If you are a house plant enthusiast interested in the infinite variety and simple austerity of succulents, you are fortunate, indeed.
These sturdy individuals are made-to-order for gardeners with a keen interest in plants but with time, space, and budget limitations. The usual arid, overheated winter atmosphere in our homes is often better for them than for us.
Most cacti and other succulents may be raised readily from seed without a greenhouse or special structure. And, unlike many of our cultivated plants, succulents are as fascinating at the seedling stage as when fully mature.
Except for moderately close attention every few days during the first months after the seeds are planted, succulents can endure neglect if it is the intelligent neglect sometimes enforced by vacations and the pressure of other duties.
Such confining rituals as the daily syringing sometimes required by orchids are strictly taboo.
The soil mixture for succulents is not complicated, and the collection expense is limited to the cost of seeds and containers.
On the debit side, we must admit that cacti and their allies slowly bloom. Many of them probably will never reward you.
And their flowers, although often beautiful, may be ephemeral. This is not a major consideration when grown primarily for plant form.
We also grant that displaying a large collection with taste is difficult. Some growers “resolve” this difficulty by accumulating ceramic monstrosities in which a cleistocactus may serve as the missing tail of a couchant cat, or a chamaecereus may sprout from the back of a stylized fawn.
This has probably prejudiced uncounted casual observers against the succulent tribe. Containers of simple lines are best.
Clay flower pots are entirely adequate and may be preferable for the period up to the first transplanting.
Seed Selection and Cost
The seed investment may range from a 25-cent packet of assorted succulent seeds, yielding a dozen or more species, to $2.00 or $3.00 for mixtures carried by specialists.
The latter may have a potential yield of more than 100 different species. These special mixtures are preferable because they enable you to select the succulents which particularly appeal to you.
True hobbyists sometimes hesitate to raise plants that they cannot identify. These individuals may prefer to buy named packets of succulent seeds. This is, at best, a dubious practice, however, because collectors seldom want more than one or two plants of a given species.
Often, it is possible to identify young plants from a seed mixture through reference books. For those whose inclinations lie along the lines of nomenclature, this adds interest to the cultivation of succulents.
In choosing seed mixtures, I would suggest a good general mixture of cacti and other succulents; a mixture of miniature cacti, which are among the most likely to flower; and a mixture of the so-called “living rocks” or stone faces (lithops), from the African deserts.
Cacti, of course, are strictly plants of the Western Hemisphere.
Lithops
Lithops are particular favorites of mine. The entire above-ground portion of these unusual stoneface plants consists of two fat leaves fused for most of their height to resemble a child’s toy top.
The summit of the plant is usually rather fiat, with a transverse groove marking the separation of the highly modified leaves.
Ordinarily of a color other than green, these plants are decorated on their flattened surfaces with an incised pattern in a contrasting darker shade. Gray, rust, fawn, tan, red, violet, and smoky pink predominate.
Stoneface Plant
The stoneface plant seldom exceeds 1 ½” inches in height at maturity, at which time a daisy-like flower, usually white or yellow, may appear in the fissure between the leaves.
In its native habitat in the high deserts of southwestern Africa, the tops of the two leaves are often the only parts of the plant exposed.
Soil and Planting Recommendations
The planting soil for succulent seeds should consist of equal parts of leaf mold or peat moss, sharp sand, and loam. The top inch should be sifted through a piece of window screen or comparable sieve.
Seeds should be sown thinly (¼” inch apart for fine seeds and ½” inch apart for larger ones) and barely covered with soil.
Covering soil should be pressed down lightly and allowed to become saturated by placing the container in a saucer of water. Then, the seed pan should be covered with a piece of glass and placed in a warm situation, such as a closet by a chimney.
If such a spot is unavailable, a light bulb in a reflector can be adjusted above the glass to give the proper heat.
The temperature may range between 75° and 85° degrees Fahrenheit. The soil should be kept constantly moist by replenishing the water in the saucer.
Germination
Germination of the more precocious species may begin in ten days and may extend to several months for the slower ones. Speed of germination will depend in part upon the freshness of the seed.
Light and Water
Light should be provided as soon as the plants appear, and air should be admitted by propping up the glass slightly on one side.
If the plants are started from seed in winter, they can be kept in active growth until late fall.
The amount of water should then be reduced until about the middle of March, at least in northern states, as the short, frequently cloudy days of winter favor the development of rot if too much moisture is present.
Transplanting Process and Container Options
In any case, many of the plants should be transplanted by this time. The speed of growth and extent of crowding will govern the time of transplanting.
Most authorities recommend that roots be trimmed back and plants left out of the soil for a few days to callus before replanting.
The containers should have a layer of small stones or broken crock in the bottom for drainage. The soil mixture should be a light loam with a little leaf mold and a generous amount of coarse sand.
A bit of old plaster or crushed eggshell will prevent undue acidity. After transplanting, it is better to err on the side of too little water than too much, and fast-draining soil will likely make the latter error less serious.
Growth and Fertilization
The speed of growth depends upon the species. Some globular cacti may be no more than ½” inch in diameter at the end of the first year, while others may be several inches high.
After the first transplant, small amounts of fertilizer may be used if care is taken to keep it away from the plant itself.
A complete fertilizer or one specially compounded by cactus specialists will be satisfactory. Plant food should be applied only during the season of active growth.
Desert soils in which cacti are found are sometimes quite high in soluble salts, and these plants will not make satisfactory progress in poor soil.
Preferences and Considerations
These instructions are necessarily very general. Based on their particular native environments. Succulents have varying preferences in the amount of water and light.
They also differ in the natural season of dormancy, depending upon whether they are native to the Northern or Southern Hemisphere.
44659 by J. A. Jump