"Lithops sure grow slow!" (But they do grow.)

It's been about a year and a half since I tried growing Lithops from seed. And some are still hanging in there!

They actually look like proper Lithops now, not the cute, tiny blobs that they were. They've gone through 2 leaf regeneration cycles, and I take care of them in the same manner as my grownup Lithops. Can you spot the L. aucampiae, at least I'm pretty sure that's what it is?

Here are some of the year-and-a-halflings next to some grownup Lithops:

By comparison, here is some basil, sown from seed a week and a half ago:

These seedlings are sprouting their first true leaves, and tower over the little Lithops. But still, there's something very satisfying, not to mention patience-promoting, about growing Lithops from seed, don't you think?

Thursday's Bits 'n Bobs

My Lithops seedlings are now yearlings, and it's been extraordinary to watch them grow up. From about 100 seeds I've got about a dozen strong Lithops, each about 1cm across. I don't know if 12% is a good rate or a rotten rate, but 12 new Lithops is about all I have space for anyway.... Here are three:

My giant Russian Sunflowers are doing well, despite storms, salty spray, and high winds. They are tough! Several are already showing a flower bud at the center:

And of course, what would spring be without Blooming Babytoes??

Things are humming along in the ceramics studio. Here's a little flower sprite, getting a second coat of glaze:

Hope things are humming along in your neck of the woods!

Soap, Pots, and Baby Lithops

I've been feeling a little better, so I'm using my minimal energy to make a few things, and tend some seedlings. I just received some beautiful Italian Lemon essential oil (from Italy), and some exceptionally fragrant lavender eo from a farm in Oregon. I combined them with my honey soap and made some aliens, as we were running low (on both aliens and soap):

Lemon Lavendar Aliens, squeaky clean.

And it was time to make the first PetraPots of 2013. More Tillies mean more pots.... I didn't let these drying greenware pots stand out in the rain, fortunately!

They and a few others are heading for the kiln today.  And of course, I wanted to water the Lithops seedlings; most have their first adult leaf pairs now. Each one is different!

You can see 4 very different types in the closeup. Doesn't mean they are different species of course (the seed packet was simply labeled Lithops), but time will tell. They are each quite attractive.

It's certainly nice to be up and about a bit once more. Lying around coughing was getting plain boring.

Seedlings' (and Pup's) Progress

My Lithops seedlings are finally showing their secondary, adult leaf pairs! I have to say, since this is my first crop, it's exciting:



Lithops Seedlings at 6 months

You can see the most prominent pairs at the bottom left and right of the photo.

Many of my Tillandsias are busy growing their pups. My smallest Tillies, T. funckiana, are about 5cm when adults. One has a pup that just fell off, and it's doing fine. But so tiny and wee!

It's slightly less than 1cm long, can you believe it? But it's taking water, and has just about doubled in size in a month. I'll feature its parents later- T. funckiana is a fun and funky species (of course, it's right there in the name!).

Have a super weekend, and for those in NE USA and Canada, the Carolinas, and the Caribbean, I hope your recovery efforts from Sandy are going well and your power is back on (or comes back on very soon). My outdoor garden took a fair bit of damage from Sandy, but nothing like what happened to your gardens up north, and to our east.