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When are gemmae ready to harvest?

I will start by saying that I've not been highly succesful with gemmae in general.
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I have a brown thumb when it comes to starting plants from gemmae. It is frustrating because I know it's not that hard!

But I now have several D. nitidulla spp. allantostigma forming gemmae. Thanks Tamlin!!!! Your generous gift of gemmae produced these plants.

My questions is when do I know they are ready to harvest? Also how do I make my brown thumb green?
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Thanks again Tamlin.
 
The gemmae are ready when they come off easily when you lightly brush them.
 
You are most welcome for the gemmae!

IThe gemmae will matire at the outer edge of the "wheel" first: you know what I mean by that I am sure. I use a wet small paintbrush (when not using the gemmae vacume collector) and just sort of set it over the outer gemmae. Give it a little pressure and the mature gemmae should stick to the brush.
 
As how to green up your brown thumb, well....try not to repeat a failure.  Vary the methods and protocol you used when the original plant died.  experiment, and be observant as to improvement or decline of the subject you are working with.

Learn about the plants you are trying to grow: where they come from.  Once you know this, seek the weather information of the area online via web search.  The closer you can bring the plant in question to conditions where it grows in habitat, the better it will grow.  If its a bog plant, grow it wet.  Habitat information is included in the CP Database at:

http://www.omnisterra.com/bot/cp_home.cgi

Plug in the name of the species you are interested in and look for where the type specimen was collected.  Then plug that into the search engine (like goggle) along with a search term like "weather" or "climate" and you will have a window into the secret life of the plant.

Details of night time drops in temperature and increased night time humidity are often very important, as are issues of dormancy.

Plant the species in a pot size appropriate for its root structure.  Pygmys species, although small in rosette, have tremendously long roots!  The deeper pots always seem to work best for these plants.

Light is the single greatest factor affecting CP health and growth.  Give them the light they need, good water and appropriate humidity and temperature and your thumb will shine like kryptonite.

P>S> Initial failures should not be taken too hard.  It isn't always your fault if a plant dies.
 
Thanks for the advice. My problem isn't with plants so much as getting the gemmae to turn into plants. I started them on standard CP mix, they sprouted then never grew!? The one I was succesful with were started on standrd CP mix with a layer of pure peat on top. From this I'm guessing that they were not happy with the moisture level.

More detail: I started them in approx. 10" deep pots in a riplock bag, put them in a terrarium (tray method) and slowly openned the bag after signs of growth. They just stayed sprouts for a few a months then slowly withered away.

Any thoughts on pure peat as a top layer vs standrd CP mix?

I will of course keep trying till I get it right and if all goes well with the plants I have, I should have gemmae to share. I am very excited to give back to the CP community, eveyone has been very generous and I'm finally getting seeds, gemmae and plants I can give away!
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