Transplanting Adromischus (7 pics)

The longer I grow Adromischus the more obvious it gets that they really don't like summer heat that much. The intense light isn't beneficial to them either when it's hot. I tend to ignore them in summer because looking at them depresses me. The green types lose their color, the rest is just sitting there deflating miserably while also not taking in water. Then they drop leaves or start rotting. Of course, there are flowers, but they weaken the plants additionally leaving them in a sorry state that mealy bugs like to exploit. And then September comes and the world is new again! They inflate their leaves and new growth appears everywhere, they get plump and happy and I realize I spend most of my time at the windowsill in the Adromischus corner. Fall and spring are the two seasons Adromischus look best!

It's also the time to re-evaluate their growing conditions and transplant those needing transplanting. For example, I had some greenies growing in a shadier place and they made it though the summer retaining their color while the rest all turned yellow. So, now all the greenies have been moved to the shade. It freed up some space for bigger pots, too. Which is convenient as at least two plants have outgrown theirs. 

I couldn't decide first, which one is going to move to a bigger pot this year, my old red-ish type plant or the green one they call A. marianiae 'alviolatus'. After a month of active growth both look great and could spread even more if given the opportunity.

By the way, this is the same plant as on the below picture, taken back in March 2018.

In the end I decided to move the alveolatus and, once the top layer of pumice was removed, it was clearly the right decision. Those roots have no more room in the old pot!

One root massage later the big root beard is revealed.

I wonder if it will fill out this 9 cm pot by next year :)

PS: I've grown several cute babies from its leaves, too.

Aloinopsis peersii (3 pics)

I got these two Aloinopsis peersii back in November 2013 and was really worried they won't get acclimated. You see, they are quite big and fat and meaty and under my conditions plants grow compactly. Each time I purchase a "fat" plant it has huge problems downsizing. Especially Lithops simply don't make it through regeneration in these cases. On the photo below you still can see the large fat leaves I got it with but all the new ones, grown at my place, are much smaller and more fitting and appropriate. They grow in a 7x7x10cm container and are downsizing gradually and in a healthy manner. There are many side branches, too :)

This plant's special feature is the fluffiness of the leaves. Yes, they are as soft as they look ;)

The picture below was taken last November.  Check out those carrot roots! I think with these guys watering from the bottom would make sense but I water them from above and it seems to be fine.

This just in: Argyroderma crateriforme (3 pics)

I've received this Argyroderma crateriforme from ebay today. It looks like a really old one, with all those layers of dry old leaves. In my view it is just beautiful. :)

It has arrived bare root but just unpotted not cleaned. And it is pretty understandable because the roots and the substrate have merged into a solid mass. Maybe I made a mistake and I should have just left it like it is but I wanted to free the roots and let them breathe. Of course to do so I had to brutally wash it, while pulling out imbedded stones and soil and tear out roots themselves (at least they were dry and inactive which should have reduced the harm). At the end I could bare the roots but felt really bad I had to disturb the plant like this. Acclimation is hard even without such drastic procedures. 

Well, after all the washing I first let the plant dry - and it took a while because of all those layers of dry leaves. Then I was thinking of putting it in dry pumice and just hope for the best but I felt so uncomfortable doing that that I decided to construct a paper towel skirt instead. I thought this way I can stimulate and reactivate the roots in a controlled environment (it worked before) and make the towel/root wet without letting the moisture touch the countless layers of dry leaves that could start rotting very quickly and easily. The plan is to wait until new tiny white roots appear and then pot it into pumice substrate. At the moment I'm still afraid I made a big mistake but we'll see how it goes...  

L. aucampiae seedlings root-check (2 pics)

I've been trying to free up the round pots I use for sowing by transplanting the bigger seedlings into square pots I use for adult plants. It doesn't really make more room for them but the depth is changing from 5cm to 8,5cm which they like very much. And of course I can now use the free round pot to sow some more mesemb seeds. :)

I like how flat and pancake-like the seedlings are. This is my favorite lithops shape. I just hope these particular seedlings are not too flat (is it possible for a lithops to be too flat?).

Kanchūmimai :)

I hope all of you my dear readers have had wonderful winter holidays and a good start into the new year 2014! It's late but I wish you all the happiness and health for this year and good species-appropriate growing season to your plants ;)

The last one is actually too early in case of our mesembs. There's still a long way to go until there's any real quality growing. Not much happening at the moment. All the plants look more dead and destroyed than anything else...  I don't even have anything to show you since there's nothing new between fall flowering and spring's new growth. Some of my lithops have almost regenerated but are still not being watered for lack of sunlight. So far I can see 13 new heads ("new" as in 1 divided into 2 or 2 divided into 3), three of which are my own seedlings. Quite encouraging. Other mesembs are sort of hanging in there. I'm watering them but very very little.

Still there is one development worth mentioning. My Frithia pulchra's health has been in decline since summer: no new growth, drying out patches of leaves etc. I've noticed too late that it was basically lying on the substrate and didn't have any root system left. The whole root rotted away and as I was cleaning it from dead tissue the plant broke in two parts. I wasn't comfortable putting it back into soil and hoping the roots will grow back. Moreover I wanted to be able to check up on the development whenever I like. The result was the following paper towel based set-up. The cuttings have spent a couple of months tightly wrapped into paper and fixed on a plastic lid. I watered them by watering the paper wrap. 

Now, after the new roots have shown up I've potted them safely. Should be fine now. After all, spring is coming. :)

Repotting the Neohenricia (4 pics)

It was about time. My Neohenricia sibbettii, once so cute and tiny, has outgrown its pot a while ago, going overboard with its branches (in 15 months or so). Another sign that a plant desparately needs repotting is the fact that water doesn't go into the soil... which means there's no soil, only roots. 

After quite a lot of squeezing and shaking I've finally managed to get the plant out of the 5x5x5cm pot and yes, roots, roots everywhere. For a crawling mesemb you wouldn't expect it to grow large and deep root system but here it is.

After a procedure that only can be called "roots massage" I've removed the pumice and devided the plant into eight cuttings. I will only keep three of them so please feel free to email me if you want some of the others! :)

The result doesn't show much difference. Only that it stays within the pot borders (for now!) but the transplantation was surely good for it and refreshing for its root system.

Rabiea's revitalization. I want one, too! (3 pics)

It have been three weeks and I'm getting used to working "like an adult". :D Now waiting for the first paycheck! The work is completely new to me, I'm learning everything, a new profession basically, from scratch. Not much time for hobbies but I'm sure I'll get into the rhythm and figure it all out eventually. 

Recently I've repoted the Rabiea albipuncta to see how the roots are doing after a year (after all it has had some bug problems). I heard there might be thick roots but they look normal. Maybe it was a cutting? 

Anyway, this is how my pumice substrate looks like. The plant has grown a huge beard of roots in it over the last year, so I've trimmed it. Should do it good. Could trick it into thinking it got a bigger pot ;)

Delosperma seedlings get a bigger home

Remember my Delosperma seedlings (click to see their progress over the year)? Sown in April last year they have been growing in a small round 5x5x5 cm pot. This winter the rapid growing stopped and they've lost some of the old leaves. I understand it's winter and all but since I've no experience growing Delosperma I've decided to get them out of the pot and inspect the roots for bugs just in case. First I was baffled because I couldn't get them out but when I did the cause of troubles became apparent: The soil was mostly roots! Huge root system, tangled and all-consuming. I didn't expect that at all. The fairly compact plants above ground looked like they fit into a small pot perfectly. Well, now they will move to a bigger 7x7x11 cm square pot and will hopefully thrive again this year.

Frithia seedlings: another update

The cute little Frithia humilis seedlings are still looking good. :) I've discovered bugs in their substrate today and spontaneously decided to transplant. Just in case. These pictures were taken before and during the procedure.