The leaves on this Monstera adansonii keep getting bigger! This cutting is only a few months old and is a couple feet long.We set up a water tank with water lettuce and water mimosa graciously given to us by the Lincoln Park Conservatory in Chicago, along with native lotus grown from seed. Perhaps a future shrimp enclosure?Our Conophytum obcordellum is sending out some new growth! We stop watering it at this stage, as the new plant material will take up all the water it needs from the old growth.
Seedlings
We do most of our germinating on our mist bench, which mists the plants every 15 minutes for 15 seconds. We also use heating mats, especially in winter to provide bottom heat and encourage germination. Almost all of our seeds are sown in plug and germ media, a fine mix of peat and perlite to help retain moisture.
We can’t resist planting more Welwitschias! Out of 9 seeds, 4 germinated and 2 survived so far.Our oldest seedling is sending out new growth too!Our Jatropha podica seedling (you can watch the time lapse of the mother plant blooming and growing the seed pod for it here) is growing fast!Our Melocactus matazanus seedlings, about three and a half months old.Saguaro seedlings, also about three and a half months old. They’re starting to green up and get chubbier!
Blooms
The flower of Stapelia hirsuta utilizes a similar method to the corpse flower: smelling like rotten meat to attract pollinators!Our ~5 year old desert rose (Adenium species) has been blooming up a storm!One of our Queen of the Night cacti (Epiphyllum oxypetalum) tends to bloom multiple times a year! This time we see three buds opening up. See a previous time lapse of it here.Silver Squill (Ledebouria socialis), from southern Africa, has long bloom stalks but itty bitty flowers! They have purple and white petals and bright yellow anthers.Many of our carnivorous collection is blooming right now, including sundews (Drosera species). They often self pollinate and create little seedlings all over the area.
What Our Time Lapse Cameras are Filming
Filming the rapid growth of the Rhipsalis baccifera seedlings, planted November 7, 2023! This is the only true cactus species that grows outside the Americas.Tomatoes, especially young ones, have an active circadian movement cycle. At the suggestion of Dr. Ben Mansfeld, we setup our second camera taking photos more frequently to caption their lil daily dances.
