Tylecodon singularis advice request

[MikeT]

I acquired a Tylecodon singularis from sales at a branch meeting over the winter. One advantage of having a meeting with a visiting speaker compared to online. The leaf has now died down. It actually had one main leaf and a second smaller leaf, so not really living up to its name.
I assume that I keep it dry over the summer. Do I wait to start watering until I see signs of growth, or do I start by the calendar, and if so, when?

[MikeDom]

There are a couple of populations of T. singularis, and the population from Kuamsib can have more that one leaf, which was offered as BCSS seed about 5 years ago. Mine are from that offering and they have multiple leaves; one had 12 leaves this year, they too are looking sad as you can see in the photo. They are currently in flower and the seed is ready in August, which coincides with the corms putting out adventitious leaves and is when you should start watering again after a dry summer. Seed sown at this time will also germinate well, I put the seed (along with any geminated plants) in the fridge overnight at 4 deg C and 22 deg C during the day and they're usually all up within the week. My seed is being offered this year from the MSG and should also be available from the BCSS. I had approximately 7000 seeds from 2 plants, germination tested and at least 80% viable.

[MikeT]

Thanks, Mike, very helpful.
The label does indeed say Kuamsib.

[Tina]

mike,
Very jealous of these- great looking plants, I used to grow a few for years and then one went blind, corm was alive but it didn't sprout and then the other did the same. Can the tops get scorched, maybe I needed deep gravel.

[MikeDom]

6 year old plant from seed at dinner plate size with a leaf diameter of 10.5" and still growing. The corm fills a 5" dwarf pot, grown in 50% coarse sand and 50% grit. The smaller leaves behind are from some smaller plants.

IMG_6597.jpg (130.09 KiB) Viewed 148 times

[MikeT]

Looking very healthy and impressive, Mike. I'm trying to stick to admiration without envy creeping in.

I followed the previous instructions for my plant about waiting for leaves to start growing in August, but nothing happened. The corm/tuber seemed firm. So come late September or early October I tried some water. Nothing. Then a more thorough watering. Still nothing. The base is still firm, so appears not to have died/rotted. I'm reluctant to pull it out of its pot to investigate, preferring to try being patient. Do they ever miss a year? Is it worth trying the fridge overnight, or propagator in the day, or both? Most of my Crassulas are in bud or flower now, so they can tell that summer has gone from Sheffield; maybe Tylecodons have different calendars.