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 Poison Drink
 
Registered: 11/15/10
Posts: 841
Loc: W-Europe
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 Re: Delosperma bosseranum - Sceletium tortuosum  [Re: Poison Drink]  1
#25112251 - 04/03/18 09:36 PM (6 years, 14 days ago) |
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I'm growing both of these succulents from seed again, so let's revive this thread!
Delosperma bosseranum is easy to grow and flowers abundantly. I believe I first started growing these about 7 years ago. Since then I've been cultivating them continuously, restarting now and then with seeds from my own plants. Sadly I feel like I have never really given them my best. Overcrowding, too small of a pot, barely given nutrients, kept in a dark spot during winter, going months without watering.. They were definitely neglected but they still flowered and reproduced.
Sceletium tortuosum is definitely more finicky to grow in my opinion. They will grow fine in the same conditions as D. bosseranum. But once it turns winter, they will stagnate in growth and start drying out. I never succeeded in getting them to flower, or even in keeping them alive for more than a year.
 
This year I'm planning to grow them outdoors, in various areas with different micro-climates. I'd assume they would be doing fine in full sun since S. tortuosum is native to South-Africa, but I've read others posts advising to keep them out of the strongest sun. That seems like an interesting experiment. I'm growing both of them in a mixture of seedling soil, worm castings, perlite and white sand. They're in a damp mini greenhouse in front of a sunny window until the weather gets better.
Delosperma bosseranum is easy to germinate. Just sprinkle the tiny seeds on top of some moist soil. They'll be needing a thinning out shortly, since sowing 'just a few' of them is impossible considering their size.
 
It is said that Sceletium Tortuosum contains water soluble germination inhibitors. To wash them away, I put some seeds in water which I refreshed daily. I was using 'aged' tap water acidified to pH 6 if this should matter. After five days most of the seeds germinated, after which I planted them in soil. I have just started soaking another dozen of seeds.
 
Let's share our experiences, tips and tricks!
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 LSoares
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Re: Delosperma bosseranum - Sceletium tortuosum [Re: Poison Drink]
#25112640 - 04/04/18 01:58 AM (6 years, 14 days ago) |
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For what it's worth, Sceletium tortuosum is a definite winter grower for me.
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MeanGreen
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Re: Delosperma bosseranum - Sceletium tortuosum [Re: LSoares]
#25112720 - 04/04/18 03:51 AM (6 years, 14 days ago) |
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I agree, I have the same experience. I believe in habitat it goes deciduous and toughens its stems in the summer, then grows and flowers in winter.
A friend I gave a cutting to had his flower this winter as well, just on a windowsill.
I found it grows well all year under lights. Photoperiod doesn't seem to affect it, I guess it detects summer from the high temperatures. If I'm right I guess it's better not to grow it in full sun.
A great document by Trout on alkaloid content at different times of the year or various Delosperma & Sceletium species: http://troutsnotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/SoS_2004_Trout.pdf
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Solipsis
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Re: Delosperma bosseranum - Sceletium tortuosum [Re: MeanGreen]
#25112745 - 04/04/18 04:24 AM (6 years, 13 days ago) |
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Maybe it is the airflow in my grow unit, but I have trouble keeping S. Tortuosum from drying out.
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karode13
Tāne Mahuta
Registered: 05/19/05
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Re: Delosperma bosseranum - Sceletium tortuosum [Re: MeanGreen] 1
#25112768 - 04/04/18 04:53 AM (6 years, 13 days ago) |
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Quote:
MeanGreen said:
I believe in habitat it goes deciduous and toughens its stems in the summer, then grows and flowers in winter.
Does the same thing in my location. It goes dormant and the leaves disintergrate, leaving the skeleton of the leaf. This is where it gets its genus name from.
Maybe some peoples plants are going dormant and they think the plant is dead. Just putting that out there if people aren't aware.
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Poison Drink
Registered: 11/15/10
Posts: 841
Loc: W-Europe
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Re: Delosperma bosseranum - Sceletium tortuosum [Re: karode13]
#25113008 - 04/04/18 07:37 AM (6 years, 13 days ago) |
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@MeanGreen: Thanks for that Trout document! I remember it being posted a long time ago, but I completely forgot about it.
Considering S. tortuosum going dormant during summer, when would be the best time to start growing them from seed? Might not have chosen the right timing since spring has just started.
After rereading my older posts in this thread, my previous Kanna plants did seem to grow fine during winter months on a window sill. They would go dormant and the leaves would skeletize at the beginning of summer. So without realizing this, I might have given up on them too soon in the past. Will they completely loose all green in their leaves when they go dormant?
The S. tortuosum plants I'm having were received as unrooted cuttings a year ago. They never really took and didn't grow at all during the colder months. I don't believe these Kanna plants will revive, but I'll keep them around for a while. I put them together with my D. bosseranum plants in a mini greenhouse outdoors. Might still be a bit too cold during the night, and they're definitely not used to direct sunlight, but let's see if they'll handle it.
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Solipsis
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Re: Delosperma bosseranum - Sceletium tortuosum [Re: Poison Drink]
#25113296 - 04/04/18 10:10 AM (6 years, 13 days ago) |
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That's what happening to mine, so they're fine I guess  Definitely doesn't look that way but I didn't know! I did know about winter growing and dormancy but indoors here the seasons don't make a whole lot of sense.. 
Not sure what the plant would sense winter is like here, cause room temperature (20C) is winter South Africa temp... No idea why it senses it's summer and went dormant. Besides, I think at least one of them is also still growing but also a little skeletized. Is it very confused loL?
What about putting it under most intense light and a little higher temp of 24C in my arid zone to really seal the deal on this dormancy.
I don't mind what the plants want, as long as they aren't too confused about the climate. My climate I mean.
Similarly I wonder how confused my baobab is... it hasn't gone dormant and decidedly deciduous in like a year I think, it was growing alright until recently but it seems slowed.
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Poison Drink
Registered: 11/15/10
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Re: Delosperma bosseranum - Sceletium tortuosum [Re: Solipsis]
#25113900 - 04/04/18 02:57 PM (6 years, 13 days ago) |
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I remember an old thread on another forum, in which a grower has the most amazing S. tortuosum plant. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post this thread. He kept his plants in full sunlight and outdoors during the winter. They would reportedly survive freezing temperatures and snow. It also grew in a low nutrient soil, making it grow upright with thick branches. When he took some plants indoors during winter, they would grow etiolated and would eventually die. I like this robust 'succulent tree' look, so I might grow the next batch of seeds in low nutrient soil. The same can be seen in Trout's document:
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Mateo
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Re: Delosperma bosseranum - Sceletium tortuosum [Re: Poison Drink]
#25113973 - 04/04/18 03:37 PM (6 years, 13 days ago) |
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So what are the best way to grow them for fast growth?
Gotta get my 3 sprouted seeds to big plants.
I can try slow growth and pretty looks when i have large plants.
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karode13
Tāne Mahuta
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Re: Delosperma bosseranum - Sceletium tortuosum [Re: Mateo]
#25114362 - 04/04/18 06:54 PM (6 years, 13 days ago) |
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@Solipsis: They might respond to photoperiod changes more so than temperature changes.
I wouldn't worry too much about the time of year that you sow the seed either.
Here's my motherplant. It grows in a large pot with a Trichocereus and Stapelia. It's snaked along the ground. Over a metre in length.
base of plant:
Tail end of plant:
Old skeletonised leaf:
Old flower:
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MeanGreen
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Re: Delosperma bosseranum - Sceletium tortuosum [Re: karode13] 1
#25115351 - 04/05/18 08:14 AM (6 years, 12 days ago) |
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Very nice plant Karode  I've been thinking of using Sceletium as companion plants for my trichos too, don't the roots compete too much? Also, did you ever get seeds?
And weird coincidence, I went to water my plants today and witnessed my first ever Sceletium flower on the motherplant!
Maybe it is the photoperiod and the plant is just confused which hemisphere it's in. But I've had Sceletium indoors under lights in both 18/6 & 12/12 cycles several times over and didn't seem to affect the plants at all. Maybe the photoperiod changes were too sudden and not sustained long enough though.
Pics:
  
What I believe to be a flower bud, will monitor it:
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Edited by MeanGreen (04/05/18 08:17 AM)
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Mateo
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Re: Delosperma bosseranum - Sceletium tortuosum [Re: MeanGreen]
#25115988 - 04/05/18 01:48 PM (6 years, 12 days ago) |
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You both have very nice Kanna plants.
The old brown and dry growth reminds me of my Delosperma boss plant i had before.
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Poison Drink
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Re: Delosperma bosseranum - Sceletium tortuosum [Re: Mateo]
#25116026 - 04/05/18 02:02 PM (6 years, 12 days ago) |
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So if the theory is correct, both your plants are growing in more fertile soils? Beautiful plants nonetheless. How old are those? Did anyone ever try to keep them outdoors during winter?
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MeanGreen
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Re: Delosperma bosseranum - Sceletium tortuosum [Re: Poison Drink]
#25116098 - 04/05/18 02:42 PM (6 years, 12 days ago) |
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Mine is in commercial cactus soil, pretty heavy on sand. But I have cuttings in regular soil with a bit of perlite and they do fine.
I haven't tried leaving some outside for the winter, but I did it with Delosperma cooperi and it survived no problem. Will try it next winter for sure. If it survives I have quite a bit of ground I can let it cover.
I started from a small cutting I bought just last year, took at least 30 cuttings from it since, too.
Here it was on April 29th 2017:
A month later, May 23rd (seedlings on the left):
August 17th (on the right behind the fan):
Seedlings seem to grow much slower for me, I started those a couple weeks before I bought the cutting (see the pic above with the seedlings) and here they are now:
I read that Sceletium dies after 4 or 5 years, has anyone found this to be true?
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karode13
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Re: Delosperma bosseranum - Sceletium tortuosum [Re: MeanGreen]
#25116181 - 04/05/18 03:21 PM (6 years, 12 days ago) |
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Nice MeanGreen.
My sceletium is probably around 4-5 years old. I'll leave it and see if them dying around this age is true. Its soil is a mixture of cactus and scoria from memory. I sometimes throw odd bits of soil from plants I pot up or left over soil from other things. I fertilise once in a while, mostly for the Trichocereus that's in the pot. I don't think they compete much for roots. The roots on these are quite fine. This plant is also exposed to the elements all year round.
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Stupendous-Yappi
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Re: Delosperma bosseranum - Sceletium tortuosum [Re: karode13]
#25117175 - 04/05/18 10:38 PM (6 years, 12 days ago) |
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Do you guy's do anything special for rooting cuttings? I haven't had much success with getting the cuttings to root before they die.
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MeanGreen
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Just sticking the cutting in the ground works but it takes some time and there are some losses. The fastest way for me by far has been using an aeroponic cloner, this is in less than 2 weeks:
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MeanGreen
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Re: Delosperma bosseranum - Sceletium tortuosum [Re: karode13] 1
#25120176 - 04/07/18 08:08 AM (6 years, 10 days ago) |
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Quote:
karode13 said:
Nice MeanGreen.
My sceletium is probably around 4-5 years old. I'll leave it and see if them dying around this age is true. Its soil is a mixture of cactus and scoria from memory. I sometimes throw odd bits of soil from plants I pot up or left over soil from other things. I fertilise once in a while, mostly for the Trichocereus that's in the pot. I don't think they compete much for roots. The roots on these are quite fine. This plant is also exposed to the elements all year round.
Well I went ahead and planted some cuttings with an Eileen and a Yowie, Aussie style in your honor Karode 
Also, here's my little Delosperma cooperi, my mother was neglecting it so I rescued it last year:
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Mateo
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Re: Delosperma bosseranum - Sceletium tortuosum [Re: MeanGreen]
#25120345 - 04/07/18 09:33 AM (6 years, 10 days ago) |
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MG, those pots you have put on the sides of the growtent looks cool.
Did you made the fabric for that arrangement yourself?
That idea must give you some more growspace in the tent.
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MeanGreen
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Re: Delosperma bosseranum - Sceletium tortuosum [Re: Mateo]
#25120444 - 04/07/18 10:12 AM (6 years, 10 days ago) |
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Yeah I got those from amazon and put some on all 4 walls now, they got various sizes it's pretty convenient each pocket can hold 1 or 2 pots of seedlings or cuttings. Those things suck to water though, it drips everywhere if you're not careful.
But yeah thay way I can fit so many more plants I like it.
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