I got this plant in December as a "blind buy" and it was half dead when it arrived. Unfortunately all the specialized nurseries out there, online as well as printed catalogue based, don't let buyers see the plants they buy. You have to just hope they'll pick a healthy and strong plant for you. It's rarely the case. Why should they? For this reason I prefer ebay when I buy plants - what you see is what you get. Anyway, I didn't expect the plant below to survive, it was small, had a lot of dry leaves and the growing points were damaged. From the overall shape I could barely tell it was an A. spatulata at all. Basically I just put it in a pot with some other plants and forgot about it. It wasn't until recently that it flipped back into consciousness and suddenly started growing new leaves and branches. I'll have to do something about the long leaves to bring it into a proper, spatulata-appropriate shape but I'm hopeful. With a sunnier spot on the windowsill and a tougher watering schedule it will eventually be a happy and handsome plant. It has already earned itself an own container :)
Looks like it is coming back strong. It's interesting seeing the bright green color of many of your plants. It is a healthy look, but also a look of not enough strong sunlight. I see the same thing when I grow mesembs under fluorescent lights. They look healthy, and they grow, but the color is so different from the plants I have outside in 8 to10 hours of direct sun each day. You do wonders with your window but more light would really transform your collection into something magnificent. But, it would also increase the maintenance, because plants would need more water, and transplanting more often, and maybe even a little fertilizer now and then. There are always trade offs. I don't think I've ever grown Aloinopsis spatulata. Apparently, it develops a very large root system, like a carrot. (I've been reading my "Titanopsis Group"). I really love the habitat photos in that book. I've been letting my lithops seedlings dry out in preparation for transplanting. I going the follow that new method I saw in a video. Very ingenious. ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you and good luck transplanting your lithops seedlings. :) Let me know how it went afterwards.
DeleteI think your monitor might make my poctures greener. When I view them on my laptop they don't seem as green as when I view them on my mobile phone. They are green but maybe not as much as they appear on your monitor. True, I'd love them to be more tanned but summer hasn't started yet and the sun actually gets very strong here. Let's see how they'll look then ^^a
This plant is not shaped well yet because it was hidden behind bigger plants for longer period of time. Should get better now. Unfortunately it might take years until I can have a greenhouse with full sun. If ever... So better get used to green plants, I've accepted the fact that they will never look like in habitat :)