Other developments (12 pics)

There are other things I noticed on the windowsill recently.

For example, I was very surprised to find a seed pod on my Argyroderma crateriforme. The plant flowered out of two heads this year: one flower wilted into nothing, the other however has developed a fruit. Not sure what happened there as I haven't pollinated it. I only have this one Argyroderma plant. If there are some viable seeds inside it would be interesting to see what kind of plants will germinate.

Then, there are the Adromischus marianae v. herrei I'm totally fascinated by. That's no news to you. I post about them frequently. But they are so worth a closer look all around the year.

I was under the impression that they grow very slowly. And so it was surprising to see that, actually, some plants have had a huge leap in development. The leaf cuttings that have started growing own leaves in April (left pic) now look almost like adult plants!

The red-ish specimen has grown a lot of new leaves over the year, too. It was barely growing last year but this year there is a big progress. The photo to the left was taken in June.

By the way, notice how red it was last winter? We had good light and I was keeping it dry. This teaches us not to trust all we see on Ebay. Red cultivars are being in high demand and very expensive. Not all would be proper cultivars though. Sometimes it's just sun tan. Once they transfer from a sunny greenhouse to an environment with less sufficient light they very well might turn green on you. 

The mother plant of the leaf cuttings above and its previous cuttings however haven't grown much. I blame the flowering. They spend all their energy on those huge inflorescences they grow all summer. They look impressive and I was happy to watch them grow and the flowers open. Unfortunately while the inflorescence is there the plant does not grow any new leaves at all. I'd like them to rather grow leaves and so, I think, next year I won't let them grow flowers. There is no chance of seeds anyway as all of my plants are clones of one and the same plant and are genetically identical.

And as for the seedlings, they are still alive. But not more than that. Just tiny green blobs sitting on the pumice. No sign of a second leaf yet. It's been 6 months.

Oh, and this is what I was talking about when I said Anacampseros look dead right now. Not all are this dramatic but you can see how depressing it looks.

No news from lithops and conos. Lithops are growing new leaves on the inside. Conophytums are preparing to sleep already.

At least this Titanopsis calcarea seems to be growing flowers. That's something to look forward to (unless it aborts them).

And here's one bonus picture to end on a high note :)

Flowers in August (12 pics)

It's been too long! I've been mostly ignoring my plants this past month and consequently the blog. But I was still taking photos of the flowers whenever I could catch them. They are a rarity on the windowsill and always deserve attention. Luckily lithops flowers are still fully open when I come home from work (resulting in some dark and eerie photos as usual). And conophytum flowers last for several days making it possible to catch them on weekends. 

Conophytum flowers are a welcome change to the usual white and yellow of the lithops.

Here is some orange I've never seen before. Conophytum x marnierianum (MG1430.35)

Conophytum fulleri was flowering beautifully. 

Conophytum pellucidum v. pellucidum 'pardicolor' ex. de Boer. I've had other C. pellucidum flowering but didn't catch them.

Conophytum bilobum ''deodum'' (MG1419.3)

As for lithops, I've had some flowers on L. bromfieldii lately.

Lithops bromfieldii v. insularis 'Sulphurea' (C362)

Lithops bromfieldii sp.

Lithops gesinae v. annae (C078) was growing 2 buds but aborted them for some reason (a rainy week might have changed its plans).

Two Adromischus marianae v. herrei (green form) had grown impressive inflorescences that are hard to capture on a photo. 

Anacampseros are still flowering from time to time. These An. retusa seedlings, for example, growing more flowers now. Unfortunately they don't seem to want to open them. But they do produce seeds. 

And Crassula ausensis ssp. titanopsis is going crazy. The flowers are normally underappreciated so here are some close-ups :)

Sunday flowers to lighten the mood (7 pics)

I wanted to post something on Crassula cuttings but in the end decided in favor of a flower post. Just some light Sunday afternoon entertainment :)

Lithops gracilidelineata I grew from seed has opened its first flower today and it's small and neat like the plant. It took it 8 years from seed to flower. I'm not complaining. Flowers are an exception, not the rule here. I never expect them but they are very welcome. 

Avonia quinaria ssp. quinaria has opened the only flower it produced this year. It had too many petals and I ripped one to allow it to open fully. Beautiful flower as always. I'm glad it opened at all... unlike other Avonias.

Avonia ustulata are producing many seed pods but the flowers never open. Any idea why? I assume not enough sunlight or maybe the fact that there is no direct sunlight in the afternoon. Unfortunately the same thing happens to the An. retusa flowers I was looking forward to. They open just a couple of millimeters wide and then close. The seed pods are nice and full though.

Anacampseros karasmontana, the greenie, has been flowering. Very very cute flowers. The round edges and the spread petals look similar to Av. quinaria's, a simplified version. And I really need to show you pictures of the roots underneath. They are quite remarkable! 

And of course the Frithia pulchra! Such intense colors.

In other news, Conophytums are starting to wake up. Every year it's a relief.

Random seedlings report (13 pics)

It's always fun to grow plants from seed. Even if you know approximately what to expect you never know what their growth pattern will be or how the seedlings will turn out in the end. It is even more fun to grow something from seed that you have not grown before. Sure, most of the time you are just guessing how to care for such seedlings. And you do make mistakes. But this is all part of the fun of discovery and will help you understand the plants later.

I have tried growing Conophytums from seed before but they either didn't germinate or died right after. And so I consider my latest attempt the actual first try. They went through a couple of leaf changes and they are still alive. Being one year old, they went to sleep in the spring just like adults. But they were so very tiny! I really didn't want to let them do that, thinking they need to get bigger first. They didn't listen, of course, and were just doing their thing. I woke them up again recently and luckily all of them seem to be alive underneath the sheaths. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to wake them up a month early but that's also part of the experience.

Conophytum pillansii

I'm happy to report that Oophytum nanum seedlings (1 year old) are also slowly coming out of their slumber. I was really worried they wouldn't.

Below are Meyerophytum meyeri (MG1778.65) seedlings I grew last year. Another of the firsts. The plants have turned out to be easy to grow and very eager to branch out. I understand, as winter growers, they also should be in sheaths but I didn't let them do that out of the usual concern - too young and small for such a long time without water. I worry too much. These guys are tough.

I liked them so much that I sowed more this year. They make very cute seedlings (2 months old).

Meyerophytum meyeri (MG1778.65)

Meyerophytum meyeri v. holgatense (MG1778.7)

My youngest lithops seedlings are too small for photos so I will report on the second youngest bunches. I still have some of the seedlings of which I don't know the names. A couple of them look like L. olivacea. The rest I'm still not sure. They are uniform though and once they are bigger I'll probably be able to match them with my sowing list of around that time (most likely C266). We'll see.

L. dorotheae de Boer from the seeds of my own plants are also growing. You can even already see the characteristic lines and dots and colors.

This year I'm also growing Neohenricia sibbetii (MG1782.12) from seed. Mainly because my own adult plants are all cuttings of the same plant and I'd really like to be able to produce seeds. It might take years until they flower.

Can you guess what these tiny blobs are? That's right, Adromischus mariannae v. herrei. This is the first time for me to attempt them from seed. They look crazy! Just spheres with a root. Really hope I won't kill them. Very curious to see them grow.

MG2129.54

MG2129.56


Last year all my Delosperma harazianum got eaten by bugs and then froze on the balcony where they and the bugs were banned to. So now I'm starting again from seed. They are already beautiful (3 months old). Now to keep mites away from them...

And these are the red flowering Delosperma "garnet" seedlings. Because why not :)

The Sleeping Kingdom (7 pics)

I don't have many winter growers and most of them are conophytums. Having had them for 3 years now I'm clearly not an expert. But in terms of seasonal watering schedule they seem to indicate what they want much better than lithops. Or rather they just insist upon doing what needs to be done in a way lithops often can't manage. Of course my observations are just that and I don't have that many plants to say they are all like this but let me try to explain what I've seen so far.

You know how lithops just go into stasis and completely shut down during a heatwave? You think that would be a great time to catch up on some quality growth with lots of sun and water but they just won't accept it. They stay wrinkly as if thirsty. But the difference is that instead of going soft they become hard as stones. And no amount of water brings them out of it until the heat is over. This indication of "leave me alone" is really great and helps the grower. Unfortunately they don't do the same during the important phase of regeneration, mainly because it IS the time of active growth. It just happens invisibly. And so if watered in winter they will just keep expanding until they rot. Would be nice if they just shut down then as well and didn't accept waterings.

Luckily for conophytums, the period of stasis and the period of absorption of old leaves overlap. And so when conos refuse water it happens at a strategically important time. This makes things easier. My plants looks like this at the moment and will stay this way until late August.

The thing is, young cono seedlings are doing it, too, it appears. I am currently having my first experience with them. My seedlings are 1 year old and very small. That's why I'd like them to continue growing and gain more weight before they start going into sheaths for half a year. You know, with lithops, the first couple of years they regenerate whenever and if you keep watering they will keep growing. I thought cono seedlings would do the same but no, they went to sleep timely with the others. I kept watering but they just stopped accepting it. Now I kinda gave up and am letting them go to sleep in a hope they will eventually wake up. I have my doubts about that... We'll see.

The young Oophytum nanum seedlings are doing the same, by the way. I see the green shining through but the plants are completely inactive. I don't think they have enough resources to go through with it though. They are still very young.