Germinating Lithops Seeds Days 11 and 12

I wasn't able to take some photos for these days. My busy schedule didn't allow me. But I will take pictures of Day 13th. 

I am still at 12% germination rate, though there are some varieties of lithops that grow faster. 

I have sown a new batch of 20 lithops seeds today, and I realized that my first batch of seeds that I am taking pictures of everyday, have grown 10 to 20 times its size. 

The lithops seeds are extremely tiny, and you wouldn't want to exhale air over them because they are no bigger than an ant's footprint if they have any. You would mistake it for dust. 

I will have a new batch of seeds coming next month, and I am so excited to sow them. Seeds will be for sale soon.

I will share my Day 13 pictures tomorrow.

Germinating Lithops Seeds Day 10

On my 10th day of how to grow lithops from seeds, it didn't seem like something is happening. 

I left the seed container under the direct noon time sun yesterday for about an hour. We have daytime cloudy weather today, and sometimes the sun hides behind the clouds so it is not always direct sunlight. But when I touched the seed container, it was hot. 

If it was just regular afternoon or morning sunlight, when you touch the moist container from the outside, it will feel cold that is coming from the inside of the container- like the inside of the container stays cooler than outside temperature because of the water and moisture trapped inside. The moisture keeps the seeds cool during daytime. The seeds need to be within 20 to 25 degrees celsius temperature. The water inside the container keeps the seeds cool, so it is important not to leave the seedbox under the noontime sun. Just place the container in a well-lit place. 

I am still at 12% gernination rate for this batch of lithops. Hopefully, the almost sprouting seeds will sprout on Day 11. 

The seedlings grow fast. They look more like infant lithops now. 4 out of the 6 seedlings sprouted standing up - with the pointed end downwards, like in th picture below.

There are 2 sprouts that are like lying down. I am waiting if they will stand up soon or just lay down like that. 

Germinating Lithops Seeds Day 9

When you are growing the lithops seeds, you know they are about to germinate or sprout when the seeds become very, very pointy at one end. The pointed end is where it will sprout its first greens. 

On my 9th day of how to grow lithops from seeds, I reached my 12% germination rate. That is 6 out of 50 seeds already germinated.

These seeds are from South Africa. 

Check out the Day 9 photos below. The close-up photos show the very pointy seeds that are about to sprout. 

I try to take photos from the same angle and distance as much as possible for comparison. Some seeds have moved when I added water. I noticed that the cotton is drying up and there is less water droplets in the afternoon, so I add about 2-3 tablespoons water on the sides only.

Germinating Lithops Seeds Day 8

There are now 4 seedlings. Yehey! I officially have an 8% germination rate from the lithops seeds that came all the way from South Africa. 

I think I am going to start my second batch of lithops at day 14 when most of my seeds are germinated. 

Here's the latest seed. My seedling number 4. I noticed that the pointy part of the lithops seeds point outwards further, and that is where it sprouts. Today, I noticed that most of my seeds are more pointy. 

The latest seedling has a light brownish sprout, unlike the first three sprouts. I have mixed lithops seedlings so the differences in the color and length of time of germinating is normal.

Here are the rest of the photos.

The germinated seeds sprout downwards.

Germinating Lithops Seeds Day 7

I am so excited today because I found 2 new sprouts. When the sprouts grow, they grow fast. I enjoyed seeing my lithops seeds sprout.

Lithops seeds are mostly tear-shaped. On the pointed end of the lithops seeds is where it sprouts. I am watching out for more sprouts, but I can only visibly see 3 lithops sprouts today.

There is more dusts today, and I added a few drops of water because most of the water from my first day already evaporated. And lithops seeds love water! But do not put in too much or the seeds will flow away. The added water almost floated away a couple of my seeds, but I managed to put them back by flowing them back to the middle of the cotton. So the photos today may look slightly different from the previous days' photos.

Germinating Lithops Seeds Day 6

Yehey! On day 6 of germinating my lithops seeds (in the Philippines), only one seed germinated - the one that sprouted on the previous day. But the new seedling grew.  Oooh this one is a fast grower. It is sooo green.

I did not fret much because, like people and flowers, some lithops sprout early, and some are late. The seeds are viable upto 10 years, so we have around 9 more years to wait for these to turn into beautiful lithops.

One thing I noticed today is that dust-like particles seem to have appeared on the cotton. I'm not sure if these are dusts or bacteria, because some bacteria look like dusts. They are very few so I just ignored.

Here are my day 6 photos.

My First Sprouted Lithops

I officially have a seedling!

Day 5 on germinating my lithops seeds, there weren't any very big changes this morning. I even blogged on my Day 5 that "walang nangyayari". But this afternoon when I checked, and as I looked closer, I saw a tiny green speck. 

Yehey! Yahoo!

So, on Day 5, the lithops seeds will start to sprout. Hopefully, tomorrow, there will be more than one sprouted seeds.

Germinating Lithops Seeds Day 4

It seems that there isn't much change with Day 3 and 4. However, if you look at the actual seeds closely, they seemed to have lightly changed in color, and got a bit bigger than yesterday. The seeds became lighter in color, like light brown.

I am just using my cellphone and LED lights so the pictures aren't very clear like when you use professional cameras.

Germinating Lithops Seeds Day 3

I am posting the pictures day by day for my own satisfaction. 

It seems that there isn't much change today. If you are very observant, you will notice there are a super very tiny change, hardly noticeable. 

Patience is the key to success in growing lithops. 

Germinating Lithops Seeds Day 2

On the second day of my lithops seeds. There is a very tiny progress. 

I placed the container with seeds on the southeast facing window to catch some morning sun, then i transfer the container with seeds on the south facing window before noon time because i don't want them to get baked by the scorching sun. 

I made sure that they get plenty of indirect sunlight. I use a light meter app (pic below) to measure the light intensity my plants are getting. I make sure that the light does not get at 20,000lux which is direct sunlight. Just below 5000lux just like morning sun. 

At night, I place the seeds under an artificial light with lux below 2000. I want the seeds to receive as much light as possible.

Germinating Lithops Seeds Day 1

This is the first day of my lithops seeds. These are what I used for germinating. 

A Face Mask so I won't breath over the very tiny lithops seeds because they might just get accidetally blown away. 

Lithops Seeds, a toothpick, cotton pads or unrolled cotton balls.

Container and a Tissue to place the seeds before putting on the cotton.

Container with cover. Then place the cotton inside.

A small bottle for water. Then fully wet the cotton balls very wet.

Then place the seeds one by one on top of the cotton using the tooth pick to pick up the seeds.

These are Day 1 pictures.