Todays photo Topic is solved

[el48tel]

I tried paper and cotton wool but found moving them at that stage was damaging them and killed quite a lot, as I could not be gentle enough, even though I have a good pair of tweezers.
I now find sowing on top of compost under lights, I have no problems.
Before the pandemic, I was buying seeds from South Africa at £25 for 12 seeds. These were not my experimenting seeds
Sorry to hear about your mealie infestation. Conos would not be as tasty as Haworthia seedlings. I have had root mealie problems in the past but not mealie bug.
One or two of the plants I bought at the Convention had mealie bug but I isolated all my purchases and cleared the pests before putting them in with the rest.

I'd considered lights. I'd not reconsidered compost. But I might try that combination. Do you use heat? If so, what temperature?

[AllanA]

No extra heat. The room temps are 20-21C day and about 11-12C night. I sterilize the compost before sowing by soaking from the bottom with boiling water. As soon as it has cooled I sprinkle seeds on compost and put in a bag, or put a lid on.
After a day, if there is not mist inside the bag I add a little( about nearly a quater of a teaspoonful) tepid water.

[AllanA]

Next batch, sown 16/10/2023

4 pots of these

[el48tel]

Next batch, sown 16/10/2023seedlings3.jpg 4 pots of these

[el48tel]

No extra heat. The room temps are 20-21C day and about 11-12C night. I sterilize the compost before sowing by soaking from the bottom with boiling water. As soon as it has cooled I sprinkle seeds on compost and put in a bag, or put a lid on.
After a day, if there is not mist inside the bag I add a little( about nearly a quater of a teaspoonful) tepid water.

Thanks ... that sounds sufficiently simple

[AllanA]

Last lot of seedlings:- the newbies

Sown 10/12/2023, 6 pots

[el48tel]

[edds]

My photos are nowhere near Allan's quality but, as promised, I will post a few for the next few days.
First H.springbokvlakensis,

Haworthia springbokvlakensis

[el48tel]

[AllanA]

Excellent picture and plants.