Germination temperature
Warm. LLIFLE reports that seed germinates readily at 21 °C (70 °F); keep it above 20 °C (68 °F).
Succulent growing guide
Dorstenia foetida, also sold as D. crispa, is a small caudex succulent with odd star-shaped flower discs that fling their seeds across the room. It is easy from fresh seed sown on the surface of a gritty mix, and often sows itself once you have one plant.
Warm. LLIFLE reports that seed germinates readily at 21 °C (70 °F); keep it above 20 °C (68 °F).
On the surface, or under the thinnest dusting of fine grit. The seeds are tiny.
Variable. Fresh seed germinates readily in warmth; keep the pot for several weeks before giving up.
Bright, indirect light for the seed pot; full sun to light shade for older plants.
None. No soaking, scarification or cold period.
Sow in a small pot and prick out seedlings into individual pots when they can be handled.
Sow seed as fresh as possible. If you grow a plant to collect your own, cover the flower discs with fine netting or fabric as they ripen: the fruits burst and throw seed about 1-2 m (3-6 ft) from the plant, depending on the source.
Not needed. The seed is small and germinates without any treatment.
Not needed. Dorstenia foetida comes from hot, dry country in north-east Africa and Arabia and is damaged by cold.
Not needed. Tiny seeds are hard to handle once wet and sow more evenly dry.
Around 21 °C (70 °F) and above, the temperature LLIFLE gives for ready germination. In tropical India any warm season suits; in cool climates sow in spring indoors or on a heat mat.
Scatter seed thinly on the surface of the moist mix and press it in lightly, or cover with a single layer of fine grit. Do not bury it.
A porous, very free-draining mix, which the Henry Shaw Cactus and Succulent Society calls essential for this genus. Use a cactus mix with extra perlite, pumice or coarse sand, topped with fine grit.
Keep the surface just moist until seedlings appear. Water from below or mist, and cover the pot with clear film or a lid to hold humidity, opening it daily for air.
Bright light without hot direct sun on the closed pot, which can cook seedlings. Seedlings need more light as soon as they are up.
No reliable day count is published for this species. Fresh seed of D. foetida germinates readily in warmth, while some other Dorstenia species, such as D. gigas, can take months, so be patient with older seed.
Prick out seedlings into small individual pots of the same gritty mix once they have two or three true leaves. Handle them by a leaf, not the stem.
During growth water fairly generously, letting the mix dry slightly but not completely between waterings. Move young plants into brighter light gradually as they grow, and watch for the small swollen caudex at the base.
Cause: mix too wet, dense or cold. Fix: use a coarser mix with a grit top layer, water from below only when the surface starts to dry, and keep above 20 °C (68 °F).
Cause: natural partial dormancy; the plant shows stress below 10 °C (50 °F). Fix: keep it in a warm room, water sparingly until new growth starts, and do not mistake rest for death.
Cause: the explosive seed dispersal. Fix: net ripening flower discs, or move other plants away. Pull or pot up volunteers while small.
Cause: some sources report that the species is not reliably self-fertile. Fix: grow two or more plants together.
Plants sold as Dorstenia crispa belong to Dorstenia foetida according to Kew's Plants of the World Online. Wavy-leaved 'crispa' forms are grown exactly the same way.
Grow in full sun to bright light; very hot summer sun can scorch leaves under glass, so give light shade then.
Water well in the growing season and very little in winter. Rot during cool, wet rest is the most common way to lose an older plant.
The Henry Shaw Cactus and Succulent Society notes you can expect seedlings near the parent plant. Pot up a few volunteers as spares or to share.
Sow Dorstenia seed on a warm, gritty surface for a quirky caudex plant that keeps itself going from seed.
Botanically, no. Kew's Plants of the World Online treats Dorstenia crispa as a synonym of Dorstenia foetida subsp. foetida. The name 'crispa' is still used for forms with wavy leaf edges.
No more than a light dusting of fine grit. Sow on the surface of a moist, gritty mix and press the seed in gently.
The ripe fruits burst and throw seed about 1-2 m (3-6 ft). Cover ripening flower discs with fine netting if you want to collect seed or keep it out of other pots.