Seed project: a welcome surprise

This morning, I was misting the Hoodia gordonii seeds prior to putting them outside and I was surprised to see that one has sprouted.

Hoodia seeds are supposed to take 2 weeks to germinate and this is only 4 days since sowing. It is definitely a Hoodia sprout, I can see that from the seed pod. They are also supposed to be sown when they are still fresh and I wasn't feeling optimistic, due to the three-month delay courtesy of the Post Office.

Once seeds have sprouted, they need to be left uncovered because the humidity under the glass is too high and will cause the little plants to rot. Hoodia normally only make it past the germination stage successfully if the seed has sprouted under a bush or in the shade of a rock, otherwise they fry in full sun. This little seedling pot can't be left outside in the sun now so it has been moved to my bathroom, where there is filtered morning sun and bright light the rest of the day. This is what the adult plant looks like.

Image source: Wikipedia - Winfried Bruenken (Amrum) - Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5

There is no sign of sprouting from any of the Haworthia seeds but I wouldn't expect to see anything until the weekend. I found the cactus seeds and sowed them, too although I'll be very surprised if any germinate, I realised that they must be at least 5 years old. We'll see, some cactus seeds are very long-lived