanpexoctics Willisstupidlazydog CT zone 5b/6a
4 years agoThe Big Sapini (sounds like a magician) has a seed pod!
Only one of the flowers developed a pod, but at least better than nothing :-)
Jeff (5b) thanked stupidlazydog CT zone 5b/6aisde02(zone5b)
4 years agostupidlazydog CT zone 5b/6a
4 years agostupidlazydog CT zone 5b/6a
4 years agoHere are my Euphorbia francoisii at one year old...
All are seed from Thailand, except for the bottom right which is the one seed I got from my E. francoisii crassicaulis rubrifolia. They're developing quite an array of leaf colors and shapes. It's fun to see them grow.
Jeff (5b) thanked stupidlazydog CT zone 5b/6aYcloh1 (Singapore)
4 years agostupidlazydog CT zone 5b/6a
4 years agoYcloh1 (Singapore)
4 years agoYcloh1 (Singapore)
4 years agoEuphorbia bupleurifolia seedling have grown much while we are chatting here. ;)
Close up forming little Caudex
Jeff (5b) thanked Ycloh1 (Singapore)stupidlazydog CT zone 5b/6a
4 years agoYcloh1 (Singapore)
4 years agostupidlazydog CT zone 5b/6a
4 years agoYcloh1 (Singapore)
4 years agoYcloh1 (Singapore)
4 years agoDog, here is the leaf propagation. Have been in the pot for at least 6 months. Is rooted. And that it..
stupidlazydog CT zone 5b/6a
4 years agoisde02(zone5b)
4 years agoMomordica rostrata seedlings growing like weeds. One is definitely enough of these guys lol. Between these and the larger ones, I probably don't need any more cucurbits at all.
Jeff (5b) thanked isde02(zone5b)tanpexoctics Willis
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoWell I have been collecting few seeds from my E stellata not sure if was good or not till
- Jeff (5b) thanked tanpexoctics Willis
isde02(zone5b)
4 years agoHere's my Adenia Globosa seedlings. I usually repot my seedlings pretty early. But it's worked out well for me so far, so why quit.
Jeff (5b) thanked isde02(zone5b)tanpexoctics Willis
4 years agostupidlazydog CT zone 5b/6a
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoIsde, your Adenia globosa seedlings look great!
Here are my itty bitty ones. Seed from Koerhes. 3 out of 10 geminated. Seed sown on 6/25/19
Other seed from Koerhes...Adenia venenata, 4 out of 10. A couple are looking sad and yellow. Fed them, and new little leaves look o.k.
Pachypodium eburneum, 8 out of 10
P. brevicaule leucoxanthum, 6 out of 10
P. brevicaule, seed from an Ebay seller, 9 out of 10
None of my P. baronii from Koerhes germinated.
Jeff (5b) thanked stupidlazydog CT zone 5b/6astupidlazydog CT zone 5b/6a
4 years agoHere are the few seedlings I got from the seed I planted earlier (3/22/19) from Out of Africa...
P. baronii
P. eburneum
P. ambongense
Dorstenia lavrani
isde02(zone5b)
4 years agoJeff (5b)
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoNewer batch (9 months) of Titanopsis seedlings. These are really interesting. Seeds from Mesa Garden. Pumice is 1/8" to give you an idea of size.
stupidlazydog CT zone 5b/6a
4 years agoBecause I really don't have enough Astrophytum seedlings....
30 more seeds to plant. The mom is on the bottom right of the following photo, the dad has to one of the two others flowering in this photo.
tanpexoctics Willis
4 years agostupidlazydog CT zone 5b/6a
4 years ago
stupidlazydog CT zone 5b/6a