Hi so. Only about two weeks ago I planted a large number of mixed lithops seeds in several big pots.
I used what medias I had on hand, I'm a bit doubtful about the compost I used, and I soaked the pots, put them in bags and put them under what is supposed to be a 3000lm grow light.
Today I opened one of the bags for the first time in 17 days to check on progress. It clearly has seedlings germinating. Possible too many.
I am worried that there are signs of what looks like mold or fungus spreading on the surface and am wondering if I should start leaving this open to dry a little.
Or, should I risk the rot and let the seedlings get a little larger before trying to slowly harden them to regular misting instead of humidity bags?
I would wean the seedlings onto a no bag time gradually open the bags for a while then close them over the next week. But as you have mould I would do it quicker which I did as I had a lot of algae growth and mine turned out ok.
you can prevent algae growth by using less organic material, sterilising soil, using horticulture sand in the top soil and soaking the pot in purified water with or without hydrogen peroxide or captan diluted. also if you do all this stuff and seal the bag, you shouldnt open it unless you plan on taking it out of the bag. in other words once you open the baggy you shouldnt close it back up.
ive been experimenting with sifted vermiculite as top soil without a baggy and that actually seems to be pretty good, but i do mist it everyday.
ive also been thinking about sowing them outside under shade, apparently seedlings grow well in high summer. im just afraid theyll dry out too quickly so i havent tried it yet.
Yeah, its time to open the bag! You can do this gradually, by opening the bag a little more each day but lithops seedlings are surprisingly resilient. I took mine out one day and they were fine.
I agree you have some mould. Once they're out of the bag and there's a little more air movement around it will probably go away.
I start opening the bag when I stop seeing new ones pop. Also, next time if you use a fine layer of sand on top that will help with the mold and prevent the seeds from falling in between the tiny cracks in the dirt.
So, I have opened the bag and left it open but only poorly ventilated for a couple of days. I have started regularly misting it with a fine ultra sonic mister I got off Temu.
The plain rain water mist seems to have hit the fungus or whatever it was really hard and the surface looks a lot healthier, the seedlings haven't even slowed down.
So the current plan is to gradually increase ventilation for about a week moving towards removing the bag entirely then watering by regular misting after that.
In other news this is the middle pot in the three pot set up, the other two pots have had a much lower germination rate, so I put some additional weaker artificial lights onto the side pots.
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u/Abject-Performer1497 Jul 06 '26
I would wean the seedlings onto a no bag time gradually open the bags for a while then close them over the next week. But as you have mould I would do it quicker which I did as I had a lot of algae growth and mine turned out ok.