Weekend News For Lithops

Here's a real beauty of a Page 3 Lithops, repotted at last....

L. lesliei albinica

This is Lithops lesliei albinica, and despite the unusual golden/green coloring, these are fairly easy to grow. This one has just finished re-leafing, and deserved a new, bigger home. The pot is is terracotta earthenware with a malachite low-fire glaze.

And here are the seedlings that are just about a year old now:

Some of these will be ready for new pots with deeper soil in just a month or two. So off I go to make more mesembs/cacti soil mix. Have a great weekend!

Babytoes 2 and Baby Lithops, the Oddball

My second Fenestraria, not wanting to be outdone, has also bloomed magnificently! Unfortunately, they weren't quite synchronized, so I don't think the chances of seed formation are high.  Fenestraria flowers are so large compared to the plants themselves, they always get ooos and aaaahs from anyone who sees them. No scent, though, too bad.

And here is a group of the Lithops seedlings for the beginning of August, a couple of months old now. Can you see the copper-colored oddball in the center? I am quite interested in how that one will look when grown, it's beautiful already! In accord with what I've read on the Internet, I'm giving them less water now. And stronger light. Always stressful, growing the first batch, I suppose!

The Tiniest Lithops: Seedlings' Progress

I ordered a mixed packet of Lithops seeds about a year ago, and this June seemed like the month to try them out. Various sites/books recommend auspicious sowing seasons, and yikes, there's very little agreement out there. Probably because different times have worked for different people and different Lithops.

Not to mention, we've got mesemb growers in the Southern and Northern hemispheres, and if we're reading about months instead of seasons, we have to remember to mentally flip the calendar 180 degrees to translate if we're in the opposite hemisphere! Some days, my sandy ol' brain has trouble remembering that, and sometimes, writers don't specify which hemisphere they are referring to....Most, however, said either summer or early autumn, so I figured I'd give it a go during summer.

These were sown June 20, and most are 1-2mm tall now. No idea about the species. I won't actually buy a mixed packet of anything anymore; I want to know the species, particularly as different Lithops species have different cultural needs. But I was young and naive (ah, youth!), so we'll see how it goes.

They are the cutest little green guys, though a magnifying glass helps to see them clearly. Already you can see the fissure in most of them, and they have the classic Lithops cone shape. Each has an amazingly long root given the size of the leaves. This germination pot is several centimeters deep, so it should last for awhile. They get morning sun outdoors, then a quiet indoors spot after about 8am so they don't scorch. Lots more water than the grownups, too, they're quite thirsty!

If you've ever grown Lithops from seed, how did your first try go?