I picked one up at the Inter City show.

Everyone grows them in deep pots cause they're paranoid of damaging the taproot. Back in '03 a friend said if you dig it up you can have them. I dug down far enough no to harm the root and they grew for a couple of years, then we had a heatwave while I was away and they perished due to lake of water. They are not succulent so there are no resrves to help them through the dry times.

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Has anyone ever tried growing them from seed--and succeeded? I know Silverhill has been selling them for a number of years. I tried a long time ago and never saw a thing. I remember that the story back then was that fungus was the usual culprit.

Silverhill's are only $3.00 a packet (they don't say how many).

For those visiting the Huntington Botanical Garden in San Marino (adjacent to Pasadena) the pair of Welwitschias is worth seeing. They are in the succulent greenhouse, which has very limited hours.

Here is a link that might be useful: Silverhill Seeds

I grew one hundred seeds, getting 75% germination rate. We made a mistake and put them into far to much sun, we lost the crop, then we learned, we put them into the lath house, we watered them more, once a week. They do store water in their base and tap root. The curator did hand pollinate these plants and we always keep 25 plants on hand, and yes they need a mother and father to produce the seed. Ours are about 35 yrs old, and we have one papa and two mama plants. The cones are not to exciting, and I was scolded for trimming off the dead ends. That is a no-no . Norma

I grew one..until self learning that yes, they do need more water than you are told. That's been my advice to every post on this plant for the last four or five years!
Seedlings cannot take even one good dry out. And i have noticed that the best the Berkeley Botanical Garden have are not in a blazing hot and dry greenhouse,but just a nice moderate warm greenhouse that cools at night. The worst looking Welwitschia they have is on display-in the blazing hot and dry cacti room. By comparison, the best they have in the mild greenhouse look like odd green Agave's,with leaves parted down the middle -plump succulent leaves on big plants.Something like that-lol.
I have heard of some trying them in ground, outdoors in mildest,warmest, San Diego and also in Arizona..the feeling i got was..not too good, with winter rot out comeing on fast when it sets in. Risky business.

I've had one for about 6 years now. I tried growing from seed but apparently there is a fungus that is found in habitat seed, so rotting is the main cause of germination failure.

In regards to the tap root, they send out a long root prior to sprouting, that is why they are started in tall pots. Once the true leaves have reached a few inches in length, the whole tap-root phenomenon does not seem to be an issue. So a plant several years old does not have to handled so gingerly and does not necessarily need a super deep pot.

And as others have mentioned, they live in deserts but are not succulents. They have the ability to send out deep roots to tap ground water, and also are able to collect dews and fogs that accumulate on the leaves. So they should be treated like a pansy or impatiens, with regular watering, during warm weather. I have no problems watering mine daily from May to September. Remember also in a pot the plant's ability to seek water is much more limited than in the ground.

I typically get about 6-8" of new growth per year, but then there's about 4" of shriveling of the tips, so net growth is a few inches per year. I think with careful watering, the drying of the leaf tips can be reduced.

They are also susceptible to overheating of the roots. Growth is much better with cool roots, so if you keep them in pots, make sure you shade the pots with something. Also, as with most any other plant, watering should be withheld during cold weather.

x

So how wet do you all keep yours? Down here where highs are typically 80F and lows are 60F, I've been watering mine about once, occasionally twice a week. That lets the soil mostly dry out, especially at the top, before I water again. From the sounds of it, that may be too little. Should the soil be constantly moist, bordering on damp while there is warmth and active growth?bAnybody bother to fertalize? Since they come from an area with completely mineral based soil, I haven't ever fed mine...

When its warm and you have quality fast draining soil mix,water like you would a Echeverria hybrid..you dont want so dry the leaves wrinkle..not so wet..rot. Even in winter if you keep it where it's warm and dry--STILL do not let a seedling/youngen go bone dry.
Also Jo, you have your's way,way,too low. Or i should say,too much rock mulch.It might not look right to the eye,but the correct way is to grow with the top 2" of stem exposed...All that woody area should not be kept wet or covered. And that's what i was told my eminent UCB horts.

Well, I've got about an inch or two of gravel on top, so I can just pull most of it away. It just seemed way too floppy without the extra support of the rocks. Did they give you any reason why it wants so much stem exposed, even when so young? I'd guess it is just to keep moisture from clinging, but I'm curious if it is more complicated than that.

At the Huntington, I have been there 17 years, our has not been repotted. I understand or lead to believe they don't like to be moved. They are watered thoroughly once a week and treated the same as the rest of the plants in the Cactus Conservatory, getting full sun. I can't believe how much they have grown in 17 years, and producing seed every year. We also have one planted in the ground at the far end of the conservatory, it is getting very large.
It is treated just like the rest of the plants that we care for. I certainly agree with all of your good advise. Yes, I have grown two crops of these wonderful ancient plants. Norma

Since 8 years I grow a male plant in the ground. I water it about every month in summer. In January '07 its 2 leaves froze down to the base/trunk, but they grew back again more than 8" that year already.

Beginning of inflorescence development in October '07:{{gwi:628381}}

In March '08:{{gwi:628382}}

In july/August '08:{{gwi:488383}}

Jordi

An 8 year old Welwitschia growing and flowering outdoors in California might be the gardening accomplishment of the state!
Coming back from the freeze is remarkable.Jordi,that's a higher level of C&S keeping i thought possible. Your on to something. Has anybody else in SouCal had that kind of success?

Hi all. I've definitely not heard of anyone doing as well as you folks.Twenty years ago or so we were told you had to sow it in about 8 ft of drainpipe filled with stony soil;no feedbacks so far...Tune.

With how fussy it is about watering, I wonder if this plant might be a good candidate for a "semi hydroculture" set up like how I grow many of my succulents and orchids. Has anyone ever attempted growing it in hydroton/hydrocorn?

Given the last response before yours is nearly half a decade ago, maybe if you posted your question as its own question you might get more answers. I've never grown it, but it and hydroculture don't go together in my mind.

Cultivating in Zone 5-b ? Just like the above had already said.. very very iffy and even if at all.
One that I would be more joyfull to avoid that to have the need to try

Note the warmer area cultivators are saying in higher zones in the US areas and also more arid zones as they are suggesting, very deep pots (upto plant in the ground * pig) and bigger areas seem to be a minimum it would require.

Have read at it's home it can survive deathly dry for decades and just waiting to do it's thing, if and when the time is right ( more or less than) 2 mm of rain had fell it might even bloom.

A small fact finding mission may tell you more

Bought some seeds in 2005 (for a dollar), transplanted in 2008 into larger plastic pots. They are heavily watered every day (miss one day a week, perhaps). Two plants have died of thirteen. Only two have developed reproductive structures, neither very impressive and no seeds. Yale

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hey folks, I have kinda problem here. Last saturday, one of my seeds sprout. Yesterday, I noticed the seedling was sorta "laying" down. Does anyone knows if this is normal? I'm worried cause this is just the second seed that worked, don't want to lose it :S

I am pretty sure there is no real problem, except that the root might not have penetrated the soil deep enough and because of the weight of the the two leaves it toppled over.

Dude, I was just thinking about it. It just stood too tall before falling. Don't know if its a good idea to try to rearrange it or just leave it that way and wait to see what'll happen

look fine to me

I have noticed something: mostly, the seeds that started developing into plants, received just a few drops of water per day or a glass of water each 2 days. Is that just a coincidence or the seeds need water to "hatch", but it can not be a lot?

Just prop it up with one pebble.

Seedlings should never go dry. I could be wrong,but I killed my only chance with one taking the "keep them dry" too literal. That was 15 years ago.

Also- that exaggerated deep pot? eh,I have my doubts. If you dig up a wild one-sure. But,the typical deeper than tall pot sounds good enough. It also makes potting upwards over the years easy. No need to always seek out some pot with 32 gallon garbage can proportions in ceramic.

But,if you want a deep pot,of course it doesn't hurt.

So, I need just to put a little glass of water or something like that when sowing and then waiting for the magic to happen? Sounds nice.

Also, this looks like very logical to me: if the plant is not in a desertic environment and can be watered regularly, why would it need a enormous taproot? Plants can adapt too.