Lithops germination

[iann]

The very early stages!

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Its in there somewhere.

[Geri88]

Do you find that sowing now-ish works well?

[iann]

Do you find that sowing now-ish works well?

In short, no.

Lithops capsules are mostly getting to the stage now where it will open when wet, but the seed still won't be fully ripe. It will germinate fitfully until around the end of winter when all of it will germinate quickly and easily. Even with older seed, I find it harder to maintain the right conditions for germination at this time of year, although it is certainly possible. Then you end up with tiny sprouts that you have to nurse through winter. So usually I sow towards the end of winter and have good strong seedlings by the autumn.

Right now I'm just testing some seed from cultivars to make sure the colour has come true. For some reason I had capsules which opened already very early in spring, but the seed from them wouldn't germinate at all. Even now, it isn't doing great on one red cultivar and careful examination every morning somehow isn't improving the results. Not entirely sterile, but I'm starting to think I might have inbred too much.

[Geri88]

Right now I'm just testing some seed from cultivars to make sure the colour has come true

I see! I was a bit surprised to see Lithops seedlings at this time of year and wondered if I'd missed something.

[Terry S.]

Most of the Lithops cultivar seed that the MSG used to distribute came from a Japanese enthusiast and I am fairly sure that he was doing a lot of selecting and in-breeding. For example, I am sure the 'Purper' samples got more purple with each of his batches. I did not find any evidence of reduction in viability with his seeds over the generations of line breeding. The only problem with germination that I have had Ian is with the 'Fred's Redhead' that I have only obtained in small quantities from others than my Japanese supplier. This tends to be very poor and erratic in germination. There are two other factors that can reduce germination: high temperatures and the seed being too fresh.