Lithops and bugs (9 pics)

Spider mites and other annoying bugs are no strangers to my plants. Luckily, lithops can deal with bugs very well. Even if their epidermis has been damaged by mites or roots have been nibbled on by mealy bugs it is not tragic and they get over it quickly. Also, it "helps" to have other mesembs around as those seem to be softer and tastier. Too bad that those are much less tolerant to bugs and it is difficult to get rid of them on such plants as Trichodiadema or Delosperma or Anacampseros or any other branchy plant with lots of hiding places. The damage also stays for what feels like forever. Once damaged and the plant survived it there's no going back to being pretty. I am in the process of getting rid of all those tasty plants and focusing more on lithops and conophytums. At a certain point it is okay to admit defeat. 

But let's get back to lithops. If you notice that your plants don't absorb water when they clearly should be doing it (during the period of active growth) don't wait too long and check the roots. You will most certainly find mealies sitting there. Clean and wash the roots (it is ok to remove most of them in the process) and put the plant into fresh clean substrate. It will be as good as new shortly. New roots grow very quickly.

In case of mites (and similar biters), the result of their work is not as quickly removed. You do the same, clean and wash and transplant, but the damage will only go away with the next regeneration. But that's fine. Lithops growers are patient people. Even if you don't notice mites in time and the whole surface of the plant is damaged and covered in white dry shell the chances are still good that it will make it.

What happens is that the bugs start with the softer epidermis on the sides. Those parts are under ground and you might not notice anything at first. Keeping old leaves protects the plant to a certain extent but the bugs will find the spot above old leaves and beneath the top part. Once they are done with the sides they move up above ground. That's when you normally notice the damage done.

Some of my younger seedlings have been affected this year. All the sides and outer margins are damaged now. Some tops, too. See the typical white spots?

Hopefully next year it will be better for them. At least some of them are still looking pretty.

I have a great example of lithops that got over biting-bug damage in the past. I am very proud of them. The below are photos of the same plants, 7 years apart. I wrote about the damage here, here and here.

  

Transplanting in general (7 pics)

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

Transplanting some older seedlings (14 pics)

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.

Recent lithops seedlings (6 pics)

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. 

Anacampseros seedlings update (12 pics)

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).