Good evening everyone!Pardon this noobie post, but I’m trying to troubleshoot some cultural issues I’m having with this fascinating group of plants and trying to learn everything I can. The plants in question are Aloinopsis luckhoffii I grew from seed. Here are the facts as I have it:
1. The plants are about 4-5 months old at this point. Seeds were sown over the winter. 2. I live in New York, zone 7B 3. I repotted the seedlings about a month ago and moved them outside, uncovered for the growing season. Moved from a small 3 inch seedling container to a shallow terracotta succulent bowl. 4. The plants have done very poorly in their new area/pot. I have deduced that the ambient humidity and ample spring rains were too much for them and they began to rot. 5. After noticing some pretty significant dieback, I moved them indoors to better monitor their culture (and to see if I could salvage any). 6. The loss of the plant progressed moderately fast, starting with random leaves seeming to just dry out (this might be the cells bursting and the plan just rotting) and shriveling to nothing, followed quickly thereafter by the demise of the entire seedling. Sometimes it was the lowest leaves. Other times it was the newest growth. 7. My mix is my standard succulent mix – approximately 70% inorganic (clay, pumice, perlite, etc). The balance is the standard potting mix.
I took some pictures of a recently decided seedling to see if I could identify if the culprit was rot, or if there was something else at play here. The roots of the plant look pretty awful, but again, I’m new to these plants and not sure exactly what a proper benchmark is. My other questions are as follows:
1. I know in Habitat that these plants get very minimal water (sometimes no more than an inch or two a month). Would it be safer going forward to keep my Msembs protected? 2. For anyone experienced in growing this species (or genus) are there telltale signs (such as shriveling) I should be watching out for when knowing went to water? I’ve been watering these weekly with my other plans. I’ve read that during dormancy or when certain morphologic changes are occurring I shouldn’t water. 3. Is my mix appropriate? or should I have further refined it with more inorganics? 4. When growing indoors under strong grow lights + ventilation is it normal to water weekly, or should watering be done only when the plants begin to shrivel?
I feel bad about murdering these seedlings, but I’m trying to remind myself that these are not the easiest things to grow and take it as a learning experience. Hopefully, in the future, I’ll be better equipped to deal with the culture of these amazing plants.
Thanks for listening to my ramble.
acm_redfox
I have no experience growing anything from seeds. But to my eye, these look dessicated. Could it be that it was too much sun (and/or too much heat) all at once? That they had roots that hadn’t adequately taken hold in their new pot before the conditions changed? For sure a ton of rain would also be bad, as these guys are winter growers and are probably slowing down into dormancy as summer gets underway…
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Good evening everyone!Pardon this noobie post, but I’m trying to troubleshoot some cultural issues I’m having with this fascinating group of plants and trying to learn everything I can. The plants in question are Aloinopsis luckhoffii I grew from seed. Here are the facts as I have it:
1. The plants are about 4-5 months old at this point. Seeds were sown over the winter.
2. I live in New York, zone 7B
3. I repotted the seedlings about a month ago and moved them outside, uncovered for the growing season. Moved from a small 3 inch seedling container to a shallow terracotta succulent bowl.
4. The plants have done very poorly in their new area/pot. I have deduced that the ambient humidity and ample spring rains were too much for them and they began to rot.
5. After noticing some pretty significant dieback, I moved them indoors to better monitor their culture (and to see if I could salvage any).
6. The loss of the plant progressed moderately fast, starting with random leaves seeming to just dry out (this might be the cells bursting and the plan just rotting) and shriveling to nothing, followed quickly thereafter by the demise of the entire seedling. Sometimes it was the lowest leaves. Other times it was the newest growth.
7. My mix is my standard succulent mix – approximately 70% inorganic (clay, pumice, perlite, etc). The balance is the standard potting mix.
I took some pictures of a recently decided seedling to see if I could identify if the culprit was rot, or if there was something else at play here. The roots of the plant look pretty awful, but again, I’m new to these plants and not sure exactly what a proper benchmark is. My other questions are as follows:
1. I know in Habitat that these plants get very minimal water (sometimes no more than an inch or two a month). Would it be safer going forward to keep my Msembs protected?
2. For anyone experienced in growing this species (or genus) are there telltale signs (such as shriveling) I should be watching out for when knowing went to water? I’ve been watering these weekly with my other plans. I’ve read that during dormancy or when certain morphologic changes are occurring I shouldn’t water.
3. Is my mix appropriate? or should I have further refined it with more inorganics?
4. When growing indoors under strong grow lights + ventilation is it normal to water weekly, or should watering be done only when the plants begin to shrivel?
I feel bad about murdering these seedlings, but I’m trying to remind myself that these are not the easiest things to grow and take it as a learning experience. Hopefully, in the future, I’ll be better equipped to deal with the culture of these amazing plants.
Thanks for listening to my ramble.
I have no experience growing anything from seeds. But to my eye, these look dessicated. Could it be that it was too much sun (and/or too much heat) all at once? That they had roots that hadn’t adequately taken hold in their new pot before the conditions changed? For sure a ton of rain would also be bad, as these guys are winter growers and are probably slowing down into dormancy as summer gets underway…