Copiapoa calderana 'lembckei' & Copiapoa haseltoniana cactus seedling update | One year birthday!

CORRECTION: The C. lembkei Mesa Garden had up for auction on Instagram was 46 years old! Wowowowow!

My first Copiapoa seedlings that I ever grew from seed turned 1 year old today! They were sown on Aug. 21, 2021 from the first seed packs I ever bought from ‪@mesagarden2285‬. I still can't believe the seedlings are still alive after being transplanted twice already and having been grown by someone who has no idea what she's doing. I swear that each day is uncharted territory and the care is based on pure guessing. I'm a little worried that I'm getting attached to these seedlings because seedlings pretty much die whenever they want to - I have plenty of other seedlings that have done that. I guess we'll just have to enjoy them while we can.

I find that growing Copiapoa from seed provides one of the best balances between being challenging enough to be interesting while growing fast enough to be rewarding. I've heard that Copiapoa are difficult to grow from seed, which I agree for some species (ahem, I'm looking at you cinerea), but for other species they're really not that different from other cactus genera. I have found yield to be challenging, however, the seedlings that do make it grow fast enough to be very rewarding. For those of you who are interested in growing cactus from seed, give Copiapoa a try! Check out my Copiapoa seedling video for species that I have found to be easier to grow from seed:    • My Copiapoa cactus seedlings | 4-9 mo...  

These seeds were purchased from ‪@mesagarden2285‬: https://mesagarden.com/
Copiapoa lembckei KK70 #85.71
Copiapoa haseltoniana #84.84

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Grow light without dimmer: SPIDER FARMER SF1000D (this is the one I use)
https://amzn.to/3OSPR6c (paid link)

Grow light with dimmer: SPIDER FARMER SF1000
https://amzn.to/3STyRyJ (paid link)