This article provides a detailed explanation of the knowledge topic of stonecrop plants, including stonecrop sowing steps. Let's introduce them one by one.
This article provides a detailed explanation of stonecrop sowing steps, which is very suitable for novice flower lovers. It covers everything from stonecrop sowing to later care, for flower lovers to selectively refer to according to their own needs, take the "essence" and discard the "dross", and there is no need to copy it word for word.
I. Stonecrop Sowing Time
Actually, sowing does not have strict requirements for when to sow, only whether it is the best sowing time. As long as you can master the temperature and humidity after sowing, you can sow at any time. Indeed, there are people who have successfully sown in the hot summer, so I will introduce the following two conventional sowing times:
1. Spring Sowing
Spring sowing is well known to everyone. The law of nature for thousands of years is that in the early spring, the temperature in many areas is still too low (excluding areas with heating), and the areas with too low temperature are obviously not very suitable for succulent sowing. The best spring sowing time is determined according to the changes of seasonal climate in each region, that is, when the climate is warm and comfortable.
2. Autumn Sowing
In fact, many succulent lovers start sowing from the end of September. It is very suitable for the northwest or northeast regions, but it may still be too hot and stuffy in the south. Sowing at this time is prone to failure. The best autumn sowing time for most regions should be from the beginning of National Day every year to the end of autumn and early winter (here autumn and early winter refer to climate temperature rather than time). Of course, for those who have heating in the north, the indoor temperature is around 20 degrees Celsius throughout the winter, which is also very suitable for sowing throughout the winter.
It is worth mentioning that the seedlings sown in autumn are already growing well by the next summer and are easier to survive the summer, so personally, I recommend autumn sowing more than spring sowing.
Note: Attention should be paid to temperature when sowing, and it is best to control it between 10-25 degrees Celsius. The lower the temperature, the more uneven the germination rate. The higher the temperature, the easier it is for seedlings to die due to bacteria or rot and waterlogging, leading to sowing failure. How to observe whether the temperature and humidity are suitable will be introduced in the following text. Different seeds have different preferences for temperature, but most of them are similar. I will not introduce them here. If you want to know, you can ask Duoduo.
II. Stonecrop Sowing Tools
1. Necessary Tools
Of course, a sowing container. You can buy a special sowing box online, or you can make use of various yogurt boxes and similar containers as seedling boxes, but you must ensure the height of the container, not exceeding 7 cm. Shallow containers are most suitable, ensuring that there are small holes at the bottom for water retention and good permeability. If it exceeds 7 cm, you need to pad coarse particles such as ceramic beads at the bottom of the container to ensure permeability (not recommended to use containers exceeding 10 cm for sowing). Of course, if you are a super expert, you can also successfully sow in any environment without being so picky. However, as a super expert, you probably don't need to read my sowing process, haha~
I like yogurt boxes and eggshells, haha. And similar shallow containers like yogurt boxes. Yogurt boxes are very neat and clean, super good!
2. Non-essential Tools The tools introduced below are optional. Having them is more complete and convenient, but it is not mandatory, and other items can be used as substitutes.
▲ Tags and markers: Many succulent lovers sow without marking what area is what kind of succulent, thinking that they can remember it, but after a long time, they forget, especially when sowing many varieties. When the succulents grow up, they can't tell which name corresponds to their own succulents at all. At this time, it is very important to mark the name of each area corresponding to the succulent name on the seed in advance. You can write the name on the label and insert it at the edge of the sowing soil, or you can write it on the edge of the container, or you can mark the orientation of the container and draw a sketch on paper to mark the name. In short, you need to remember the name of the succulent corresponding to the sowing position in your own way to prevent yourself from forgetting what the succulent is in the future.
▲ Bent-mouth watering can: It is more convenient to replenish water, but I usually replenish water with containers that can hold water, such as mineral water bottles, without being so picky.
▲ Seedling lifting tools, tweezers, and other small tools: Generally, there are these small tools for sale in online succulent stores. However, I move seedlings with toothpicks, and tweezers are still very practical. My fingers are too thick, and tweezers can be used in place of my fingers in many cases, whether it is for seedlings or mature plants.
▲ Flower medicine: From the moment you start raising succulents, you should be prepared to fight against pests and diseases all the time. Pests and diseases will appear in your succulent cultivation life beyond your imagination, devouring your beloved succulents. Therefore, fungicides such as Dazhongling, Huhuashen, and Aktai are used.
III. Stonecrop Sowing Medium Different families have different requirements for sowing medium. I personally prefer stonecrops, and I have been planting in the stonecrop pit without any intention of leaving it. I have little experience with other families, except for the Anacampserotaceae. My understanding is that the sowing requirements for stonecrops are not high, while the sowing of Anacampserotaceae is similar, but it requires stricter requirements for medium mixing ratio and later care.
Stonecrop sowing soil is generally mainly composed of peat soil, vermiculite, and perlite. There are no strict requirements. According to personal preferences, other granular media can be added appropriately, but the sowing soil should be mostly fine-grained, and too heavy graininess can easily cause seedlings to become rigid.
My source of sowing soil is divided into two types:
1. It is a finished sowing soil prepared by the seller purchased online.
2. Self-mixed soil: It is relatively fine-grained Da Han peat soil mixed with purchased vermiculite, perlite, etc. The perlite mixed is also screened and has relatively fine-grained perlite. There are no strict requirements for the ratio. According to your intuition, you can add a little bit or not.
Precautions: The sowing soil must be disinfected before entering the sowing container. It can be disinfected with drugs (soaked in a dilute solution of fungicides such as Dazhongling and potassium permanganate for half an hour) or high temperature (steamed or microwaved). I personally recommend steaming for half an hour at high temperature if conditions permit, which is the safest. Do not add perlite and the like after disinfection. You need to steam the soil after adjusting it. It is better to steam the soil slightly moist. After disinfection, you can directly mix the water from the steamer pot with the soil, moisten the soil slightly, and then start filling it into the container. The soil can be pressed slightly. I like to use the water from the steamer pot to water the pot, because it has been boiling for a long time and there is no need to worry about the water quality being dirty. It is recommended to soak the pot for a long time to ensure that the soil is fully wet. After soaking, you need to control the dripping water, press gently without obvious large amounts of water, and leave about 1-2 cm between the soil surface and the edge of the pot. Then wait for the hot temperature to return to room temperature and you can start sowing!
IV. Stonecrop Sowing Operation
Succulent seeds are very small (as shown in the figure below) and very light. Sowing cannot be buried in the soil like farmers planting crops, otherwise, even if the seeds germinate, they cannot grow out and will rot in the soil directly. There are also different sowing methods, as follows:
1. Broadcasting, as the name suggests, broadcasting the seeds together is broadcasting. It is suitable for those who have poor eyesight, are exhausted by the above preparatory work, or have a large number of seeds to sow. I used to joke that broadcasting is good. When broadcasting seeds, they are often crowded together, just like people. When there are more people, there is a lively atmosphere, and when there are more seeds, they are crowded together, and there is a lively atmosphere. It's just a joke~ In fact, I recommend that you choose to broadcast if you have the ability and conditions, to prevent seeds from being too dense and crowded after germination, affecting photosynthesis.
2. Spot sowing, which means sowing one by one. Seeds are very small and light, and cannot be sown with large auxiliary tools like crop seeds. Spot sowing requires a lot of patience and keen eyesight (there was once a good succulent that had a pair of crossed eyes for a long time after sowing six or seven hundred seeds at once. I think this is a serious case of obsessive-compulsive disorder, haha, so cute). I can sow a maximum of 200 seeds at a time. My method is to take a large piece of tissue paper or A4 paper, sprinkle the seeds on it, take a wet toothpick, and then touch the seeds with the tip. The seeds will automatically adhere to the tip of the toothpick. Then, gently tap it on the sowing soil. Remember not to poke it into the soil, or it will be like burying it in the soil, and you will not be able to wait for the seeds to germinate. Just gently touch the soil. Because the soil humidity is greater than that of the toothpick, the seeds will adhere to the soil when they touch the soil.
Above, the initial sowing work is completed.
V. Management after Sowing and Seedling Emergence
After the above sowing work is completed, it can be said that the sowing work has just begun. The effective care afterwards is the important stage for succulents to achieve "longevity". So I will be very talkative, very talkative, and very talkative. Maybe it will be talkative to the point where you can't accept it. Prepare yourself mentally.
1. The first step is to ferment seeds:
Although the special seedling box purchased online has a cover, it is not tight enough (maybe I am in a dry northern region, always feel that the humidity in the seedling box is not enough. This problem can only be judged according to personal environment, not biased. For example, in the humid and humid south, there will be no such problem at all. I am only talking about the situation in my region), and the waste utilization prepared by myself has no cover. After experimenting, I think the best way is to wrap it with cling film (as shown in the figure below).
The special seedling box purchased online is divided into a water-absorbing base plate, a main plate for holding soil, and a cover, with three sets. After covering the main plate for holding soil and sowing with cling film, use a toothpick to poke some small holes on the surface evenly and appropriately, and then put it in the water-absorbing base plate and cover it with a plastic cover.
The container made by myself has no base plate and no cover. Just wrap it with cling film and poke more holes, you can put it directly indoors, or you can put it in a container at home like a transparent plastic storage box.
Do not uncover it for 5-7 days (here the number of days is for most seeds, for a small number of seeds that will germinate in 1-3 days, you need to pay attention to it at any time. After germination, you need to take care of it according to the way of care after germination mentioned in the following text. Generally speaking, when you have experience, you will know which seeds germinate quickly, and I always sow them separately, so it evolved to later I sow one category of seeds in one yogurt box, economical and practical, convenient for sowing management, and easy to remember).
Reminder:
1) Fermenting seeds is an important process. The humidity and temperature generated by fermentation can fully hydrate the seeds and fully absorb the moisture in the soil, which is conducive to germination;
2) For most conventional seeds, the seedling box should not be placed in a dark or direct sunlight place. It should be placed in a bright place to ensure normal humidity and temperature.
3) If the temperature is high in the middle of the day, you can uncover a small corner for ventilation, and then restore it to its original state when the temperature drops in the afternoon. How can you know whether the temperature is suitable? One way is to buy a humidity and temperature meter and put it in the seedling box to observe the humidity and temperature. Another way is personal experience. Once you start fermenting seeds, water vapor will gradually condense on the cling film. If the temperature is too high, the water vapor will condense into water droplets and drop onto the soil surface. If the temperature is too low, there will be no condensation of water vapor. If you really can't grasp it, I can only tell you helplessly that it is better to have a lower temperature than a higher temperature. High temperature basically the seeds will rot or wither after germination, while low temperature will only delay the germination time or make some seeds lose their germination ability for a long time, and the success rate will be higher than high temperature.
4) Generally speaking, according to the above requirements, there will be no problem with the soil moisture within 7 days. After 5-7 days, uncover and observe the soil (in fact, I can understand, especially for novice sowers, after sowing, they can't help but pay attention to the germination situation. They hate not to tear it open every day to see if it has germinated. I have had that kind of mood too. If the soil surface is slightly dry and not moist enough, you need to replenish water. The way to replenish water must be soaking, and you cannot spray water directly on the soil surface, otherwise, those tiny seeds that you can't find in the soil will be "flushed" into the soil and covered, leading to germination failure. After soaking, the moisture level of the soil should not be dripping, and the bottom ventilation holes should not drip water.
3. What everyone cares most about is:
After all the efforts, can the seeds germinate quickly and in large numbers? Greedy people hope that all of them can germinate! But reality is cruel. Experience tells us that not