Early Seed Starting

My earliest attempts at seed germination this year failed miserably. For whatever reason, not one seed started. I had planted Sinningia seeds, Rhipsalis, Euphorbia, and Kalanchoe. I think the Euphorbia seeds might still be viable, so I will keep them in their tray and keep watering, but I’ve given up on the others–it’s been about two months. I made the mistake of using previously used potting soil for the Sinningias and I suspect there were bugs or pathogens that kept them from sprouting. I have no idea what caused the Kalanchoe’s to not germinate. It’s possible the seeds just weren’t viable.

The second round of seed starting was about two weeks ago. I used seed starting mix combined with gravel for this round. These were seeds from an Etsy seller, Unusual Seeds. The below photos are from their postings.

Albuca spiralis Spiral albuca RARE / 5 seeds per pack image 0

Haworthia truncata  rare hybrids mix / 10 seeds image 0
Haworthia Rare Hybrids
Gasteria hybrids mix VERY RARE / 10 seeds per pack image 0
Kalanchoe thyrsiflora / 20 seeds image 0

So far, there are just a few seedlings. Three of the Kalanchoe thyrsiflora have sprouted.

Two Kalanchoe seedlings

One Gasteria seedling is showing itself–a plump little green ball at this point.

Gasteria seedling is the green globe middle left.

I also planted Lobivia seeds and one of them is germinating. This isn’t a great photo, but the reddish seedling stands out in the gravel mix.

None of the Albuca, Haworthia, or Crassula seeds are up yet, but I’m hopeful.

Today, for the garden/patio, I started some other seeds. These were from Select Seeds and I’m excited to get them going. I’ve always been thrilled with their seeds and plants. The below photos are from their website. I started Lewisia “Elise Mix”, Viola “Chicky Chicks”, and Stipa gigantea.

In addition, I planted seeds for Incarvillea sinensis ‘Cheron White’ from Chilterns. Chilterns is an amazing UK seed house. They have a little bit of everything and their seeds have led to a lot of success for me in the garden. The below photo is from their website.

Incarvillea sinensis, 'Cheron White'

This was a snowy day and it was fun to get some gardening done indoors while the snow piled up outside.

Acorns are planted in those tennis ball cans. They are certainly getting stratified!
Snowy faces on our back fence, with a Sedum poking through the snow blanket.