2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
In the conditions of modern apartments and houses, lithops have also taken root very well - more and more often they can be found in ordinary city apartments. Many people grow lithops directly from seed. And although this process is far from always simple, it will eliminate the need to think about where and how to acquire truly high-quality plants
How to grow lithops from seeds
Although sowing lithops can be quite difficult, there is still nothing unrealistic about it. Sowing lithops seeds is best in March. To improve their germination, it is recommended to soak them before the planned sowing for six hours, no more, otherwise the seeds will begin to germinate right in the solution. There is no need to dry them.
For sowing seeds, a soil mixture is taken, consisting of sifted peat, small brick chips (more precisely, a fraction of up to two millimeters), turf clay and coarse quartz sand. The ratio of the above components should look like this: 0, 5: 0, 5: 1: 1, respectively. To ensure good drainage, 0.3 of the total volume of the sowing container should be occupied by coarse quartz sand (up to 0.5 cm). The top layer of the container is filled with sifted soil mixture.
Before sowing, the prepared soil mixture is steamed and cooled. After the soil is well moistened, seeds of beautiful lithops begin to be sown on its surface, which, after sowing, should be covered with a transparent film or glass. The most suitable temperature for seed germination is between 10 and 20 degrees. If possible, it will be nice to create differences in day and night temperatures - the difference between them should be about 10 - 15 degrees (for example: 28 - 30 degrees during the day and 15 - 18 degrees at night). Every day, once or twice, the seed should be aired for two or three minutes, and also arrange small spraying for it from a spray bottle.
After about 6 to 10 days, the seeds will sprout. As soon as the tiny seedlings sprout, airing is increased to three to four times a day, and its duration is also increased to twenty minutes. The soil mixture is subsequently moistened only after it has completely dried, but the number of spraying, as well as airing, is slightly increased.
Seedlings cannot stand very high (exceeding forty degrees) temperatures in a confined space. During summer sowing, the seedlings placed in the sun should be open from the age of one month. If it is planned to keep them in a confined space, then it should be of very solid volumes and exceed the volume of the container with sown seeds by an average of ten times.
Sufficient lighting should be provided, but at the same time it is necessary to organize a little shading from the direct rays of the sun. If there is very little light, then a few days after the appearance of the miniature seedlings will become very pale.
It is recommended to mulch grown seedlings with fine gravel to eliminate algae, as well as create a kind of support for them, since the crumbs tend to lodge. The problem of algae formation can be easily solved by covering the soil with pebbles of dark shades - their growth will be suppressed, since the rays of the sun will not be able to reach the surface of the earth. Well, if algae have already appeared, then the soil is sprayed with a weak solution of potassium permanganate that suppresses them.
The growth rate of beautiful lithops can vary and greatly depends on the species. Plants that have more room for root growth tend to grow faster. If it becomes cramped for young seedlings, they are dived. However, it is important to know that plants should not be dived before the first wintering. Live pebbles should be planted in a heap, the distance between them should not exceed half their diameter. The soil mix for diving seedlings is exactly the same as for adult lithops.
Six months after sowing the seeds, when the first signs of an impending change of leaves appear, watering is immediately stopped. It is renewed only after the dried old leaves begin to resemble parchment paper in appearance.
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