Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Lithops Can Move Fast

Lithops are not known for their impatience and impetuous behavior. They like to take it slow.
Slow's the way to go, if you're a Lithops.

 However, once in a while, I'll see a Lithops do something in a surprisingly speedy manner. Take this little guy on the left:

Speedy, and...not so much.
 He and his neighbor have been taking their sweet time re-leafing. It's been rather a dull party, actually. But yesterday, with the passage of a cold front (which may or may not have had anything to do with it), Lithops One decided to absorb its old leaves. In 2 hours flat! I kid you not, that's as long as it took. Lithops Two is not having any of it, though. It's keeping to the old, slow ways.... But who knows? Maybe speed-releafing will catch on! Of course, this leads to a dilemma for me. One can now be watered, the other, not. Hmmm, what I am going to do with these guys??

2 comments:

  1. Yes, those lithops can be slow and frustrating sometimes. Often when it takes them a long time to absorb their old leaves the new leaves are smaller and weaker than they should be. It seems as if the vascular connection between the old leaves and new leaves is not functioning properly and the water just isn't moving from old to new leaves.

    Since we are going into the fall and winter period, I probably wouldn't water either plant, but since the new leaves are as big as they should be by now, it does involve some risk. Which ever way you decide to go, keep us informed how both plants fair. I also have a couple plants that have not completely absorbed their old leaves and I haven't watered them since spring. They are just going to have to make it through the winter with the water they already have. Tough Lithops Love. :)

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  2. Bob, I was thinking weak vasculature as well. Especially because some of the new leaves, even when the old leaves have been absorbed, can have trouble producing a proper bloom. So that points to weak construction in general, I think. Makes it all the more interesting when one that seems weak suddenly "gets its act together" and quickly absorbs the old leaves,huh? The ways of the Lithops grow ever more mysterious....

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