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Mesembryanthemum
I grew Mesembryanthemum from seed this year and have had an impressive show. Now all the flowers have disappeared, which seems a bit early from what I recall of growing them in the past. Will they flower again? And do I need to dead-head what appear to be little pink buttons. A lot of the leaves and stems have gone quite pale, though a few remain green.
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As they've all turned to seed I'm not sure they'll flower again now, but do cut them all off and see.
The life cycle for an annual is to flower quickly and set seed, then it thinks it's jobs done and they die, next time, dead hear right from the start as soon as you see them go over, that way the plant will think it's still got to produce flowers to reproduce.
Sandra, I'm pleased to read of your success with one of my favourite flowers: now, please, tell me how you do it! What do you sow them in, and how do you grow on the seedlings? I have no trouble getting them to germinate in a shallow tray of coir on the kitchen windowsill, not having a greenhouse. But when it comes to transplanting, they're so small and fiddly. I put them into paper pots or yogurt pots in a cold frame but they just survive and get no bigger.
Thanks Lyn. I'll give it a try. I loved your description of their modus operandi and am very much tempted to try to fool them into giving another show.
Hi Josusa47. I started them off in a propagator, and transplanted them into pocket trays when they were big enough to handle. Some of them I potted on into larger pots, others I left as they were and planted them out direct from there. I just used normal multi-purpose compost and once they'd moved from their first into their second containers I moved them to the greenhouse. I can't imagine why yours haven't moved on as our greenhouse had lots of missing window panes at that time, and was more like a cold frame in reality. I know they're fiddly to handle but I have a mini trowel about an inch wide and two inches deep which made it easy to get them out of the propagator pots. To be honest, far more survived than I really wanted and if I were to do it again, I'd sow far less!
At the moment I'm cultivating Hottentot Fig which is very similar, and that's doing well too. Good luck next time. Sandra.
I wonder how big is"big enough to handle"? Mine never were! The seed is so fine that the seedlings grow all in a tangle and I can't separate them without damaging the roots which are hardly more than a hair. Also the stems are curly so when I try to put them in pots I can't even get them to stand straight. My dad grew them every year but I don't remember him ever growing them from seed. I think he must have bought a tray of half-grown plants, but I never see any, only packets of seed. Other people have given me much the same advice as you, and I've been doing pretty much the same but I never find it as simple as you make it sound.
When you sow the seeds again, mix them with sand, you get a finer sowing then. Leave them until they're quite grown on, they thrive on neglect, when they are about two inches tall, water them then tip the whole lot out and gently tease them apart. I grew these a couple of years ago and planted along a 100' border. Each separate colour is a different plant, they can grow very big.
Thanks Lyn, what a splendid border. I'll try that with the sand next year, it sounds as though it would be helpful.
Good idea, Lyn. And I love your border.
Josusa47. When I planted my Hottentot fig seeds I followed a tip on the seed packet. I shook a few seeds out onto a saucer, shook the saucer around until they were reasonably well spread out and then dabbed at them with the wrong end of a match stick so that I could transfer them individually into well spaced order. I did six to a small propagator tub, (one of those propagators that has seven green tubs with glass lids in a warming tray) and I've got to say it worked perfectly. My seedlings are often curly too, but I just build up the compost around the stems and try to keep it fairly built up to secure the seedlings. This was my first year propagating from seed since I was a girl, but I remember I used to have the same issues you describe when I first tried. I've been pleasantly surprised this year, and have grown Cosmos, Nigella, Marigold quite successfully. I did however, only get 2 Petunias out of an entire packet of seed, no lupins, and no Busy Lizzie! So it's not all good news.
Well done Sandra.