Lithops Stories

I've been prevented from writing new posts by a wild animal that confiscated by laptop :D

Not really. She is being fantastic! :)

What really bothers me is this terrible weather we are having this year. We haven't had any spring and still no summer. It just rains all the time. My plants are lucky if they get one hour of sunlight a day. I'm being very careful with waterings but several lithops are stretching nevertheless. I wonder what makes them do that exactly. If it's dark and they've been watered shouldn't they all stretch?

In this L. schwantesii container you can see that one plant is growing too long while others stay flat.

In this L. lesliei v. hornii (C15) container, one head (!) of a plant is stretching while the other does not. What makes it do that?

L. karasmontana likes to stretch no matter what, no surprises there. It is quite small and the shape will correct itself next year.

What I find strange is that another L. karasmontana (v. aiaisensis C224) in a nearby pot is as flat as it can be.

So what triggers it really? Unlucky watering timing? Or is there something more to it?

In other news, my Frithia pulchra has grown flowers again this year. Unfortunately I still have not seen them fully open because, as I said, there is no sunlight. They open just a little without it, and then close again...

Catching Anacampseros flowers proves to be difficult as well. I keep missing them! It's so annoying. I've missed the biggest and prettiest ones so far.

I'm complaining a lot today XD

It's been 6 weeks since Mila is in my life and I'm still adjusting. I love her so much, she is the most clever and beautiful little kitty! Still, having another living being live with me and taking care of it is very new to me. Sure I've been taking care of plants a lot in my life but they don't lick my face at night. They also do not talk to me all the time expecting me to understand, like Mila does. Is she hungry? Is she sleepy? Does she want to play now? My plants are fine, by the way, she does not show any interest in eating them. She does jump on the windowsill from time to time though (followed by my yelling) but so far no real damage done. Mesembs and cats seem to be compatible after all.

Back to topic. You remember I've been sowing lots and lots of Anacampseros this February? I've been neglecting them just like all other seedlings this year but I think it was good for them in the end. Now that they are getting bigger and the "proper" looks are starting to show I realize how many they are. What am I supposed to do with all these plants?! I will keep them until they are more or less adult-sized and then give some of them away. So if you're interested drop me a line. I ship within Europe.

Here are some of the seedlings that already look like something.

Anacampseros rufescens 'Sunrise'
Sunrise it is! My cat knocking them over, enforcing transplantation, really improved their looks and sped up the growth. Thanks Mila, my tireless helper.

The seedlings in the next four pots all look pretty similar at this stage but they are in fact all different.
I'll leave all details I have on the below plants in brackets. "An--" numbers are from the Atomic Plant catalog.

Anacampseros baeseckei (Kinderle, ex MG7009, An63)

Anacampseros namaquensis (Sendelingsdrift, ex MG7042, An69)

Anacampseros arachnoides (s Calitzdorp, An79)

Anacampseros filamentosa ssp. tomentosa (20km w Windhoek, An156)

Anacampseros rufescens (JVT g6311 n.v. Audtshoorn)
Cute pointy leaves.

Anacampseros telephiastrum (JVT g6324 uid.v. Calitzdorp)
Too many! I really need to start transplanting one of these days...

Anacampseros retusa f. rubra (Kalbakkies Pass, An44)
These are quite interesting. They are supposed to be "hairless" and grow fat roots.

Anacampseros vanthielii (grown from own seeds)

Hatched in October 2015 and getting too big for the two pots I have them in.

Anacampseros filamentosa ssp namaquensis (also from own seeds)

These are from 2014 and very neat looking by now. Not yet flowering though.

I already have this year's seeds to give away if someone is interested. Involuntarily sowings are happening, too.

All in all, if you want a sense of achievement Anacampseros are the plants you are looking for. Quite easy from seed and cuttings and no special care required. Also, transplanting speeds things up considerably (that's why I keep postponing it XD).

I had lots and lots of old and barely viable lithops and other mesemb seeds that I've been trying to "use up" since last fall so that I could buy more. Stone-hard logic here. So I've been sowing and when it was clear nothing would germinate or the seedlings were too weak I've been sowing on top of them, barely keeping records. At the end some of them made it and have developed up to a certain stage when they could be caught on camera. So here are some mesemb seedlings I am currently growing. I'll make a separate post on lithops seedlings of which I have much less.

These guys have been neglected, starved, then overwatered, insect-ridden and simply forgotten but they are going strong nevertheless! Sometimes I think the less you care for them the better they feel. Occasional splash of water is all it takes.

Meyerophytum meyeri MG1778.65 (April 2016)
Wanna know how I know it's not a Monilaria? Because they're still alive (ba-dumm-tssching).

Cheiridopsis verrucosa MG1404.32 (February 2016)
Holding on to each other for comfort.

Cheiridopsis pillansii MG1401.5 (February 2016)
I already have several two-year-olds of this kind. But I had some seeds left and Cheiridopsis love it here.

Mitrophyllum grande MG1779.56 SB1960 (February 2016)
Not very grande yet but getting there.

Antegibbaeum fissoides MG1319.3 SB609 (February 2016)
According to the label. Doesn't look like it very much. Cute though.

Juttadinteria deserticola MG1530.2 H4537 (October 2015)
Bloated but happy.

Rhinephyllum muirii MG1843.1 DT4938 (October 2015)
Tried these before but unsuccessfully.

Monilaria obconica MG1780.573 (February 2016)
Still alive! Probably not for too long...

Monilaria scutata MG1780.73 (April 2016)
Green mess, could die any moment.

Stomatium alboroseum 'rubrum' MG1869.3 SB1216 (February 2016)
Aaah the lovely see-through dots

Astridia longifolia MG1349 SB758 (March 2016)
Nice, almost adult-looking seedlings.

Astridia hallii MG1347.6 (March 2016)
Only one left and it has longer leaves than the "longifolia" above. Hallii should have white flowers, while longifolia red.

Titanopsis calcarea MG1870.152 (February 2016)
Virtually indestructible when young.

Titanopsis calcarea MG1870.2 SB1111 (February 2016)
Love the texture

And last but not least
Conophytum pillansii (April 2016)
They look like fish eggs! This is the first time I'm growing Conos from seed. Gonna try sowing more soon. Exciting!

I've been trying to germinate some old lithops seeds quite unsuccessfully over the last year. I barely have something to show for it. I even thought I lost some key skill until I tried sowing fresh seeds from my own plants that germinated perfectly.

The only real success among the 2015 lithops seedlings are the L. lesliei ssp. lesliei var. rubrobrunnea that hatched last October. They are developing nicely in size and in color. The new leaves are actually quite red and very attractive. In my experience L. lesliei and L. bromfieldii rarely disappoint when grown from seed.

The next seedlings, from around the same time, are nameless at the moment. I do have records of what was sown but these guys were transplanted due to bugs and I didn't care enough for them to label them properly. I was pretty sure they won't survive. Told you before, I was neglecting my seedlings badly. Well, now I can't connect their looks to any of the species I was sowing back then. The good news is they are strong and very uniform (I don't mean that couple in the front of the photo) and when they are bigger a name can hopefully be attached to them.

A big surprise was to find some rarities among last year's survivors. These are L. lesliei "Fred's Redhead, L. salicola "Bacchus" and L. localis "Pinky" (one of them already two-headed).

Last year I could get some seeds from my L. verruculosa plants. Up until now I could never manage to grow them from seed. Maybe because they're touchy or maybe because they are normally sold in small quantities. I really like how these guys are developing though. Plump happy seedlings.

The youngest are these L. dorothea, also grown from my own seeds. They started germinating poorly (see those bigger ones) and then one month later everything sprouted! Looking forward to the natural variation in these plants.

Not only older lithops seedlings but actually 6 years old lithops seedlings. Can you believe that? These are the guys from the so-called "pumice experiment" back in 2010 which is now my standard procedure (oh my, they are so tiny there). I was disappointed for a very long time that they didn't look like "mariae" I wanted them to be - all dotty. Instead they looked like regular lesliei. However, now, 6 years later, the proper looks are apparent. The fine dotty lines and the sandy color. I remember reading that "mariae" are the largest among lesliei but mine are rather compact.

L. lesliei ssp. lesliei v. mariae (C141)

I've been transplanting some plants that probably didn't need any transplanting. What started as "these seedlings are kinda small for their age, better check the roots" ended up as "let's check them all!" I have ordered pumice from ebay lately and it was a bad idea. Now I'm back to my usual supplier. How great his stuff is in comparison! Transplanting is so much more fun when you are using good quality pumice.

I'm generally proud of my seedlings, all of them. No matter how well-grown the plants are we buy from someone, plants grown from seeds always seem to be the prettiest of all to me. Not partial at all! ;D But, to be honest, the plants that have germinated and grown under the same conditions all their lives, really do appreciate it. You also have good control over their shape if you watch them closely and treat them accordingly. You know how big a fan I am of plants that are small and really flat to the ground. It is not easy to get such plants as adults. But with seedlings hatched and grown in pumice without any extra food, that is how they will eventually turn up looking. Not much effort involved. They grow very slowly though. And show their true patterns quite late. I'm not growing them for sale so that's okay.

The seedlings that appeared small-ish to me are the L. lesliei ssp. burchellii(C308), sown back in 2011. It's been 5 years! You might remember them from here, here or here. Cute kids they were. Well, I'm not sure if that's it with their size and they won't grow any larger but they seem to be fit and strong with nice root systems. So maybe fresh substrate will give them a bit more energy. They show a variety of patterns and I tried to regroup them according to their looks. You would probably not notice the difference but I did have a system.

They also like to dig themselves in. Here is a "before" picture.

Squeeze and pull! That is why clay pots are not recommended, btw ;)

Also, it's absolutely okay to remove half of the fine roots, or even more, along with the rests of old substrate during transplantation. The fine roots grow back in no time. I think the trimming actually stimulates them.

The others I spontaneously decided to re-pot are the L. aucampiae ssp. aucampiae v. aucampiae 'White Flower' (C002A) seedlings I got from seeds of the plants I got from Mr. Shimada when I was living in Japan. Well, the parent plants were way too huge to survive long under my conditions. But at least I got seeds and this is what I have to show for it now. Back in 2012 they looked so week and ugly and strange. Then they got better and better and now they are such beauties! The uniform color, the perfect shape, the manageable size. I do mean to brag!

The size of Mr. Ingenwepelt's plants is what I'm going for so if we compare the L. aucampiae head size, mine should not get any bigger.

I've refreshed the substrate for some other seedlings too.

Some nameless L. lesliei seedlings.

The Ventergreens (C001A), from own seeds. They look all grown up but never flower. That's my curse :) At least the leaves look very pretty.

This L. lesliei ssp. lesliei v. lesliei 'Storms’s Albinigold' (C036B) is two-headed but tiny, sown sometime 2008. One of my first.

This L. bromfieldii v. glaudinae 'Rubroroseus' (C393A) went a bit too far in its flatness. I have a bunch of "kinda small" Rubroroseus seedings while their siblings are already adult looking. New substrate it is.

This is the first year I am growing several adult Anacampseros of all different kinds and can watch and compare how they grow throughout the year. For a plant nerd this is really fascinating. In my last "observations" I was talking about new growth coming from underneath and this one will continue this thought.

It looks to me that these plants tend to abandon the branches that have extensively flowered. As if producing the flower stalk is sucking all the juices out of it. Well, considering the size of those flower stalks, no wonder! What I have seen in the multi-branched plants that flowered this year is that the flowering branches drop leaves one by one until they look like bald twigs with only a couple of leaves at the top and no signs of new growth. If I think back to last winter when I got the majority of my adult plants, some of them have arrived with such "towers", meaning the towers have not grown any new leaves or branches of their own to cover the baldness during fall and winter. This year it seems the same thing is happening and my guess is that this is quite natural. Not very pretty though.

I don't need my Anacampseros plants to be big and so trimming those twig-towers looks like an option to keep the plants round-ish and compact. This year I have trimmed two plants with good results.

Remember this plant I was showing back in February?

Anacampseros arachnoides, An35

Well, I thought the towers quite ugly and cut them off shortly after. Since then the plant grew new leaves and branches with fresh strength and then flowered. And you have to admit the general look is much better.

Moreover, as I felt sad to throw away the towers, I tried to root them, and it worked! They looked so dead and then, when they were cut off and not dependent on the roots and resources of the big plant, they really flourished. (This sentence sounds like some kind of lesson for humans I'm not going to elaborate on.)

Here they are when they just barely rooted and started to show some green.

Here they are now.

The other plant in a similar situation is my beautiful Anacampseros vanthielii. Here is the photo from May this year, when I was pondering on whether it's going to abandon the "tops".

Well, it did. And I should have cut the yellow branches then and there. I kept them in the hope that all the growth from below will eventually consume them or some new leaves will come out from the top. I think the plant was just wasting energy on them and that's why didn't flower. Meanwhile the tops grew scruffy-looking. A month ago I took my scissors and cut off all the yellow stuff and look at that! The "undergrowth" spread its leaves and got a healthy color under the sun. And the plant is now a cute ball of leaves and hairs. I should have cut off all the yellow parts back in the spring.

This year, as the flowering nears its end, I see some plants abandoning the flowering branches and I will be cutting them off and rooting them this time without a second thought. It benefits the plants and creates "back-up copies" I can give away.

My lithops are usually quick to show flower buds but there's still nothing, not even a hint. I doubt I'll see any flowers this year, there has been very little sunlight and warmth for that. But at least some of the other plants don't mind. There have been several conophytum flowers and there are new buds visible.

Conophytum fulleri

Conophytum pellucidum ssp. cupreatum v. terrestre

Conophytum angelicae ssp. tetragonum

Conophytum uviforme ssp. decoratum

Avonia albissima multiramosa has been flowering, or rather producing seed pods as I'm pretty sure the flowers do not open. I might have missed them but, really, I've never ever seen them open in my life. It always goes from bud to seed pod.

Funny thing is that the branches are normally lying flat on the ground, but when the seed pods are almost ripe they get pushed up and the branches suddenly lift into upright position, just for a day or so. I wonder what is happening there chemically that makes them do that.

The seeds are all viable and I've been sowing them a lot over the last couple of years. They germinate perfectly but then grow so slowly they die before they can gain any weight. I currently have several seedlings but it looks like only one of them is going to survive. It took it 2 years to get to this size. FML.

Anacampseros namaquensis (An17) has grown one flower only with much effort this year. As most Anacampseros flowers are pale rose-white I was really looking forward to this bright pink flower. But it never opened. Hope it has at least produced some seeds. I really like this plant.

Ah, and this young Avonia quinaria ssp. quinaria has opened both its flowers this weekend! Here is one of them.

In the latest post I casually mentioned my observations regarding the behavior of Avonia albissima branches with ripe seed pots. I find it quite interesting. Apparently, the branches that otherwise lie flat on the ground at all times suddenly lift when the seed pod has ripe seeds in it. I've been watching the flowering Avonias closely since then and it happens regardless of whether they've been watered or not. Recently a couple of my Avonia quinaria plants have been flowering, too. They are normally not self fertile but it still happens from time to time that a seed pod develops. This time it happened again and look at that! The branch with a ripe seed capsule goes way up while the other one lies on the ground.

I've developed a theory as for why Avonias are doing that. Completely unscientific of course!! :D You know, ripe Avonia seed pods workings are the opposite of Mesembs. The seed pods close up when they are wet and open when they are dry. Not only lifting the pod up to the sun makes it dry quicker and throw off the rests of the old flower it also surely helps distribute the seeds better with the wind. Moreover, if it happens to rain and the seed pod is on the ground it will be much wetter and therefore sealed for longer time. If it's in the upright position when it rains the pod can dry quickly in the sun and the seeds fall out before the ground dries ensuring better germination chances. What do you think?

Winter is coming. It's dark when I go to work, it's dark when I come back home. Oh and the sun is rarely shining on weekends. That's a bit annoying after the rainy summer we've had here. Still, some lithops and conos have been flowering and there are currently 4 more lithops buds growing. That's not bad considering the conditions they had to endure this year. Strangely (or not?) the lithops that grew flowers this year are all the usual suspects, the plants they are flowering for me every year, L. bromfieldii 'Sulphurea', L. fulviceps 'Aurea' and L. dorotheae. If not for them I would not have any flowers at all. I'd recommend north-earopean growers to have those in their collection if they want to see flowers.

L. bromfieldii v. insularis 'Sulphurea' C362

L. fulviceps v. fulviceps 'Aurea' C363

L. dorotheae C300

I kept last year's seed capsule to see if the plant will grow flowers out of the same head every year. This is what it's been doing for several years now. This year however the usual flowering head is resting while the other two are growing flowers.

Conophytums were more eager to flower. I could even catch flowers on the plants that have not flowered before.

Conophytum meyeri 'Leopardium' - that's one very yellow flower!

Conophytum verrucosum

And of course Avonia quinaria ssp. alstonii was so kind to show some flowers as well. Good timing too - I was able to catch them on camera. I really want to grow these plants from seed. So far I was not successful.

I've been doing some transplanting. And there is more to be done because I really want to sow again very soon, all the seed rests that are probably not viable anymore, some of my own seeds (Avonia!), and some conophytum seeds I bought this year.

So this is how it goes.

Step 1. Squeeze the container from all sides. This is why we use plastic and not clay ;)

Step 2. Pull out the plants. If they don't come out easily, stop pulling and squeeze the pot again.

Step 3. Now fill a pot with fresh dry pumice, up to the top.

Step 3.1. Examine your plants for bugs and remove all old soil from the roots. It's ok to pull off some roots as long as the main root is intact. Don't be squeamish. I usually rip off some of the main root as well if it's too long. If you are transplanting from dry soil into dry soil the plants won't mind (roots inactive).

Step 4. Use a stick to plant the seedlings into the container by dragging them down by the root (in case of adult plants you will need to wiggle the stick to let the pumice stones collapse around the plant and drag it down on their own). You can arrange them to your liking and put really a lot of plants all in one pot this way, saving precious space.

All done.

PS: I actually thought I could put a couple more trays on the windowsill but it looks like it's occupied now :D

Hi guys!

I finally found time to compile the Anacampseros seed list. If you are fascinated by these plants as much as I am make sure to check it out here or to the right under "new!"

Also, this is my 600th post. Congratulations to me :D

Okay, what I'm about to describe below is not the correct way of transplanting, in fact it's very risky and I would never do it with lithops and other mesembs because they rot easily. Yesterday however I was facing a challenge of transplanting over 60 Anacampseros seedlings (An. retusa fa. rubra, An44) from the 5cm container they were growing in. Basically it looked like this:

My goal was to give them more room to grow but at the same time not to use more than 4 new 5cm pots. Also, I wanted to do it quickly. Anacampseros are easy and don't rot when young (rotting sometimes happens to adult plants with thick roots) and I have way too many of them to worry.

The method is simple: fill up the new container with dry pumice, then water the top layer (really just as much as necessary, don't make the whole thing wet), poke holes into it and stick in the plants.

This way you can fit up to 25 plants all neatly into one 5cm square pot quickly and with little effort.

Remember, if you're not afraid to lose plants and need to do the transplanting in a hurry this is the method to go for. BUT if you use it for mesembs the risk is very high - the seedlings might turn to mush the next day. I warned you! In case of Anacampseros, I have transplanted all my seedlings (hundreds of them) using this method a couple of months ago and had zero losses (you've probably seen the LQ pictures of my huge plantation over on Twitter). Young Anacampseros are low-maintenance.

So it looks like this fall has brought more flowers than expected. Quite some Lithops and Conophytums have been flowering and I can see three more buds growing. I guess, this flowering season was not worse than usual after all even though the weather was not suggesting that.

Aren't these Lithops dorotheae flowers just the perfect little suns? Glad I could catch them in the evening this weekend.

A big surprise is this Faucaria tuberculosa bud. Really, this plants has been nibbled on by mites and overall neglected and it has never flowered for me before - but here it is, a flower bud. Thank you, little planty.

I can not believe this is happening!

This senior citizen has caused me some worry in the past. When I first got it I worried about its poor roots. With time I learned it is actually normal and okay for these plants to economize on root development. Then, I worried about rotting. With such a beautiful beard of old leaf layers (how old might it be, I wonder) it might be rotting somewhere inside if drops of water linger too long. Having it grow in pure pumice and in the very top layer of it with all the beard on top to dry in the sun if necessary as well as extremely reduced waterings has reduced my fears as well. I worried it would abandon one of the heads, at some point, but it didn't. And so I thought keeping it alive was an achievement on its own. I never thought it would actually flower one day! I know it might be a bit too early and it might abort the bud but I'm too excited not to share this news :)

For a while now I have been wondering about price development for succulent plants these days. Prices are skyrocketing for no apparent reason. It's not like the plants have gotten more rare or have grown indestructible. Plants are not an investment. They die. Quite suddenly, too. No regular size plant that's not even old, even if it is extremely rare, should cost more that 20€ and seeds more than 5€. Why would you pay more? Some prices are ridiculous! Out of curiosity I've recently checked Ebay for Adromischus and saw a small plant that was visually nothing special going for 4500€. Why? And especially for Adromischus. It multiplies easily from a leaf, no effort required from the grower.

Fellow growers, let's share our passion, not kill it by making plants and seeds unaffordable.

So, apparently, I am not buying new plants anytime soon. More time to enjoy those I have, am I right? ;) In September 2013 I got one Adromischus marianae v. herrei (green form) and now I have three thanks to the convenient propagation method - leaf cuttings. Sure it takes time and sometimes it can take months for the new leaves to appear even if the root system is fully developed. But the result is a new perfect plant. The below plant looked like this in February 2014, like this in April 2014 and like this in August 2014. Now it has a size of an adult Adromischus and might bloom next year.

The smaller cutting still keeps it's mother-leaf and is a bit slower. In its defense, looks like it is growing two branches simultaneously.

After a time I acquired others but they were not growing too well. I have decided to get rid of them and try anew from their leaves. The one to the right on the above photo is a young cutting of something called Adromischus marianae v. herrei CR1263 and below are my newest cuttings of Adromischus marianae 'Little Sphaeroid'. Hopefully they will develop well in time.

Oh, and here is the initial plant I got the little greenies from. It looked like this back in 2013.

I'm so happy and excited that this plant has decided to flower! :)

It is gorgeous and a bit crazy. Does the name crateriforme come from the inside of the flower?

I have never watched an Argyroderma flower bud develop and I found it very curious how different it is from the usual mesemb flowers I've had so far. Okay, maybe it's not that different but it definitely looks different to me.

The mesemb flower buds I've seen on my windowsill so far were elongated with tips of the petals showing at some point before the flower opens. The Argyroderma bud started as something round and flat, almost looking more like a seed pod than flower bud.

It grew larger and when the sepals parted a bit you could see that the petals are actually curved inwards, folded with their tips toward the "crater".

It stayed like this for a while and then yesterday suddenly it "erupted" and the petals darted out. It stayed like this until today.

It was sunny today and the flower finally opened. I'm so glad I could witness it!

I feel like I need to read up on Avonia's (as well as Anacampseros) yearly growing cycle again. It seems they are in an active growth phase now, having flowered for the last time in October. I thought they are supposed to be resting in winter. Maybe they will. It's not winter yet.

Avonia quinaria plants are not very difficult to grow on the windowsill (in pure pumice) and they will flower for you, too. The main cause of death is overwatering. I made a mistake once - I thought the thick root will increase in size if I buried it. The only thing that came out of it was a dead plant, rotten from the inside, and a resolve not to do this ever again. You see, the only clear way of telling whether an Avonia quinaria needs water, at least for me, is to squeeze the raised root a bit. Sure if the plant needs water the branches might drop a little. But depending on the time of the year those branches might be too short to drop visibly. So from now on they all will grow raised and looking like palm trees. Much safer this way.

This Avonia quinaria ssp. quinaria (that's the one with pink flowers) is particularly pretty this year. It has grown many new branches and looks very happy.

My four younger Avonia quinaria ssp. quinaria plants are actively growing right now, too.

I also have two Avonia quinaria ssp. alstonii plants (that's the white flowering kind). This one has really long branches.

This one has not been doing too well this year but is hanging in there. For a while it didn't seem to accept water and was shriveling. I think it's slowly getting better now though. The root is much firmer and new branches have started growing, too. It probably lost roots at some point which are now growing back.

It has not been the best year for succulent growers in my area. It has not been cold in winter, it has not been hot in summer. It has been just dark and gloomy all year. When sunny days are rare it means there is not much watering. If waterings are rare there's not much growing. Except for spider mites. Those grow nicely when it's dry. At some point I moved Delospermas outside (those are the most tasty) which improved the situation. But I still find mites on my plants occasionally (and kill them on site with my bare hands) and the damage is visible: nibbled leaves, weakened plants. I hope next year is sunnier and better all in all and the plants can recover.

My favorite and oh so perfect Frithias I was so proud of look like this now. It takes them so long to grow those leaves. Much time will pass until they've outgrown the bite marks. Assumed the attack is over. And yes, I've been spraying a lot which has contributed to the damage on some plants I think.

But Aloinopsis got the most of it. The below two are goners.

This one might recover (very big might) but judging by the size of the newest leaves it is extremely weakened by the overall conditions last year. Maybe I should stop growing Aloinopsis all together or just keep a couple of plants as mite-distraction.

The Antimima pumila started very well and then got bitten. I think it will recover though, after the next resting period. It's a bit elongated, too...

Same as these Titanopsis seedlings. Bugs plus spray plus sudden sunlight equals burn marks in addition to everything else. They should be fine with the new leaves coming. But it pains me to see them so ugly.

I know I might be exaggerating. After all it's just a couple of plants that are beyond saving, out of hundreds. But the lack of sunlight is visible to me in all the green-ness everywhere.

Sure, this cute Titanopsis calcarea is growing flowers (thank you planty!) and I did my best to keep it compact through this dark dark year but the green color says it all.

PS: Sorry for the dusty pics.

PPS: This got too depressing. I'll be posting about my feel-good plants Anacampseros next :)

Now to a more positive topic. Brace yourselves, this is a huge picture dump :)

Even though I've been posting photo updates on this year's Anacampseros seedlings over on Twitter I have realized that there has not been a proper update on them here in the blog since July! It's time to show you how they've grown.

They started as little blobs that all looked the same but now they look like little versions of adult plants and are pretty diverse. It has been such fun watching them grow. Looking after Anacampseros seedlings is straightforward. It's the adult plants I'm still figuring out (what exactly is their yearly growth cycle again?). There's not much you can do wrong with seedlings. They germinate right away almost at 100% rate and if they made it to first real leaves they'll make it all the way. I was told that I've been too kind to mine, watering them a bit too much, and I agree, some got out of hand. But most of them are perfect little fuzzballs. Thanks for this sense of achievement, cuties, I needed it. They are not immune to mites and darkness and overwatering can be an issue in general but they seem to be more forgiving than mesembs under my growing conditions.

As with many other succulent plants there is always a discussion among the growers on how "hard" they should be grown. The common understanding is that the ideal look is as close to the look in natural habitat as possible. While I share this view it's hard to achieve this in culture. We can try giving the plants the sunniest spot and starve them but in my experience it's harder on the grower than the plants. We tend to take pity and water a bit more than we should. Now that the seedlings are grown into small rosettes it's time to make sure they grow into good natural shapes. I'm not a person to starve plants but short plump leaves with a tan are my goal. And as usual, as I can not give them more light than what comes through the window, water is my only shaping instrument.

Even though they are still young and small I have stopped watering a while ago to give them some winter rest. What it means is - if it's dark outside it's always best to discourage any growth. We don't need them to grow into pale green weeds, do we?

So, here come the fluffiest seedlings. I'm very happy with those. You can barely see the leaves.

Some are less fluffy but it allows you to see what is going on underneath: tiny leaves in a nice round shape.

So cute, hiding in the stones!

These might be a bit too green and the leaves might be a bit long but there's plenty of time for correction.

These are a bit green as well but it might be how they are supposed to look? We'll see.

These however should not look like this! You miss the point when you should stop supporting growth and you end up with weeds that are not pretty. They are on a strict diet now.

These guys are slow growing and I had to push them a bit. The shape is fine for their age but the color needs more tan. We'll get there. (Love the heart-shaped leaves!)

Looking at the older seedlings, the color of this Anacampseros sp. is great! But the leaves could be shorter. I'll try to work on that.

Here is another example. Some of the older An. vanthielii seedlings got away from me.
Those in a better shape are nice round hairballs. But even they could do with a diet.

Others were unfortunately watered a bit too much at a wrong time. If the leaves are long and of a pale green color and you can actually see the stem - that's no good. Some tough love should bring them back on track.

My very first seedlings on the other hand look like I want them to look.

If you ask me what my ideal Anacampseros shape is, it's a compact round plant with short fat rusty-red leaves covered in fluff that at the same time shows some green at the top, just to reassure me it's alive. The cuttings below look perfect to me :)

It was the summer of our discontent... (7 pics)

Anacampseros seedlings update (12 pics)

Neglected mesemb seedlings 2016 (15 pics)

Recent lithops seedlings (6 pics)

Older lithops seedlings (2 pics)

Transplanting some older seedlings (14 pics)

More observations on Anacampseros (6 pics)

Some flowers (10 pics)

Avonias lifting branches: a theory (3 pics)

Flowering season of sorts (7 pics)

Transplanting in general (7 pics)

The new Anacampseros free seed list! (2 pics)

Transplanting for those who live dangerously (4 pics)

Some more flowers (3 pics)

Breaking news! Argyroderma crateriforme growing a flower

Adromuschus clons (5 pics)

Argyroderma crateriforme flower (6 pics)

Avonia quinaria (4 pics)

Mites and darkness (9 pics)

Anacampseros seedlings winter update (20 pics)