Even the most unpretentious decorative indoor crops, unfortunately, require a lot of attention and need careful care. That is why many people do not dare to plant some beautiful flower at home, thereby making the interior more comfortable and vibrant. Meanwhile, there is a very simple way out of such a situation. People with a lack of time and skills in growing indoor plants should just plant succulent on their windowsill.
A feature of such plants is that they do not require almost any care. Watering the decorative cultures of this variety is very rare. At the same time, they practically do not require top dressing. Later in the article and consider how to grow succulents from seeds correctly.
What are these plants
The main feature of indoor decorative cultures of this group is that they are endowed with very juicy leaves literally filled with liquid and stems. Such an unusual structure of succulents is thought out by nature itself. The fact is that almost all such plants grow in desert areas. A simple example of succulents are the well-known cacti. Aloe is also popular among lovers of decorative indoor cultures.
Also, succulents, including those grown from seeds at home, have the following features:
the presence of thorns instead of leaves;
ribbed thick stalk, straightening after the receipt of water;
night gas exchange;
wax coating or thick edge of aerial parts;
leaves in the form of a gutter descending to the roots.
All succulents growing on earth today are divided into two large groups:
How to breed and is it possible to grow succulents from seeds
The ornamental cultures of this species, thus, are very hardy plants and easily adapt to the most difficult conditions. One of their features is that they are able to reproduce using fragments of green mass. Some succulents, for example, can sprout even from small pieces of leaves.
Such plants are propagated in apartments most often using fragments of green mass or whole leaves or shoots. However, unfortunately, such planting material is often quite difficult to get. This is especially true for rare varieties of succulents, for example, decorative rabbit cabbage, lithops, tree aeonium, etc.
In the absence of "green" planting material, lovers of indoor plants usually think about how to grow succulents from seeds. After all, getting them these days is quite simple. You can purchase seeds of interesting succulents, for example, via the Internet at the same popular Chinese trading floors.
What techniques should be used for landing
Adult succulents can do without moisture for a very long time. However, the seeds of such plants without water, unfortunately, are not able to germinate. On a hot day with dry air, such planting material may die within a few hours. Therefore, in the warm season, the seeds of succulents are usually planted in the soil by a special method.
First, the seed of such plants is distributed on the surface of the soil without dropping it. Then the sowing pot is placed in a transparent plastic bag. Then tighten the top of the bag to create greenhouse seedlings. This technology is called “bagging” and its use often allows you to grow beautiful succulents even from Chinese seeds, which, as you know, are not always of high quality.
In winter, succulents are usually planted a little differently. In this case, the pot with plants is simply covered with glass or placed in an old aquarium. Both of these technologies - both “bagged” and “winter” - are a very good answer to the question, including how to grow succulents from seeds from China.
Preparatory Activities
One of the features of growing such plants from seeds using the "bag" technology is the need to comply with complete sterility. To planting material succulents guaranteed to germinate, you must:
Before sowing, thoroughly wash with soap the pot selected for the plant;
use a new plastic bag or rinse the old one well.
The soil itself under the succulents must be calcined for at least 2 hours at a temperature of 112 ° C. It should first be sieved to remove pebbles and debris from it.
How to grow succulents from seeds in summer: step-by-step technology
The steamed soil before sowing such plants is cooled and poured into a pot. Next, the landing is performed as follows:
the soil in the pot is moistened through a tray in boiled and chilled water;
lay the seeds of succulent on the ground and treat just in case the entire surface of the soil with some fungicide;
unfold the bag and install a container with planting material in it;
tighten the top of the bag and place the pot in a well-lit place, but not in direct sunlight.
It is advisable to also install a pot with seeds of succulent in a room where it is quite cool at night. Sow the seeds in the container need to be thicker. For 7 cm of diameter of the pot, for example, they should be about 100 pcs.
Care for young plants
How to plant succulent seeds is thus understandable. But how to make sure that they subsequently do not die and sprout in time. Seeds of such ornamental crops are being barked, depending on the variety, for several days or weeks. Inside the bag, young plants can be kept for up to several months. Such a greenhouse is removed from the pot usually when the succulents are already large enough.
In the first time after germination, it is necessary to monitor the roots of young plants. Among other things, the feature of succulents is that at the early stages of development, their roots begin to spread along the surface of the soil, without diving into it. If such a problem is found, the small plant should definitely be helped. Next to it, you need to dig a hole with a toothpick, select a sprout on the surface a little and fill the root into the ground.
When using a plastic bag for growing succulents from seeds of a plastic bag, it is worthwhile, among other things, to ensure that fungi and mold do not appear on seedlings. When they are detected, you must definitely use fungicides. If the area of ​​infection is large in order to save the young plants, the bag from the pot when mold appears may need to be removed prematurely.
How to accustom to room conditions
How to germinate the seeds of succulents, we thus found out. After biting such plants above the ground, care for them, of course, also needs to be done correctly. Immediately remove the greenhouse from the pot with succulents, for example, in no case. Due to the abrupt change in conditions, young plants can simply fall ill and die. Within a few days, the bag from the pot is removed for only a couple of hours. This will allow succulents to get used to low humidity.
Next, the greenhouse on the pot is opened gradually for an increasingly longer period. As a result, the bag from the container with plants is removed completely. Over the next few months, the seedlings are sprayed from the spray daily or at least every other day. Subsequently, as soon as the succulents grow large enough, they are seated in different containers.
Winter technique
Of course, many lovers of indoor plants would like to learn about how to grow succulents from seeds in the cold season. In winter, for planting such decorative crops, approximately the same technology as in summer is used, but a simpler technology.
Before sowing the seeds of succulents at this time of the year, the soil can not be calcined, but simply spilled with hot water. In this case, it is supposed to perform such a procedure a few days before planting. Garden soil using "winter" technology is usually mixed with sand in a 1: 1 ratio.
When planting, the soil for succulents is poured into a pot and moderately watered with rain or melt snow water. Seeds, as in the first case, are simply distributed on the surface of the soil. After seeding, the pot is covered with glass. Next, a container with planting material is placed in a well-lit place, not in direct sunlight. It is believed that it is best to install pots with sowing succulents in winter in such a way as to provide lower heating. For example, you can place containers with seedlings closer to the ledge of the windowsill above the heating radiator.
The glass subsequently from the pot is supposed to be cleaned daily for ventilation for several minutes. The first watering of seedlings when growing succulents from seeds at home is done approximately 2-3 weeks after planting. Subsequently, the soil under the plants is moistened as necessary, taking into account the technology of growing one or a variety of succulents.
Winter seedlings care
Succulents sprout in the winter, usually quite slowly. In some types of such decorative crops, this process can last up to 2 weeks, in others up to 3 months. Caring for seedlings planted according to the “winter” technology is approximately the same as when using the “bag” technique. That is, in the process of growing plants is supposed to periodically inspect the earth for mold. Subsequently, succulents must be gradually accustomed to room conditions.