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New year, new life for lithops - part 1 (12 pics)

February 28, 2016, 9:34 am
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These past several days it was sunny at last and lithops are known to react to that. They're not wasting time. All of a sudden new shiny faces started popping up here and there. What was taking months to prepare progresses very quickly when spring comes. Some still have lots of resources to recycle, others have regenerated completely and are just sitting there, waiting for their first watering to start growing. Most of the plants below are my good friends since years and it's always a relief to see them go through their annual cycle timely and in a proper manner. The shapes and colors are all I can wish for, too. It really is absolutely possible to grow short and flat plants on a sunny windowsill in Europe, don't get discouraged! The trick is in watering timing, substrate and maybe in the small size of the pots, too. But it IS possible to grow them well year after year without artificial light, and if you like these plants you should try it ;)

C363 L. fulviceps 'Aurea' and C384 L. pseudotruncatella v. dendritica sharing a container. I should probably separate them but they're such good neighbors. 


Aureas are very pretty indeed.


So are their milky relatives C222 L. fulviceps v. lactinea.


This one is a bit shy but will spread its wings once watered.


C006 L. lesliei ssp. lesliei v. minor are from the bunch of my very first seedlings, sown in 2008. New leaves are glistening in the sun. Love them!


These C382 L. bromfieldii v. glaudinae hatched in 2010 and are always a beautiful, natural sight during leaf change.


C362 L. bromfieldii v. insularis 'Sulphurea' are supposed to get new heads every year. Mine doesn't go beyond four.


C392 L. aucampiae 'Storm's Snowcap'are changing nicely but only when they are kept small. In my experience any fat aucampiae (normally one from a hardware store) will choke on its old leaves. 


L. dorotheae have accumulated a lot over the year, as always, even though I barely water them and never fertilize. Nevertheless they regenerate without a problem every year (good metabolism? :D ) so I don't mind.

C300 L. dorotheae


L. dorotheae de Boer (photobombed by a Braunsia)


I'll post more photos soon!
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New year, new life for lithops - part 2 (6 pics)

March 2, 2016, 11:46 am
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I just felt like posting a small regenerating lithops lesliei selection :)

L. lesliei v. minor 'Witblom' C006A x L. lesliei 'Fred's Redhead'


L. lesliei ssp. lesliei v. venteri C001


L. lesliei ssp. lesliei v. venteri 'Ventergreen' C001A 


L. lesliei ssp. lesliei v. lesliei 'Albinica' C036A 


L. lesliei ssp. lesliei v. lesliei (grey form) C008 


To be continued
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New year, new life for lithops - part 3 (10 pics)

March 4, 2016, 2:21 am
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Continuing with the regeneration pictures here is the next bunch.

L. gesinae v. annae C078
One has less regenerating to do than the other. The left plants is one of my very first plants, bought as adult in 2008, making it at least 10 years old. Age doesn't show on lithops. It looks just as young as back then :)


This one is two-headed, bought last year, and the left head grew just slightly long. After ripping it open the new leaves are as short and flat as they should be. Just a small corrective surgery.


L. julii ssp. fulleri v. brunnea C179
This one I also have since 2008 and for the last several years it has settled down to this perfect round and short shape. I'm not good with L. julii but this one is being very patient with me. The new leaves have just started showing. Its neighbor will have to be transplanted as it's almost finished and will need water soon.


L. bromfieldii var.glaudinae 'Rubroroseus' C393A 
These are 2012 seedlings and almost done changing leaves. I itch to water them. They'll double in size then.

L. gracilidelineata
This is one of my 2009 seedlings. A very beautiful plant and already all new, same as its siblings.


L. hookeri v. lutea
It doesn't look like a lutea but okay. It's pretty and healthy and that's the main thing.


L. hookeri 
All growing nicely flat, making me proud.


The next guys are new since last summer and will hopefully adapt their life cycle to the new windowsill conditions (they are initially greenhouse grown). So far so good. I always have difficulties with white flowering lithops.

L. hallii (Kalk Kraal)


L. hallii v. ochracea (Ghams)


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Argyroderma crateriforme, put on record (2 pics)

March 14, 2016, 1:33 am
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I bought this "senior" plant two years ago and, not having any experience with Argyroderma in general and senior plants in particular, I've been worried about it ever since. Looks like it was not necessary. The plant is just doing its thing with very little support. 
The roots tend to dry off as soon as the substrate is dry. The plant seems to barely cling on to anything. It feels like it sits completely loose in the container. It doesn't ask for water much. And so, every time I actually need to water it, I worry the roots won't "wake up". They always do. Probably because fine roots grow just as quickly as they wither. I was worried the bulk of old leaves would start to rot but being located overground and on top of pumice, there's no sign of it. At one point I thought one of the heads will die off. This was also unfounded.

All in all, this plant seemed like a trouble maker but it really isn't. It's a pretty laid back kind of plant as the below quotes will demonstrate.

"She is watering me again. Doesn't she know I don't need it now? It's okay human, you'll learn."
"Bad weather? No sunlight? Never mind, I'll just nap a little longer."
"You think my roots are not good? My roots are just fine and completely enough for what I need, thank you. Worry about your own roots."
"Human stop fussing. You made my beard wet. I know you didn't mean to. It'll dry."
"So, you've accidentally pulled me out of my bed for the tenth time. Can't you just let me sleep?.... No, my roots are fine. Go away."



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Spring update on Conophytums (13 pics)

March 27, 2016, 2:44 am
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Conophytums are still relatively new to me and the yearly life cycle a mystery. The thing with growing in winter is confusing and the best way to find out what to do with them as a grower is careful observation. These days I know they are about to go to sleep and I haven't watered them since probably February to indicate to them they should save resources. However, the reaction as it should be is what looks like slowly withering and dying. And so, when I see them do what I actually wanted them to do I have mixed feelings. "Is it getting mushy because it's about to dry off the old leaves or is it because it's rotting?" With some of them, I guess, we'll find out in September. Others kinda let you peek inside or are translucent enough to see the fresh new leaves growing underneath. I've been watching them closely and the whole mushiness is actually welcome. This is how it goes. The plant gets a bit wrinkly (stage 1), then soft to the touch, like there's jelly inside (stage 2), then the tips (if the plant has those) get transparent or the color turns from green to yellow (stage 3) and after that the old leaves quickly turn to dried skins wrapped around the new leaves (stage 4). The last stage happens within a day or two, it seems. I don't have that many plants to gather sufficient data. These are just observations with what I have. But I hope it'll help me with watering timing next year. I already see that I should have stopped watering some of them earlier as the process takes them longer. 

Here is stage 4 on Conophytum angelicae ssp. tetragonum. I've got scared and pulled apart one of the heads to see if there's something inside. There is. No worries then.


Here is Conophytum fulleri nearing stage 4. It went like green→wrinkly→yellow→dry.


No idea how well it goes with Conophytum pellucidum ssp. cupreatum v. terrestre.


Conophytum minusculum also looks like it's about to die. We'll know whether it's normal or not in the fall.


Conophytum ectypum ssp sulcatum with white leaf tips. Some of them already drying.



Some wrinkliness and discoloration on Conophytum uviforme ssp. uviforme...


... as well as Conophytum uviforme ssp. decoratum.


Wrinkles and thinning of old leaves on Conophytum ricardianum.


Conophytum bilobum 'christiansenium' - stage 1.


Conophytum khamiesbergense - stage 1.


Conophytum meyeri 'Leopardium' - stage 2, jelly-like.


Conophytum pellucidum v. pellucidum 'pardicolor' ex. de Boer - stage 3.


I'll be growing more Conophytums in the future. The plants are really interesting and exotic and do well on the windowsill.
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Delosperma harazianum first to flower (3 pics)

March 30, 2016, 10:07 am
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Delosperma harazianum is opening the flowering season again. It has cute little flowers that produce seeds on their own. None of my other Delosperma plants want to flower, except sometimes D. sphalmantoides. But at least the leaves are pretty :)


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Rubroroseus seedlings (5 pics)

March 30, 2016, 9:15 pm
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I think I remember complaining that these Lithops bromfieldii v. glaudinae 'Rubroroseus' (C393A) seedlings weren't red enough back when they first hatched. Now they are 3,5 years old. And, yes, this is how small 3 year old lithops are if you don't push them. Just after leaf change that is. They will double in size after a season of growing. Anyway, about the color. I've made a selection of most magenta plants last year and they really are "rubroroseus" and quite impressively so.


The rest of the seedlings bunch from back then is more regular looking, with a couple of magenta kids among them. But they are all individually beautiful of course. Nothing to complain about.




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Plant similarities (5 pics)

March 31, 2016, 9:57 pm
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I wanted to write something clever about how Neohenricia sibbetii and Delosperma sphalmantoides are similar in looks and growing pattern when in fact I just wanted to post a couple of pictures I recently took of these two plants. They have finally started growing after their winter rest and show off their beautiful leaf tips in the mild spring sunlight. 
Even though they don't grow new leaves in the fall and winter months I've been watering them a little once in a while when I felt they looked too sad. They reacted by getting firmer but never by proper new growth. It's nice to see them happier now that spring has come. Both species dry off patches of leaves in the fall making them look scruffy but it all gets better once they start growing and cover the bald spots. In fact they will grow out of their containers before you know it! Neohenricia goes "overboard" every year and within 3 years since I've had it it went from half a pot to two pots and several cuttings I gave away. D. sphalmantoides is slower. I've had two plants, one of which was spreading like crazy just to dry off leaves rapidly at some point without compensation. It died soon after. The one that is left is more compact and I try not to stimulate rapid growth. It is important that there is a balance between growing new leaves and drying off old ones. I reckon, when it grows too many new leaves it leads to problems later as it will have to keep it up. Better to have it grow few new leaves and dry off few. I'm still figuring out how to achieve that. Probably diet.
The flowering pattern is completely different for these two species. While Neohenricia flowers eagerly all summer long (at night!), D. sphalmantoides only sometimes graces me with flowers in spring. Does not look like it's gonna happen this year though. But, as with so many other plants, I am content with looking at their leaves and see flowers as a rare treat, not a rule.


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Cheiridopsis on the windowsill (8 pics)

April 10, 2016, 2:55 am
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I have mentioned before that Cheiridopsis grow very well on a windowsill, in my unexperienced experience. They don't make any troubles and, unlike other mesembs, are able to grow to a large size under insufficient light conditions without losing attractiveness or having growth problems later. They grow here in small 5x5cm pots in pure pumice (no plant food) with little but regular watering throughout the year. This last part is what confuses me. They do seem to be opportunistic and will grow without a resting period if watered. They also retain two to three pairs of leaves at a time and there seem to be no need to let old leaves dry off before encouraging new growth. That's all fine and well, but I'd be more comfortable if they were on a fixed watering schedule. Maybe I'm thinking too much and should just accept their growing pattern and simply care for them as I did so far. It surely does not hurt. Except for the fact that they never flower ;) There's a chance that fixed watering schedule in support of a somewhat regulated yearly cycle might help with that. 

You already know the Ch. denticulata I've been growing since 2013. The plants are huge. Can't even fit them on a photo. I constantly feel the need to give them bigger pots but they seem to be fine just with occasional fresh substrate. Note that they are this "fat" without any fertilizer. They get watered a little only when they get wrinkly. I let them have two pairs of leaves at a time but try to water less when third is coming. They have enough resources to support it.


This Ch. cigarettifera however is the newest member of my Cheiridopsis gang. I just got two plants in February and am relieved they react to water. They seem to grow on stilts!



The guys below are some of those I got last year. They have all developed well since then. However, looking at last July's photos it seems that they were grown much stricter. Sure, they come from a greenhouse with much better light. But it seems to me they were allowed to have only one pair of leaves in Summer. Mine have two now. Does it mean I have to starve them from now on to achieve the same look this July that they had last July? It might be beneficial for the leaf color but it will break my heart at the same time. Tough decision.

Cheiridopsis brownii (MG 1365.4)



Cheiridopsis bruynsii (MG 1404.81)



Cheiridopsis excavata (MG 1375) This one might be called an Ihlenfeldtia excavata .



Cheiridopsis seem to be easy from seed, too. These are my own seedlings of Ch. pillansii (MG 1401.5), now exactly 2 years old. Out of 8 seeds 7 germinated and I still have all of them. Would recommend them to newbies ;)










Here are Ch. pillansii (MG 1401.5) I sowed from the same bunch of seeds almost two months ago. Cute babies!




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Cheiridopsis meyeri v. minor or a different genus entirely? (2 pics)

April 10, 2016, 7:08 am
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This Cheiridopsis meyeri v. minor (MG 1385.9/SB766) is pretty different from the others. In fact, it is strange to me that someone named it Cheiridopsis at all. Maybe my information is outdated?

Firstly, it clearly has type A and type B leaves like those of Mitrophyllum or Monilaria. One pair is scissor like, the other is conjoined at the top to form a round bead. Secondly, it seems to follow a Mitrophyllum-like yearly growing pattern. It grows scissor leaves in the fall, followed by the conjoined round leaves and then, in spring, it slowly dries all leaves and completely sheaths over in summer.

My plants are a bit longish due to lack of light. And, since I realized its growing schedule is different from my other Cheiridopsis way too late, I only stopped watering recently, while I should have done it a couple of months ago if not earlier. For a long while I thought it needed water because it wrinkled, when in fact it was just preparing to sleep. Stupid me.

It is really important to know exactly how our plants are growing to support them accordingly, independent of the name. In this sense, can someone tell me whether this is a Cheiridopsis or not? I'm going to treat it like a Mitrophyllum, or Antimima maybe. I'm sorry I haven't realized it sooner, little planty.



Btw, I'd put Cheiridopsis peculiaris into the same category which should not be related to the common Cheiridopsis in terms of care.
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Haworthia limifolia in a little bit of trouble (7 pics)

April 16, 2016, 9:26 am
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A couple of days ago I got an inquiry from someone who was worried about their Haworthia limifolia's wellbeing but only today I realized that I actually have a plant matching the description at hand! Every once in a while my mother, who deeply dislikes succulents because they are not flashy-showy enough, brings me back some plants she had in her custody during my last years at the university. She tends to unwittingly mistreat the plants she doesn't like, never listening to my suggestions. Her flower garden looks amazing though. Well, some of the succulents she brought were ready for the plant heaven. Among the others was a Haworthia limifolia I set aside to inspect further later, as it didn't look bad to me. In fact, it is the same plant I wrote about in this post.


I followed my own advice and pulled it out of the pot. Actually I didn't even have to pull because the roots were all dead and it was not clinging to anything. I'd say this is how overwatering looks like. The roots just rot away. 



Just to remind you, this is how Haworthia limifolia's roots can look like when grown in pumice.
This plant is a cutting from the plant above, by the way.

*scroll... scroll... scroll... scroll...*



No roots left, it seems. But wait! What is that? ;)
If you pull away the dry bottom leaves you will see fresh new roots growing. I'll pot the plant and its cutting separately. There will be more roots than plant in no time.

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Haworthia limifolia: Stray observations (3 pics)

April 17, 2016, 6:39 am
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Plants can have very different appearances depending on the conditions they grow in. While potting the plant from yesterday's post I wondered at how different it is from its own cutting that has been growing at my place all this time when the other was at my parents'. 

They are the SAME plant! Literally. The "piece" to the left was grown with little water (due to absent roots) and looks more like a H. limifolia to me, actually, long, thin, slightly curved leaves. No idea about the light conditions. The one to the right has been watered and repotted regularly while growing in a sunny spot. It has short thick leaves that barely "spin". If I didn't know better I would think they are different kinds of Haworthia. Can't say which appearance is better or healthier or more natural. Crazy plants.


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Much anticipated flower

April 24, 2016, 8:25 am
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I have something to be excited about these days. This is my own Titanopsis primosii seedling :)


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Lithops experiment part 6 (2 pics)

April 29, 2016, 10:50 pm
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Seeing that my last post about the troubled L. pseudotruncatella was back in December it's time to update you on their progress.

Yes, they are still quite ugly. My hopes of getting them into good shape within one regeneration cycle were too much but hey, no rush. Simple survival goes first. On the survival front I guess they are at 50%. The best looking plant out of three has perished - go figure! Another has lost one head. The balance is two plants, one and two heads.

It's almost May and they've been watered twice so far. They react well to water and, even though they are still way too long, they don't get any longer but bigger and more substantial instead. I intend to be very strict with them so they'll need their strength later. Long way ahead of them.

You can read up on the lithops experiment here: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5.

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Spring update on Conophytums - part 2 (14 pics)

May 1, 2016, 2:42 am
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This rainy, cold, dark Sunday morning (hence the dark photos) I thought it'd be nice to post an update on my Conophytums going to sleep. In fact, it is so cold and uncomfortable (we've had -2° last week!) I'd rather wrap myself in sheets and sleep all day, too. 

Last post was one month ago. Make sure to check it out for comparison. Almost all of the plants are prepared for summer heatwave now (even though any kind of warm weather feels like sci-fi at this point). By the way, I can't believe how long I've struggled against growing Conophytums, considering them too boring for any attention. Now I'm quite fascinated by them and would love to grow more. And try them from seed, too. The watering schedule might appear confusing at first but you do figure it out eventually, after a couple of years. If I have a chance this year I'd like to get more C. pellucidum (the white flowers are unusually mat instead of silky) as well as something fuzzy or a species with larger heads for diversity. 

Conophytum pellucidum v. pellucidum 'pardicolor' ex. de Boer


Conophytum pellucidum ssp. cupreatum v. terrestre


Conophytum uviforme ssp. uviforme


Conophytum uviforme ssp. decoratum


Conophytum minusculum


There's a two-headed plant to the right. Can you see it? ;)


Conophytum ricardianum


Conophytum meyeri 'Leopardium'


Conophytum khamiesbergense


Conophytum fulleri


Conophytum ectypum ssp sulcatum


Conophytum angelicae ssp. tetragonum


Conophytum bilobum 'christiansenium'

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Titamopsis primosii: first flower (3 pics)

May 8, 2016, 9:35 am
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Before I write a post on all the showy Delosperma flowers from my balcony I wanted to show you this one which is much more special to me. I grew this Titanopsis primosii from seed and am now very proud it has managed to grow such a large and beautiful flower. Or to bloom at all. The plant itself is quite tiny and I really wonder where it got the strength. After all, my grown up Titanopsis promisii have never ever flowered for me. 

It has been flowering for a week now but I couldn't see it as it only opened for a short time in the afternoon. Yesterday I could finally arrange a photo session with this beauty.



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Delospermas on the balcony (8 pics)

May 9, 2016, 9:34 am
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Well, now I know, Delosparmas really like it on the balcony. All of the below plants have overwintered outside in the cold and are now enjoying direct unfiltered sunlight. No burns and lots of flowers and flower buds. I'm seriously thinking of moving all my Delospermas out there permanently. Except for D. sphalmantoides. And the "bonsais", I suppose. And D. harazianum is flowering just fine on the windowsill after a warm winter. But otherwise, these guys do enjoy fresh air :)

Delosperma sp. A variety called "garnet", I think.




Delosperma sp. A variety called "moonstone".




Delosperma sutherlandii


Delosperma lineare "golden nugget"


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Recent observations on Anacampseros (15 pics)

May 11, 2016, 1:00 am
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I'm getting excited about Anacampseros again :D

Seeing the seedlings grow and some of the adults with first signs of flower stalks is more than enough to rekindle the fascination. Growing Anacampseros is very new to me and there's a lot to observe and note to myself. 

First, please let me brag about my 2014 and 2015 seedlings, grown from own seeds, for just one moment. Both sets of seedlings have recently started looking like adults and it's just such a joy for me!

The fuzzy An. filamentosa ssp namaquensis are probably the closest I'm gonna get to owning a cat.


An. vanthielii have finally grown enough leaves to form neat rosettes. They will be quite large when they grow up.


Back to the observations, I've noticed an interesting growth pattern on a couple of my older and bigger plants. This An. vanthielii (mother to the above seedlings), for example, seems to abandon (or replace?) the tops of the stems while growing lots of new branches "from below" near the root.


The below An. telephiastrum are doing the same. It's a forest of new growth near the roots while the tops barely grow any new leaves. Although they do seem to re-use the tops for growing flower stalks.
This growing pattern seems strange to me but it is also very welcome. I'd greatly prefer it to the tendency of growing in hight while dropping leaves down below (looks like An. arachnoides enjoy doing that, from what I see). This results in ugly sticks and necessity of cutting and re-rooting. Or in going horizontally overboard. I really don't have room for that. So do your thing, little guys, I support you.


In other news - flower stalks! I see several around. It's pretty exciting :)
This An. lanceolata (An33 in atomic-plant catalog) is ahead of all others. Unfortunately I missed the fully open flower yesterday. Still sad about that. Stupid.


Other flower stalks are just starting to show.
Anacamoseros sp.


An. arachnoides (An106)


An. arachnoides (An208)


Also, the seedlings sown in February are still alive. Actually, I won't stop worrying about them until they grow first "real" leaves.

Some are already quite fluffy.
An. telephiastrum


Some even show a glimpse of first true leaves.
An. rufescens


An. filamentosa ssp. filamentosa (An150)


Other appear fine but are kinda stuck. I'll keep worrying about them until I see some action. Maybe it's the recent heat or maybe they're just too young. Time will tell.

An. filamentosa ssp. tomentosa (An156)


An. rufescens 'Sunrise'


I have many more seedlings but of a smaller varieties. I can't quite catch them on camera yet. 
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Cheiridopsis on a diet (4 pics)

May 15, 2016, 4:53 am
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A months ago I was struggling with the decision whether to keep watering the opportunistic Cheiris or diet them down to one pair of leaves. I decided that the smaller the plant the better, more natural looking and stopped watering. Some structure within the yearly growth cycle must be beneficial as well. I'm glad to report that the plants reacted very well to this treatment. Not only it improved their looks, it also shows that this is how they wanted to be treated to begin with. No, I'm not hearing voices in my head and my plants have not started talking to me. It feels right because the plants have reacted to the absent waterings in the way a plant preparing for rest would react. As soon as they noticed the drought they started using old leaves for resources. The newest leaves stayed firm and wrinkle-free while the old unnecessary leaves are shriveling. I hope to bring them to the state they had last July. If the plants had shriveled completely, old leaves and new, I would have aborted the mission.

Cheiridopsis brownii (MG 1365.4). Very close in looks to last July. I'm glad.


Cheiridopsis bruynsii (MG 1404.81).


Cheiridopsis excavata (MG 1375). Might be called Ihlenfeldtia excavata.


The strangeCheiridopsis meyeri v. minor have also reacted to the withdrawal of water by getting much closer to the looks they had last year. According to the books this is how it should be so I'm not questioning it. They look awful though XD


I've reduced watering to the huge Ch. denticulata as well but nothing can stop them now. They are pushing new leaves and even new branches like crazy no matter what I do.
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Conophytum herreanthus (4 pics)

June 4, 2016, 10:16 pm
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Sorry for not posting much, I've been a little preoccupied lately by an acquisition of a rare mesemb of a feline variety :)

The weather is terrible here. It's like we've had fall weather since October, all darkness and rain. These days the sun comes out in the mornings (huge improvement) followed by heavy thunderstorms in the afternoons. How my plants are not cucumbers yet is a mystery. All my watering schedule is confused. I've watered almost all of the lithops by now but only once or twice to let them know they can start growing but also to prevent them from stretching towards the rare sunlight. If that makes any sense. I think it does not. Better dry than growing under these circumstances. I just feel bad seeing them shrivel. 

You know which plants don't care about all of that? Winter growers, especially conophytums. They are in sheaths and asleep. Who new German weather would support their resting schedule so well? You know who else doesn't care? The strange plant below. It's not sheathed as others but it's clearly resting.

I got it in February under the name of Herreanthus meyeri (H-637, Umdaus) and it's still listed as such at Mesa Garden. But it's actually a Conophytum herreanthus. Hard to believe this giant is a conophytum. Apparently Schwantes has considered it a separate genus but has not taken into account the behavior of seedlings and the flower structure. Also, back then the non-sheathing conophytums (like C. khamiesbergense) have not been well described, it seems. And so, as a revision, this plant is now a conophytum. Crazy. I haven't watered it since February and it doesn't show any signs of distress. The only thing it did is drying of the big floppy old leaves. I guess, it best be watered around end of august, with the other conos. 





Hope that proper summer will reach us soon.
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