Hi everyone!

I am new to this forum and also a fairly new gardner. I am also just getting into succulents.

I just spent $23 on echeveria seeds on ebay and just realizing that I might be in over my head.

Help! Any advice? I'm afraid I'm going to fail miserably and could have spent that money on full grown plants.

Any advice will be GREATLY appreciated!

tatyana!

@valleylynn might be able to chime in here.

Hi tatyana, and a great big to ATP. So glad you found your way here. You are going to love it.

I am sad to admit that I have not grown echeveria from seed. But it would be very interesting to see which ones you would get from your seed. Like Christmas come early. Did it say about how many seeds in the packet? Potentially hundreds of new plants for $23. How exciting.
Would love it if you could take photos of your experiment on growing from seed. Start with a photo of the seeds. It would be wonderful to see if they all look the same, or there are different seeds in the mix.

Here are some instructions on growing from seed. Hope this helps.
http://www.ehow.com/how_120874...

@valleylynn and @Dutchlady1 for welcoming me! I've already found a lot of good information on this forum.

Here are the seeds that I bought:

Echeveria Agavoides (25 seeds) http://www.ebay.com/itm/171226...

Echeveria Multicaulis (15 seeds)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/181306...

Greenovia Aurea (25 seeds) this one is a aeonium not echeveria
http://www.ebay.com/itm/181313...

Echeveria Mix (20 seeds)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/181305...

I can't wait for them to come! I will definitely document my journey of growing these. I've been doing a lot of researched on different websites and I seem to find some contradicting advice. Here are some things I'm not too sure about:

*Some sources say that echeveria seedling can't tolerate temperatures over 70degree f (about 20 c) other sources say that they need temperatures over 70.

*Another thing I heard that some people microwave the soil to kill mold/bacteria spores other sources don't mention anything like that.

*I've also read that some people uncover the pots right after the seedlings sprout while others keep them covered but just air the pants out a couple times a day.

What to do, what to do...

Any thoughts??

Right now I'm thinking that I've ordered enough seeds to maybe try a couple of different methods and see which would be the most successful.

Your growing area plays a big part in what will work in germinating the seed. High humidity means the soil won't dry out as quickly. A dry climate means they will dry out very quickly.

If you are using a potting mix, or seed starting mix you wouldn't have to worry about pasteurizing the planting medium. And I would think you would want to use a mix that would mimic their natural type of growing medium.

Let's see if @tarev can give us advice on what to do.

or @stush ...

The more the merrier.

@valleylynn it makes sense to consider the environment. Its pretty humid in Washington state so it probably make more sense to uncover them when they first come up.

Just don't let them dry out until they have enough root system to sustain themselves.

@stush2019 is who I meant....

Tatyana,
Hello new member, here's your first acorn. Seeds are some times the hardest to do. Some are like weeds and can't stop them, other seem to never come up. I never tried echeveria due to price is reasonable and very hard to tell apart so I buy them in the big box stores at very low cost. And labeled' Most under $3. Also having friends that give me starters to grow my own. Plants that I have a hard time getting or is very expensive well that is another mater. I like to cross-breed and make my own hybrids so it must be done growing seeds. Seeds (mostly all) needs bottom heat to help sprout (warm) and some light which fluorescent bulbs work excellently due to low heat to not burn the new sprouts. They need hi moisture but dry feet. I do this by using take home containers with the clear plastic lids with black bottoms. Keep the soil just a little moist and keep covered until the seeds start to germinate (sprout). I continue to keep covered due to more seeds just about to germinate and to make sure I can get all that I can get. Leaving the cover on for a month or so should not be problem. You can start by leaving it unsealed and up an inch for a while, note; at this time water misting is a must. Too much, rot, too little they dry up and die. Once they fall over and dry up, nothing can bring them back. Time to start over. So you see, it is kind of hard. Check out Adams' seed thread. Also most importantly, who you purchased your seeds from. One seller on Ebay, almost never got a seed to germinate. Another 'Exotic_cactus_collection' almost always gave me excellect results. Checking back to them with feedback and some times they will refund or replace your order. Take pictures and show us what your doing. We all learn and enjoy here. Bust of luck. Stush

Thank you Stush, I just learned a bunch from your post.

Thank you @Stush2019 thank you so much for your awesome advice!

And I know what you mean. Echaverias are a little bit more available than other succulents and are easy to propagate from leaf. I should of thought about that before deciding to grow them.

I was at Homedepot yesterday and they surprisingly sell a lot of succulents. However, they are the most common kind. Also, I live in Washington and don't know anybody who is into succulents to trade with.

If I don't get some rare plants from this, I hope to at least get a good experience growing succulents from seeds.

What a great adventure you are starting on. I look forward to watching the journey.

Next year I should have echeveria pups to give out. I got given to me some cuttings and rooted offsets of some very rare and costly ones. Hope I can winter them over. That has always been my downfall. Except for E. toppy turvy. That one we do have luck with. Every year before bring it in for the winter, we trim off all extras. I gave away about 10 last fall.
Thanks all for the compliments and thumbs ups. I am still learning and it is from forums like this one.
Stush

I'm so nervous about overwintering my succulents. Do you have any advice???
What happened to some of your echeverias over the winter? Did they die or stretch out?

Rotted and some stretched out. Needs a lot of light mostly. Heat is not a problem and got to watch watering. Can't over water or let them dry out completely. Just don't have window space. Here's mine so far. Some not pictured.

Here's an echeveria I had never seen before until I saw one in Paris, France and I was bummed that I couldn't buy it to bring home. But then in May I drove to Oregon's Young's Nursery and saw one like it and had to buy it. It's one of the Echeveria setosa variants...either ciliata or deminuta

First pic is the one in Paris I couldn't buy and 2nd pic the one I bought home from Oregon
(I just noticed a very small offset tucked under the main plant (not shown)):

Wow, Stush those are wonderful. They all look so healthy, and what a great selection you have.

Bev I want to touch it, it looks so soft and fuzzy. What a sweet plant.

@Stush2019 those look nice, thanks for sharing. I am thinking that if some of my echeverias stretch out during the winter I will completely dismember them and start new plants in early spring. That way by summer I will at least have nice little babies.

@webesemps That Echeveria so cute!! I think echeverias are officially my favorite succulents. We'll see if I'll still think that after this winter.

How do think echeverias will fare under artificial lights?