Thursday, December 20, 2012

Lithops' Progress

Lots going on with the Lithops Gang this winter! Summers are so blistering hot down here, that most are fully active in midwinter, when it cools down to about 80F or so...sheesh!

Here are a few highlights.

Lithops karasmontana "Top Red"
Top Red is blooming, that white flower contrasted with the brick and pink is going to be lovely.


Many of the Lithops are "re-leaving" now. Sadly, humidity here is always about 50%, and usually around 80%, so even without watering, it takes my Lithops a long time to absorb their old leaves. I think this one will be OK. Audrey the francisci didn't make it, I would have had to put her in a dehydration chamber....



Lithops seedlings, 10 months
 The seedlings are doing well, about half now have their first adult leaf pairs. Each one looks quite different from the others, and I've even got a Conophytum calculus growing at the lower left. Party crasher!

8 comments:

  1. Sad about Audry - new space for a new plant! Good luck with the babies! Merry Christmas! LT

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  2. Top red will look stunning. Sorry to hear about Audrey. :( The seedlings look really good!! Well done. Go Cono! :)

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    1. I felt bad about Audrey, but it was having trouble from the start. I'm excited to see the new Conophytum, it's so tiny right now.

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  3. I thought Audrey's curly yellow flower was really cute, however strange. Sorry to hear that she didn't make it. What is the ideal humidity for lithops when they absorb their leaves? Have a great holiday! Gail

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  4. Hi, Gail,
    Their home base in S. Africa tends to the very arid, although some spots for mesembs have mist and fog. Lithops seem to like absolute aridity when they are changing leaves, it seems to encourage them to absorb the old leaves more quickly. Some species seem to do better in humid environments than others. I thought Audrey's flower was cute, too, but I was worried that it didn't develop properly....
    -Marla

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    1. I really liked Audrey's curly locks too. I'm sure she's looking over her Lithops buddies from Lithops heaven. :)

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    2. There'd better be Lithops in Heaven, or I'm not going! ;-)

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