2016 MSG Seedlist

[cactuspip]

As always I acquired plenty of seed from this years MSG offering. In particular I was very keen to try the seeds of Conophytum Youngii.
I sowed the seed in early April, but of all the variety of conophytum seeds there was no germination from the C.Youngii

Has anyone succeeded where I failed? Your feedback would be most welcome

[Aiko]

As always I acquired plenty of seed from this years MSG offering. In particular I was very keen to try the seeds of Conophytum Youngii.
I sowed the seed in early April, but of all the variety of conophytum seeds there was no germination from the C.Youngii

Keep the pot dry this summer, and restart it in late August. That might do the trick.

[Terry S.]

I did not sow any of that seed, which was harvested in summer 2015. However, this January I did sow some seed of C. youngii from the 2014 harvest. It is slow to germinate compared to many other conophytums, but after a month, around 50% of the seeds had germinated. I also get the impression (without any proper evidence) that lower temperatures help germination. It might be one of those things that germinates better when it is older, so Aiko's advice might do the rick. I would be very interested to hear how other people got on with this species from the MSG list.

[mary44]

I have checked my pots from the 2016 sowing of MSG conophytum and I too had no germination in the C youngii pot. I assumed I had kept the pot too hot but even at cooler temperatures its a no show.

[Christian]

also get the impression (without any proper evidence) that lower temperatures help germination. It might be one of those things that germinates better when it is older

I was a bit slow to sow the Cono seed from previous MSG seed lists, but I got round to this now. Cono youngii was one of those, and ten days in I spotted the first seedling coming up. Pots are kept on a cool kitchen window sill.

How about the growing on of this species - do people find it reasonably easy? And on a general note, how well does Cono seed keep? Seed from five years ago showed no signs of germination - is that to be expected?

Best wishes,

Christian

[Aiko]

Seed for mesems should remain viability for many years. Some say even up to 20 years (but usually add the seeds to still be in the seed pods).

[Astro]

Last November I sowed some Cono seeds I bought 4 years ago from Mesa Garden (so probably 5 years old), and some Cono seeds from the MSG list 3 years ago. All germinated well. Seeds were stored at room temperature the whole time (including temperatures regularly exceeding 30C during Summer).

Nothing on C. youngii in particular, though.

[Terry S.]

Christian's observation seems to support my earlier musing that C. youngii germinates better if it allowed to age for at least 18 months from harvest. I have had similar results this year with C. comptonii which germinated very well at 18 months from harvest whereas it germinated poorly at 6 months.

I sowed some 8 year old Cono subterraneum in January and got very high germination; I have had similar results from old C. obcordellum. There are always exceptions to broad generalisations, but mesemb seed does have a very long storage life. And my seed is always stored at room temperature, never in the fridge.

C. youngii does not seem to be nearly as difficult to grow as e.g. C. rugosum or C. roodiae ssp sanguineum, which are in the same section. My original 4 plants raised from an early seed collection have all survived from childhood and are now small clusters. Curiously it has not flowered this spring but this might either be a consequence of the rotten weather or the crop of plump seed capsules from the 2017 flowering. Perhaps it is going to be biennial cropping like 'Bramley Seedling'?

[Christian]

Well I shall do my best with these - my last attempt to grow Conos from seed ended in tears when I dropped a tray of six month old seedlings on a gravel path during a house move. Birmingham grit pans don't seem to suit them very well...

Your comments do encourage me to try the rest of the older seed. I was never in a hurry to sow Mesemb seed as I thought it kept its viability for some time, but this recent failure made me wonder. In any case, it is no use having seed packets piling up in a cupboard, and whilst spring is cool and grey I might as well keep sowing...