Jul 23, 2009

Cold in Southern Brazil



Some imagination is needed and valid when
rare tender very young seedlings are at risk...



It is cold outside. The temperature is around 6 degrees centigrades and will
touch freezing point in a few hours.
Very young seedlings, precious seeds are inside their plastic nursery and
inside the house. Temperatures around 22 degrees centigrades are crucial to
a good and fast development of these very young seedlings.
Dyckia seedlings stop growing below 15 degrees centigrades!
A germinating seed is a furious factory of cell reproduction. Never in its life a plant will be do
engaged into growing. So light, heat, humidity end food is all they need at this stage of development. The acidity of the substrate must be stable or the tender rootlets will
die and the seedling will take much longer to develop.
Everything is vital now.
In nature its very rare for us to see a seedling. Seedlings are a true happening in their habitats.
The conditions for a seed germinate and prosper are too delicate and are found just once in a very long while.



I want these seedlings to be big enough to be transferred to their own
quarter before the heat of the summer comes.
Young plants are also at risk during the full of the summer.
What seeds are those for me to get so exhaustively caring?
They are wild collected seeds of
Dyckia braunii
Dyckia joanae-marcioi
Dyckia hoembergioides ( plant in cultivation)
Dyckia marnier-lapostollei from West in Goiás. (plant in cultivation)
All species and all rare and extremely hard to get.
They were sent to me in very unique and bizzare wayation: They were all already germinating inside the aluminium paper envelops all full of humidity.
More than 1600 seeds! Each one was carefully planted with tweezers for medical cotton.
They are all very much happy... and me too.

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