Succulents: Propagation Secrets

My Euphorbia obessa seed are starting to pop. I will give 5 seed to each of you that sends me your address. No postage necessary.

Jon, thanks again for the input. Your Epi Cactus tip will really help me. I recently rotted some very nice red stems with white hair on the leaf notches, ripsalis. Now I'll try it again in pumice. Rogers Weld gave me this plant, don't know how to tell him that I killed it. Crasulady

Today received a very nice tiny San. that I didn't have, glad to get it. I potted it up on a rose pot 1" x 4" until
it shows good growth or breaks the pot. San. burmanica if my spelling is correct. Jon how big does this one get? Crasulady

Norma, since you have a success with euphorbia obesa (as with almost everything else!), may I ask you how to care for it during the winter in the room tempereture.Right now it is in the small dish garden with variegated jade, and couple of crassulas. Should I take it out of this setting? How strict a "no watering in winter" rule should be in this case?
Thanks a lot!

When using flourescents for growing seed you must use a hot and cool blub, one will look blue the other pink. Leave these on 24 hrs daily. I will report later the distance from the tops of pots.

Don't you believe that I'm succesfull with everything that I grow, it's a lie. I'm just learning to grow from seed. I can't find where I planted the last crop of obessa.

This has been the advantage of volunteering at a major garden, they will teach you everything. It just takes me longer. Crasulady

Propagation lights. I finally found my notes.
You will need one of each in a ballast box.F20 T12 CW
Full length across F20 T12 WW

Put chain on the ends so you can hang them over the plants.
We use plastic shelving hanging two balast boxs to each.
You could also use cheap metal shelving as well.
I hope some of you will try this out. Most ready made units cost about $1000.00
I forgot to tell you, that we sterilize our soil in a MicroWave. It will stink. Crasulady

Okay, I check out how high the light are above the seeds pot. Between 4-6 inches. Four bulbs per shelf, hung the full width. Mounted by light chain. It's a baby factory. We have 4 shelves. Crasulady

I have started harvesting my Euphorbia obessa seed. Cena gets the first 5 seeds. If you want any please send me your address please. E. obessa is another baby factory. Crasulady

I was thinking about growing plants indoors during the winter. The conservatory and greenhouse are like you home. We give them good light. The temperatures are allowed to go down to 45 degrees, we just don't water every week and do not fertilize unless a plant is activily growing. Mealies are more apt to appear if you let your plants complete dry out. Test the depth of water in the pot before watering again in the winter. I use a chop stick or pencil. The label may also we used for water depth, if the pots are not larger than 8" We use gas heat in our greenhouses. But remember these instructions are for house plants. In our large conservatory even the cactus do well. Remember the air circulation. Crasulady

I have noticed that the Euphorbia obessa seeds just start where ever they might land, they don't seem to care who's pot it is. Many of the Gasteria, Haworthis, Crassula seed do just the same. I spent the day taking all the voluteers out of pot where they just don't belong. If they grow where we don't want them, they are considered weeds.

We have had 377 hits to this thread, I wish more of you would join in, this was the purpose of starting all of this, please join in,all of us what to know how you do it.
A forum is when all of us interact, that would be wonderful.
Crasulady

I found a few Dorstenia growing in pots where they didn't belong. Without documention they are just sold to the public. They also seem to pop up where ever they land. No special attention is needed for this species. They will drop their leaves when it gets cold. We do not water them until spring and the new leaves show their color. The flowers are like small stars, just weird, no actual petals, just protrusions with the center looking like a sun flower having tiny seeds in the middle. Green flowers. Crasulady

propagation of Sinningia leucotrica:
synonyms: Sinningia rechsteinaria (erronious name used by Mesa G.),Sinningia cannescens, Rechsteinaria leucotricha.

Cuttings rarely root. Tubers can be cut and divided but this ruins the tubers. The best and only good way to propagate is by seed. Plants bloom easily when two to three years old, and bloom regularly after that. To obtain seed, self pollinate or cross pollinate different clones. This is very easy to do. The flowers open with lots of ripe pollen. Collect on your favorite tool: a steak knife, tooth pick, soft brush, or my favorite--my fingernail. Older flowers will have ripe stigmas--they protrude from the flower when ready. Pollinate as many as you can--most will take if done correctly. Each seed pod can contain hundreds of dust like seeds. Scatter seeds on the surface of moist soil. They germinate in about 10 days.

Okay group, I just found out today that they microwave the soil 6 min. on high before planting seed. After all that a oxalis sprouted. Crasulady

Jon, please would you now explain how Howorthia are propagated.
I know you specialize in Sinningia, and I have two, they have not flowered yet for me. Now I know what to do, if and when. Thanks again for this input.

Back to Haworthia: Can we cut up the base of Haworthia and get more? I can take offsets and do okay.
Is is possible to store pollen, I have two species I want to hybridize?

I am going to have several hundred seed of H. "Donuts" and I have been told that they self. How do I grow the seed? Help Jon, thanks Crasulady

I have just been taught by a pro how to polinate the brush like flower stalk of a Sanseveria.
Just put your hand at the bottom of the flowers, wrap your fingers gently around, and pull your hand up. It sure is faster than polinating each flower with a brush. Jerry Barad (plant explorer, past president of the CSSA, gentleman)was here tonight for dinner and he showed me what to do. I learn something every day. Love this hobby. Crasulady

Today I was asked to cut the heads of the first Aeonium for the year. I was rather surprised as our weather is still rather hot. I was potting up Aeonium 'Voodoo' by Jack Catlin. I left 3" stems and sunk them down into 4" pots. We will wait a day before watering, I just want the cut to scab over. Crasulady

Will someone out their tell the group how they do Gasteria.
Now is the time.
Make sure to remember to fertilize those seedlings. Separate and pot up as soon as they are large enough to be handled.
This week we are doing the Echeveria that I harvested this past two weeks. Can't wait to see what I get.
I will pollinate Crassula perfoliata v. falcata with the new species of Crassula ausensis v. titanopsis as was suggested to me. I will use a brush instead of cats whiskers which are very good, but ran out of them. Crasulady

Euphorbia obessa. Sow in the Spring, keep in a brown paper bag, not plastic, store in a dry cool place.

Hi Norma and for everyone else--save those cat's whiskers. They are recommended for pollinating haworthias! Mary Parisi has used them to make many crosses and cross pollinations of species. Most haworthias are self sterile. So, you will need two clones to set seed. If you only have different species in bloom then you can hybridize them. But, as Norma pointed out, some haworthias will self pollinate themselves; and Haworthia pumila 'Donuts' is one of them. Unfortunately I have trouble growing pumila. But, I once did raise a crop of seedlings from another form that also self pollinated. I planted the seed in the same way I do all seeds--in a sterile moist mix of perlite+vermiculite+perlite in small pots enclosed in zip-lock bags and placed under lights in the house. Germination is very good with fresh seed. Plant right away--old seed takes longer and germinates poorly. Oh, and when raising a crop of cultivars like donuts, it is important to select out seedlings for superior markings. There will be variations in the pattern from plant to plant. Years ago I grew a batch of seedlings from another self pollinating plant, a clone of Aloe mitreformis, a winter growing species. Despite the fact that the seed was a selfing I got interesting variations in the seedlings. Some had more prominant yellow teeth while others were nearly toothless.

Late August is a good time to repot haworthias as well as the other winter growing succulents like aeoniums. With haworthias they are getting ready to wake up for their fall growth spurt. Then they seem to like a dry winter followed by another growth spurt in the Spring.

I might as well put this up on this thread. Perhaps we should start a new one on just 'Jade' Crassula, Sedum, and all the other in the species.
Just now I went out and took my shears and brutally cut off 10 cuts the stems the size of a pencil. I think they root up faster when small. I layed them on a table that gets only morning sun, now we will wait and see exactally how long it takes for them to root up for me. We are running about 90F each day. I will also take off some leaves of anther variety of jade. The Echeveria, thick plump leaves, just took about 10 days. Would you all please remove leaves of Crassula, Sedum, Echevieria, Sempervivums, Aeonioums and report back to the group. This is the best way to learn, you have nothing to lose, but you may gain hundreds of new plants. Sinocrassla start up in just a few days. You must use fresh plump leaves, not those that have started to shrivel.1. Water weekly 2.Do not put in the soil. 3.Don't bake them in the sun. 4. Now pray. Crasulady

I obtained a wonderful seed growing book. It is well written and in an orderly manner, about many different ways to grow seeds of many different species. They are not all sowed the same way, worth looking at.
It can be found at amatrdigest@pinc.com

ISSN # 1199-0791

Contributions are from world renown growers from all over the world. Doug Rowland UK
Mario Couvreur,Belgium
Amante Darmanin, Malta
Roger Sieloff, USA

and 20 more.

Jon, wow good input. My Haworthia are all in flower at this time, and I do use cat's whiskers for pollinating. I pull down the lower two petals to get to the parts. H. Pumila, I also had trouble growing it until I found out the secret from Bill Baker, grower extraomaire. He keeps them very dry, very very dry, his plant is huge.

I haven't noticed any off sets have you Jon. I have also started them by pulling off the leaves and setting them side ways into the soil, with only one tip covered. Make sure you peel the leaves all the back to the stem. Now you water and wait. You may mist to keep damp. I still haven't been able to start them from seed. Is there another way to start this plant? WE covered seed, leaves, offsets.Crasulady

Norma, you should keep trying to grow haworthias from seed. Once you have the system down it should work as well as from cuttings except that you will get many more plants. Here is my long description of how I grow from seed.

Seed starting soil: I just mix up equal parts of regular peat moss (milled Canadian sphagnum peat--commonly available in compressed bales), perlite, and vermiculite. I take this mix, add water to make it moist, and then cook it in the oven at a low setting (140-170 degrees, more or less for several hours (3 hours is about right). It doesn't stink when it cooks, since there is no soil or compost in it. After I make a batch, I let it cool and then store it in a covered container.

Planting seed: I take a 3" pot, more or less, and fill it with some of my mix, then I carefully and thoroughly wet it in the sink, using the smallest flow of water I can get from the faucet. After I have the soil thoroughly saturated with water, I gently tamp it down, neaten it and then I plant the seeds on the surface. For larger seeds, I will push them down, for haworthias, I just press them lightly. For dust-like seeds like gesneriads, echeverias etc. I just scatter on the surface. Now you have your seeds in contact with the very wet soil mix. Let any extra water drain from the pot, label and enclose the whole thing in a zip lock bag. Seeds will germinate in a bright window that doesn't get direct rays of the sun, but, I prefer to use a fluorescent light stand, where the seedlings can get long hours of bright light.

By cooking the soil, I find I do not get fungus growth or liverworts, algae, moss or other things growing on the medium. If I do get a white fungus, I will spray the soil with an Athlete's foot spray containing Tolnaftate 1%--look for the powder aerosol form--mine is Walgreens brand.

After Germination--let the seedlings grow in this pot, still enclosed for as long as possible. The soil should stay moist for a very long time, as long as the pot stays enclosed in the baggie. Fertilize with a weak solution--like 1/8 teaspoon of 14-14-14 per gallon of water. I wait about a month before I start feeding (again, more or less). The feeding really speeds up growth. I use a very small plastic watering can so I don't disturb the tiny seedlings.

Use this method, Norma, and soon you and the Huntington will be swimming with little donuts!

GASTERIA: Now is the time to start from the leaves. Pull them off at the base and set unpon the soil in a cool dry place, wait for the new plants to form, set the new plants into soil when they are large enough to handle. You may also take off the offsets carefully, set them into soil, and if you have seeds plant them in October. These plants are winter growers, I have mine in open run in my garden because we seldom go below 30 degrees. I have harvested the seed and a few more species (glomerata) are just starting to flower again. The flowers are shades of pink to dark salmon on a scape hanging down like bells, the hummingbirds just love them. They love low light and would make good indoor plants as many of them are small growers and undemanding. The large ones eventually will move you out of house and home, several growing to the size of a man. The natives of Africa use them for medicine, others to keep the spirits away, they are sold in open markets in small towns and therefore are getting scarce.

Some with drop their roots, this is perfectly normal, just wait before repotting until you see the new roots forming in the spring. Crasulady

I just want to remind those who are reading this not to expect flowers the first year on a young plant. Most take some maturity to flower. All species are different. Gasteria some flower their first year from offsets, other 3 years. Crassula, the same situation, others it is just the mater of the correct conditions. Be patient you will be rewarded. Crasulady

Just found out a few more tips in a Mesa Seed catalogue

NO Germanation: They keep no pots moist for weeks on end. Keep pots moist for 3-4 weeks and if nothing germinates then let the pot dry out for a week and start again. Continue the wet and dry treatment. A few kinds can take years to germinate. Norma

Another tip from Mesa Gardens seed catalogue
SEEDLINGS: As soon as possible put seedlings in adult conditions (pots out between soaks and light is brighter). We like the strong root growth this forces and have little damping off. Until really necessary, we con't transplant, as it slows growth.

More to come, Crasulady

Mesa Tips on Germination of Seed

Fertilizer: When germination is over use a weak formula l-2-2 often during active garowth. Ease off for dormancy.

Fine Seeds: They need steady humidity and moisture level for germination. Often distilled water will help. When seeds are well up they need frequent misting and good ventilation.

From Mesa Gardens, another piece of the puzzle:Germination Tips:
After germination: Ease off the volume of water at each misting but still keep grit layer moist. When seedlings are well up and growing reduce misting and go to periodic soaking. This takes practice and is subject to your condition. We feel it helps seedlings grow stronger to adapt to adult conditions.

Watering: Mist pots heavily the first few days to load the pots with moisture and to stimulate seeds to absorb water. Then mist often (once or twice a day) to keep the grit layer moist enough for germination.

More to follow latter. Crasulady

More from Mesa Gardens:

Planting: Fill a pot with soil. Sprinkle seeds evenly over top of soil. Lightly use a board to gently push seeds into the soil or tap pot to settle seeds. Large seeds and fragile seeds can be covered with sprinkled soil to anchor. Then cover with the grit to a depth of l/8" (3mm). Tiny seeds can be sprinkled onto grit and misting work seeds into soil level.

There will be more coming, there will be 8 more steps to start out the previous procedures. These are found on the back of Mesa Gardens Seed list which I believe is free.
Web site: www.mesagarden.com

You will notice that there are many ways to do the same things, it is not in a neat little package. Mesa gardens is located in a hot dry area in NM in gets down in the 20tys in the winter and hotter than h... in the summer, he grows his plants extremely hard. But has the freshest seeds in the country.

Germinaters: l. We germinate outside in large boxes covered with a window screen cover which can be left on when misting. We set this box under shadecloth at the time of year when temps are appropriate.
2.Inside a greenhouse we use the same screen covered boxes.
3.Indoors under lights we use the screen covered box.A heating cable can be used for heat. You can also use kitchen pans covered with screen or shear cloth to hold the pots.
One more section to go. Crasulady

Sorry this is taking so long- There will be 5 more sections of tips from Mesa Gardens.
Conditions: 1. Day length-Most cacti and succulents need a high light level to keep etiolation (long growth)and rot down. Some seedlings turn slightly red which is okay when you see growth. No growth means cut light.

2. Temperature-Warm days and cooler nights makes it easier to reach optimum temp for best germination results.

3. Moisture-Use clean water with no chemicals other than a fungicide as it may retard germination.
4. Soil-Use clean sandy loam with no fresh organics (like wood) which will burn off cactus roots. Commercial potting soil often has too much. In our soil we use coarse sand as part of the grit. We are fortunate to have native soil with low organics and containing microorganisms. Experiment with your own native soil to come up with a good mix. Most cacti (except epiphytic), mesemgs, Aloes, Agaes, Euphorbias, Yuccas 1/2 loam soil, 1/4 grit, 1/4 sphagnum. For tiny seeds like Crassula, Echeveria 50% spagnum peat and 50% scoria or 100% spagnum in plastic bags.

5. Grit- We have found that sand blasting sand or a mixture of uniform sized (l/8 in or 3mm) small stones make a perfect cover.

Thanks Mesa Gardens

Remember this is their methods. What are yours, Jon, thanks for helping with Haworthia seeds, I am waiting for the seeds to ripen fully before I try. I'm finally finished.
To tired to proof this, Goodnight
God Bless America

Jon, I now have fresh seed of Aloe and I am going to try your method, I've had no luck with mine.

Group, here is a very old method of starting seeds. I learned this from my Grandfather when I was a wee bit of a child. Put the seeds between moist cotton, or moist blotting paper to sprout your seeds. This is the method I will use when I start my E.obessa seeds in the Spring. Norma

Echeveria, watch for the offsets this time of year, be sure to clean up all the old dead, dryed up, ugly leaves. They love Autumn. I am able to keep them outside all winter, because they are planted out with good drainage.

Propogation: Tissue cultural is an option, especially if a rare plant is ready to die. This is a potential for a lot of plants.

You may also graft a plant onto another, make sure this of the same species. NOT Crassula to Gasteria, they are not related. EXAMPLE Crassula to Kalanchoe, Sedum, Echeveria all of which are of the same family. This will not help you get a lot of plants but is will save the rare one that you have.

When I take cuts of my variegated Sansevieria, I always take a two inch stolen with it. Or it could revert back. Always take off any reverted growth. Also, you may just put a stolen into the soil in a very shallow 2" container and it will usually grow leaves in time. I have also split leaves in two, make sure the piece is at least 8" long, that will give it enough leaf to have the moisture to feed the new shoot that will form. Water weekly after the leaf cut has sealed. Keep warm, water and fertilize as soon as new roots form. I will not start any new cuttings until next summer. If I want to start them now I would need a heating pad to keep the bottoms warm. These cutting can take good light. It will take three years to get a good size plant which would be acceptable for sale. Norma

Hi Norma, here's a good story: When I first started attending my first plant society meetings back in the mid 70's there was a member, who I later learned was a famous and distinguished grower, hybridizer, and collector who brought in a grafted echeveria. He had grafted the large flowered but weak growing E. harmsii onto the weedy and vigorous Sedum praealtum (S. dendroideum v. praealtum). His resulting plant had even larger flowers than harmsii grown on its own roots (by about 50%). I still remember the incredible plant. He had two of them, the result of 100 attemps at this grafting--i.e. a 2% success rate. This was shown at a meeting of the California Horticulture Society and the grower was Victor Reiter.

Toaday I cut the Sedum lineare into four inch lengths, leaving about 2 inches of stem, I bunch 5-7 pieces together and set them into a rose pot, filling in the soil all around, these will not be watered for a week, I want to keep them very dry there after so they will grow compact and blue in color.
I also did this with Sedum 'Christmas Cheer' these will not be watered at all, I want them to turn very red, they will be perfect for Christmas decorations. Wreaths, candle holders, and just set into spare spaces around my other potted plants. Now I will search my garden and see what other Sedum that needs to be worked over. Norma

Jon, I am certainly going to try your above suggestion. Wow, would I love to get those results. Thanks for telling me, I will pass this onto John Trager. I'll report back the results, it's exciting, I wish I thought of that.

Speaking of Aloe, you can multiply these plants several ways. No, not by leaf!

1. Seed
2. Offsets
3. Cut off the head and wait for plants to form where the
cut was made.
4. Don't toss out the head. Wait until you see roots then
pot. You need only to leave a 1" stem and just set on
top of fresh soil after the cut dries. Water only after
the plant sets the new roots. Norma

Kalanchoe, now is the time to take cuts. Most of mine are putting down roots from the leaf nodes. You may take cuts about 4" down from the top. 2. You may start them from leaves, just lay them on top of the soil. 3. They will also sent up offset from the base.(where the stem come out of the soil. 4. You may also take intermediate stem cuttings. Example 24" stem, cut the top 8" then cut the 2nd 8" leave the rest in the pot. These plants start flowering here (CA 10)in January on depending on the species. I have one in flower now, with tiny orange flowers. Most will start flowering in the Spring. Enjoy the flowers. Norma

Sedum multiceps 'Miniature Joshua Tree'A true genetic miniature tree. It's time to take cuts now. Just cut the tips, or tufts of leaves oft the stems, and set into dry soil, wait and water in a few days.
This Sedum species is a winter grower, so must be set in shade during the summer months and given very little water or it will rot. Much like an Aeonium, it closes up during the summer months and opens in all of its glory during the winter. Norma