Lithops portraits 2018 (15 pics)

In case you haven't noticed I'm on vacation :)
Which means finally time to take care of my (mostly plant related) hobbies. And I don't have to tell you how much I enjoy the company of my cat. All of it is so relaxing. Playing with Mila, checking on the plants, napping with Mila, taking some plant pictures. It's the paradise on earth. I hurt my back recently (which sucks) but it gives me a legit excuse to just be lazy and enjoy myself.

Now I'm just gonna spam you with some Lithops photos :D

L. ruschiorum. Love their new faces.

L. marmorata. Very slow old leaf digestion.

L. marmorata 'Polepsky Smaragd'. Good shape and color is only possible by very careful watering.

L. localis. These guys start to stretch as soon as I start thinking of watering them. They are tiny but it's the only way to keep them alive.

L. aucampiae are more difficult than you think. I've killed a lot of them so far. This is a really nice specimen though.

L. bromfieldii v. mennellii. Love the texture.

L. lesliei ssp. burchellii (C302). Love the fluid pattern.

L. lesliei ssp. lesliei v. venteri. Nice and flat. Got them as adults in 2011.

L. lesliei ssp. lesliei v. venteri 'Ventergreen' (C001A). These are 7 year old seedlings.

L. lesliei ssp. lesliei v. lesliei 'Albinica' (C036A). Got them in a hardware store in 2012.

L. lesliei ssp. lesliei v. lesliei (grey form) (C008). Got them in 2010.

L. bromfieldii v. insularis (C042). I haven't had a very good experience with multiheaded plants in my environment. But L. bromfieldii are hard to kill so I gave it a try last year. It regenerated fine so it should be okay now.

Lithops, my old friends (10 pics)

After yesterday's lithops post I've been feeling nostalgic, browsing through old photos and blog entries. Since I was talking about plants I've had for years I got curious and wanted to see what I wrote about them back then.

It's hard to decide whether it is depressing or uplifting to see those old photos. The plants I got as adults look just as fresh and shiny now as 8 years ago. There is no difference at all. Meanwhile I am getting older and for sure don't look the same. Yearly rejuvenation was a good choice.

Here is a photo of a L. dorotheae (C300) I took this week and here is the entry where I mention this plant for the first time, in 2010, when I was still in Japan.

These two I bought the same year in Japan as well. It is the "de Boer" variety of L. dorotheae with a stronger coloring. It seems back in 2010 these were the first L. dorotheae I grew.

And their own two-year-olds look promising, too.

This slightly unusual L. dorotheae (C300) has grown 2 heads compared to the 2012 photo. 

L. olivacea v. olivacea (C055). Such a happy plant first mentioned sometime in 2011.

And these guys! They are my absolute favorites! And it has nothing to do with the fact that they are the first Lithops I grew from seed back in 2008. Ok, it's partly the reason :D 

But they have the most perfect color, pattern and shape. Stunning plants. 10 years old now.

L. lesliei ssp. lesliei v. minor (C006)

These L. bromfieldii v. glaudinae (C382) were sown in 2010. I can not believe they made it.

L. lesliei ssp. lesliei v. mariae (C141) from the same year. It took them several years to develop the typical mariae pattern and now here they are.

And of course the L. gracilidelineata from the year 2009. They survived my mother's generous care when I was studying in Japan and they have been flowering, too. 

Lithops make me feel old.

Spring is on its way, they feel it (9 pics)

Finally, after months of darkness, we've had 2 weeks of sun (and temperatures below freezing). It is amazing how only 2 sunny weeks can transform lithops and give other plants a boost. After all the losses this year, seeing lithops actually not affected by the dark environment encourages me to focus more on them in the future. Other mesembs seem to be very touchy and even without water they stretch and die if there is not enough light. Lithops however, just proceed with their regeneration, no problem. They do fine as long as they're not being watered.

The old leaves are getting very soft first.

Then they get lines and wrinkles at the edges.

Then become thin and transparent.

Until they slip around the edges of the new leaves and disappear.

These look like the old leaves are deflating.

I was particularly relieved to see the below plant regenerate. It skipped a year meaning it has not regenerated last year at all. This year it just grows normally.

Bonus pic: Nothing says spring is coming like Sinningia leucotricha waking up :)

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 :)

New lithops 2017 - Part 2 (13 pics)

To continue with the report on the new lithops acquisitions, here are some other newcomers.

Within L. olivacea there are the green L. olivacea v. olivacea species and the pink-ish L. olivacea v. nebrownii. I have one greenie so it was time to get some pink plants as well.

Lithops olivacea v. nebrownii MG1671.9

Among the L. schwantesii I own there are many greens and blues and lilacs but until now none of the yellows. Check!

Lithops schwantesii MG1729.15

Unfortunately there was no second plant of L. naureeniae in Essen but having one is also fine. This is the first time I'm growing it.

C304 Lithops naureeniae MSG2491

L. coleorum are also new to me. I got this adult plant to later grow together with my two seedlings.

C396 Lithops coleorum MSG2890

Also there are finally some of the C4xx range on the windowsill. Not that I was specifically targeting those. All courtesy of a very generous friend.

C412 Lithops fulviceps v. laevigata. I have several milky L. fulviceps v. lactinea and green "Aurea" plants. There are finally some reds among them.

C417 Lithops karasmontana ssp. karasmontana v. immaculata. These are so nice and pale I barely recognize them as karasmontana. Very well-grown plants.

Ex C369A Lithops karasmontana ssp. eberlanzii "Purper" or "Purpur". No matter the name, the color is very unusual and I feel honored to get a chance to grow them.

Speaking of karasmontana, here is the Lithops karasmontana v. lericheana, otherwise known as The Croissant.

I also got two multi-headed plants. I have not had much luck with such plants before but decided to try again hoping I now have more experience. C010 Lithops lesliei ssp. lesliei v. lesliei is a very compact plant and shouldn't make any troubles.

The C042 Lithops bromfieldii v. insularis is of course bigger. But L. bromfieldii are usually happy and carefree so I'm not worried.

BONUS

More flowers are coming!

One of the 2009 Lithops gracilidelineata seedlings is growing its very first flower. Wow, 8 years? Really?

And another of the C078 Lithops gesinae v. annae, too. I hope it is a good sign for the flowering later in the season.