those are fantastic shots!!

Super cool! Congrats on all the babies!

Very nice indeed !

Cool shoots Hanz, they look so otherworldly, each more than the other. Thanks for shots I'd never otherwise get to see.

Ryan,

Your nurturing is paying off - have you considered llamas?

Amazing! You've got them coming out of your ears!! Definitely have your work cut out for you when it comes time to transplant.
Beautiful photography and colors.
I haven't ventured into the realm of seed sowing just yet but this just looks like so much fun. I just collected seed from my Frailea mammifera, maybe I'll give it a go.
What are your germination methods? (if you don't mind revealing your secrets)
Matthew

Ryan,
This is great...I ordered seeds also. I think maybe a couple hundred.waiting until the weather gets alittle warmer to start them.. I hope I have as much luck with mine as you have.between you and Rian, I am venturing into another zone.thanks for sharing
Sharon

Hey everybody! Thanks for all the responses. I'm always glad to share progress, would do it more if I had more time.

Jeff,

I'm more of an alpaca guy, myself. They come in different colors.

Matthew,

I did a bunch of research in the months leading up to sowing. The best info I can recommend is from Steven Hammer which I will link below. I also watched some Youtube videos showing people planting seeds, not in English.
My soil mix contains a high quality seed-starter mix, lots of volcanic pumice, coco peat, bagged cactus soil and loamy topsoil from the side of my house.
In the end, I mixed my soil by instinct. I know people are against peat but I think it's ok for germination. When I transplant, my mix will change. I had limited time so I skipped the sterilization, which I regret. Lots of grass seeds also germinated along with quite a few worm eggs. I had to use an insecticide. I also kept the pots a little too moist and algae developed so I've now used fungicide and algaecide on everything. Luckily, they all made it through. Maybe you can learn from these mistakes.
When sowing, after I filled the pot and lightly tamped the soil flat, I just spread out the seeds on top and covered them with horticultural sand.

I happen to live in a prime location for these plants so I don't have to worry about cold weather. My greenhouse is 40% shade with full airflow.

Sharon,

Good luck with those seeds, it's been a great experience so far. Mr Brack at Mesa told me the ideal time for planting is early September for most Mesembs. If you're growing indoors, that may not matter.

thanks,
Ryan

Here is a link that might be useful: Meet My Future Self

Those are so CUTE!

Just found this post. Sooooo very cute those little baby seedlings are. It has been some time now since this post. So do you have an update of how they look now. I googled Cheiridopsis peculiaris to find this post. I just purchased one and was looking for info on it. Looks like the seed did well to sprout for you. Did these guys make it?

Wow! Thanks Reggieee! eeee! I forgot all about this. Most of these are the exact seedlings I attacked first when re-potting. I have lots of progress to report. I appreciate you bringing this thread back because it's a great opportunity to show 14 months of growth. I'll go shoot new photos tomorrow. For now, here's a photo of my best C. peculiaris about 1 month ago. I've seen some very nice ones in maturity.

Super-duper. Can't wait to see the shots. I am a chicken to try seeds even though I have some cono seeds waiting for me to sow. So I will live and learn off of you vicariously. :-) But I REALLY do want to do this. It just seems like I don't have something (the right secret mix) that I need or that it's the wrong time of the year or......etc. Sheesh. I need to get my butt in gear.

Yum! Valentine's candies! ;-)

Josh

Okay, I'm back with some updates. I think my plants got a slow start in my first year sowing seeds. My second year seedlings are already showing almost double progress. Anyway, let's just jump right in.

Titanopsis primosii

Tanquana prismatica

Rhombophyllum dolabriforme

Lithops leslei C28

Lithops broomfieldii Straussberg - It looks like I lost a few of these, probably during my struggles with algae and grubs.

Jensenobotrya lossowiana

Glottiphyllum pygmaeum

Glottiphyllum neilii

Cheiridopsis peculiaris

Argyroderma fissum

Anacampseros rufescens grown in sun

Anacampseros rufescens grown in partial sun

Aloinopsis orpenii

Well, it's progress but not all of it is a prime example. I had many learning experiences/setbacks in my first year. The Jensenobotrya, however, is a vigorous, thirsty, fun plant to grow. I'm thinking they'll do fine as an outdoor semi-shade plant. The only problem is, they don't ship well.
Thanks for bringing this thread back, Reggie:)

Very good growth and colours. You should be very happy with the results so far.

Thanks, Rian. I am happy so far. I've learned so much in this process. All of the seedlings from the first year are really showing character now. It's a long process but such a sweet payoff!

Let me put it like this, you have 2 plants, precisely the same, looking the same - one you grew from seed the other you bought, both flower, which is the more special? There is another great and unequalled advantage, you see variations, normally not available from a store bought plant, so more understanding and you learn much more about how to grow them this way! I think both of us can really recommend doing this for its value.

The only time I was able to grow them from seed is when I didn't mean to. If I tried I couldn't repeat my first accidental success. Which is a long story, Norma

Nice job Ryan. Thanks for the update. It must be very rewarding to watch them grow up. Ha! Did you sow any conos? I don't see any shots of them?

Hey! Really nice to hear from you, Norma! You are an inspiration.

Thanks Reggie, I did sow lots of Conos my first year. I was largely unsuccessful. Out of... let me get out the old seed list... out of 57 species/varieties sown including Ophthalmophyllum... let me consult the plant list... I have 36 species that made it. 21 of those only produced 1 or 2 plants, not enough for a good comparison or good breeding. 15 of them are in fair numbers but only about 5/57 are a real success. I had even worse results with Dinteranthus. Out of 600 seeds sown I only have 2 seedlings to show for it. Oh well. I expect to have better results with them this year. I'll try to post something about Cono seedlings later this week if I can.

I told you Dinteranthus are my bogey specie! Glad to have a friend - they rot easily! I have good germination last year for once and then well other things happened and I lost a little control and ..... none!

These are stunning. I have never seen the Cheiridopsis peculiaris until these photos.

Do you sell these, Ryan? I'd love to buy a couple of those!

Rian, this year is going to be the year we conquer Dinteranthus!

Hi Sugi, I'm glad you are interested. That's what we do here, we get each other excited about plants. Garden Web has a strict policy about using the forums for sales, it's not allowed. It's an easy thing to overlook so I'm just letting you know. Many of us on this site can be reached through private email, just click a username to see their profile.

Hi, You mentioned a link for learning within one of your comments, but it doesn't work. It would be really appreciated if you could kindly upload a pdf in this regard. Thank you in advance.

Not 100% sure, but I believe one has to buy a book now? I read the articles but never saved as pdf and now they are not available - would like to get copy too :)

Pagan

Thank you very much.

Yes, it would be nice to see some 'old timers' posting again...Rina