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Growing Dioscorea as you would grow a cactus (poor soil and letting the substrate dry out) is the old school way, they won’t die but they will grow much more slowly.

I have several of these, from seedlings to basketball sized specimens. Here’s how I grow mine:

SUBSTRATE: well draining but RICH soil, or poor but compensated with fertilizer.

WATERING: never let the soil fully dry out, when in vine I keep them fairly moist, I’ve watered them as often as twice a week (always with fertilizer). When dormant you want to cut back but still keep the soil from drying out completely, at least not for long. If they’re allowed to dry out for too long their roots dry out and it takes them long to get going the next season, thus yielding less growth.

CONTAINER: as deep as you can get. My basketball size one is on a pot that is over 2ft deep. You don’t have to be that extreme but deeper pots will help it grow faster. I like these pots for smaller plants: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08JCHDFGG?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

LIGHTING: this one is a little tricky, the leaves want full sun, but the word on the street is that the caudex needs to be shaded. I know of people that grow theirs in full sun and let the caudex get exposed but they own large specimens. I believe the concern has to do with trying to help smaller plants retain water since they don’t have the bark layer around them yet.

DORMANCY: - They often don’t go dormant at all for the first few years, they’ll just put a new vine as the current one dries out. - They go dormant with heat, so be mindful of placing it outside during the summer. - If grown indoors the absence of heat allows them to extend the growing season and they start going in and out of dormancy off schedule.

I think the plants have already been in the market but just under one name while they have slight differences. It's just that now scientists are differentiating them and giving them new names. Look at this one on Amazon. They look a lot like P. Kaweesakii.

https://www.amazon.com/Succulent-Seeds-PHYLLANTHUS-Mirabilis-Caudiciform/dp/B08NSXWRJS

Here's the link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016J5DBJG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Hi Everyone!

I have a beautiful Plectranthus Ernstii (bonsai mint) that I've been growing for several months and lately, it's leaves have started having a purple tint.

I'm incredibly new to caring for plants and want to use this oppurtunity to describe my current growing habits and context!!

I've been reviewing all the information I could find on the internet, but I've generally found vague info. Here's the main resource: http://pza.sanbi.org/plectranthus-ernstii

Context:

* I've cared for my bonsai mint for close to 6 months.

* I live in Seattle, so not a ton of sunshine, but he lives within a foot of the window and it's getting ready to be summer so long days and lot's of sun ahead.

* I water about once a week by adding about a 1/4 inch of water to the plate he lives on. Water get's soaked up over time.

* He's living in the mixed/rocky soil I got him in originally.

Observations:

* He seems to be doing fine, but his leaves are turning purple??? The leaves that are ~less~ in the sun appear to be greener.

* He's had leaves seemingly dry out and fall off?

Question:

* Why are leaves turning purple??

* Am I overwatering? Underwatering? I'm confused by the internet which says that they are both water hogs and don't need a lot of water? I'm worried about the leaves falling off.

* I just bought some official bonsai soil. I see 'fast-draining' everywhere and 'humus-rich' and this (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08KSJ9WJ6/ref=ppx\_yo\_dt\_b\_asin\_title\_o00\_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) brand seemed to do the job.Is this sufficient?

* I haven't observed any flowers and it's been a few months! Am I doing something wrong?

Would greatly appreciate any help :) I love this plant and want him to do well!

This is my first round of pelargonium seeds. If I were to start over, I would probably expose them to brighter light a lot sooner per advice from u/pachypodiatrist . Some of the seedlings are a little leggy. They were on the outer perimeter of my grow light area and I moved them closer to center and higher.

I’m not really sure how much light they’re getting. They’re under for 12 hrs per day of however much light is emitted from this grow light at 12 inches away.

The seeds were pretty hard, so I used stainless steel tweezers to hold them on the table while cutting the vertical line with an x-acto blade with light pressure. In good lighting, you can seed a subtle color change in the seed coat along the cut line as a tiny amount of air is allowed in between the seed coat and the cotyledon. It was a nice visual cue to stop applying pressure with the blade.

I didn’t wait until the rootlets were 15mm long. I planted as soon as I saw tiny root hairs guessing that it would be less traumatic if roots were able to begin development in the substrate (1:1:1 cactus soil/perlite/pumice)

I did keep lids on the little containers with the paper towel until they were ready for potting to maintain moisture.

You're welcome. If you don't already have a timer I've found these to be reliable

VIVOSUN 7 Day Programmable Digital Timer Switch with 2 Outlets - Accurate & Stable, UL Listed 1-Pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P7RUGVO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_QV200V8M93XMY9DTXE4Y?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

sure! mine are daylight white full spectrum. im not sure if theyre the best or not but ive had 2 for over 6 months and all my plants are doing pretty well. here's the link> lights