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 :)

Mites and darkness (9 pics)

It has not been the best year for succulent growers in my area. It has not been cold in winter, it has not been hot in summer. It has been just dark and gloomy all year. When sunny days are rare it means there is not much watering. If waterings are rare there's not much growing. Except for spider mites. Those grow nicely when it's dry. At some point I moved Delospermas outside (those are the most tasty) which improved the situation. But I still find mites on my plants occasionally (and kill them on site with my bare hands) and the damage is visible: nibbled leaves, weakened plants. I hope next year is sunnier and better all in all and the plants can recover.

My favorite and oh so perfect Frithias I was so proud of look like this now. It takes them so long to grow those leaves. Much time will pass until they've outgrown the bite marks. Assumed the attack is over. And yes, I've been spraying a lot which has contributed to the damage on some plants I think.

But Aloinopsis got the most of it. The below two are goners.

This one might recover (very big might) but judging by the size of the newest leaves it is extremely weakened by the overall conditions last year. Maybe I should stop growing Aloinopsis all together or just keep a couple of plants as mite-distraction.

The Antimima pumila started very well and then got bitten. I think it will recover though, after the next resting period. It's a bit elongated, too...

Same as these Titanopsis seedlings. Bugs plus spray plus sudden sunlight equals burn marks in addition to everything else. They should be fine with the new leaves coming. But it pains me to see them so ugly.

I know I might be exaggerating. After all it's just a couple of plants that are beyond saving, out of hundreds. But the lack of sunlight is visible to me in all the green-ness everywhere.

Sure, this cute Titanopsis calcarea is growing flowers (thank you planty!) and I did my best to keep it compact through this dark dark year but the green color says it all. 

PS: Sorry for the dusty pics.

PPS: This got too depressing. I'll be posting about my feel-good plants Anacampseros next :)

Titamopsis primosii: first flower (3 pics)

Before I write a post on all the showy Delosperma flowers from my balcony I wanted to show you this one which is much more special to me. I grew this Titanopsis primosii from seed and am now very proud it has managed to grow such a large and beautiful flower. Or to bloom at all. The plant itself is quite tiny and I really wonder where it got the strength. After all, my grown up Titanopsis promisii have never ever flowered for me. 

It has been flowering for a week now but I couldn't see it as it only opened for a short time in the afternoon. Yesterday I could finally arrange a photo session with this beauty.

Much anticipated flower

I have something to be excited about these days. This is my own Titanopsis primosii seedling :)

Titanopsis calcarea: First flower (2 pics)

So, looks like I've raised this one to adulthood :)

There was a flower on another seedling of this bunch but I either missed it or it never opened so I'll consider this one as the first. It seems like a miracle! I've grown it from a seed collected from my own plant and now it's flowering!

You can see these Titanopsis calcarea plants as newborns, nearly newborns, 2-month-olds, 3-month-olds, 15-month-olds here in the blog. They hatched in May 2013.

Risks of a conditions change (3 pics)

When I first moved to my new place I was pretty worried the new conditions would not be sufficient for my plants. I expected losses and some of them indeed died, although those were not feeling well for a while before the move and I can not tell for sure what exactly tipped them over the edge. All things considered, the conditions change was good for them. I think they get more sunlight here and more fresh air and I'm confident the baby plants that'll hatch here will grow better. Surprisingly Adenium trees simply love it here! I've never seen them with that many leaves of such a size before now.

To the plants that took this change hard unfortunately belong my previously so beautiful Titanopsis calcarea. The seedling have lost their pretty looks and are still struggling. The strongest and biggest plant seems okay: it started to grow new leaves and I have hope it will feel much better with time. I don't know about the other three seedlings. Two of them don't even try to grow. They don't die either, so that's good at least. But the saddest thing is their mother plant I was so proud of. It has dried up within a week after the move. All those pretty leaves just gone! As I was about to send it to the compost pile plant heaven it suddenly started to grow again. Maybe it will survive and regain its former glory but even if it does it will take years.

Titanopsis calcarea kids

My Titanopsis calcarea seedlings are now 15 months old and branching out. The leaf texture and the overall appearance are everything I hoped for ♡
What makes them even more special to me is that they're the result of my own pollination :)

Titanopsis primosii seedlings

These Titanopsis primosii seedlings are one year old now and one of them is starting to develop side shoots. I'll have to repot them soon. In fact, all of the last year's mesemb seedlings are in need of transplantation... 

Side-branch compilation (6 pics)

I'm always excited when my plants develop side shoots, doesn't matter if this is a new lithops head or a new branch on other mesembs. While with some plants it happens a lot and is almost overwhelming with my limited space (Rhinephyllum and Stomatium are going crazy) in the normal case, for me, is it is quite rare. Therefore I'm always on the look-out for new side shoots and when I find one it absolutely makes my day, if not week :D

I've shown you this Aloinopsis malherbei over on twitter before. Here it is again, 10 months old and growing a "secondary" set of leaves.

Here is a Prepodesma. Lately I've reduced watering to bring out the tan (photos soon).

Rabiea expanding.

Not a mesemb but there's a whole line of new growth along its side. I'm waiting for the flowers to develop :)

Younger Titanopsis primosii is also getting more bushy.

My older plant is already a "tree" and the color is amazing!

Titanopsis seedlings today (4 pics)

My Titanopsis calcarea seedlings are almost one year old (sown 1st of May 2013) and look at this beauty! Perfect shape, perfect color, perfect warts - love it! ♡ 

But not every seedling had a chance to grow just as perfectly as the one above. Two of them had some difficulties during the winter and messed up the growing point, the spot where the new growth starts in the middle of the rosette. All the plants give up on some growing-points now and then and just use another (like a side branch) to continue. It is just a bit tricky if it only has one. I'm not sure what exactly goes wrong in these cases. The seedling below had a pair of really strange crippled leaves that didn't want to grow and then grew into weird shapes (trauma at a very early stage like an insect bite?). Luckily the seedling is healthy and strong and didn't want to wait until that growing point sorts itself out. It just grew a side branch and the new grows is healthy and well-shaped. By now I already can see new healthy leaves coming out of the messed up rosette as well.

The seedling below has just completely dried off the main growing point and focused on the side branch. A less strong plant would just give up all together as we probably all have sadly experienced. With these seedlings I'm pretty confident that they will be fine.

Just like their parent :)

More mesemb seedlings (3 pics)

Sown in August these Aloinopsis seedlings looked weak and grew extremely slowly for such a long time. Now something triggered the new growth (sudden increase in sunlight? ;) ) and you can see how happy they are. New leaves, more texture, even the first "teeth"! 

Below some random seedlings mess you can find on my windowsill... XD

(Titanopsis primosii and Stomatium alboroseum 'rubrum', which has nothing rubrum to it)

A cute titanopsis flower (2 pics)

A little drop of sunlight on the windowsill :)

Here a size comparison. I have more A. rubrolineata pictures. Would it be an overkill to post them? XD The flower is so big and pretty *__*

Titanopsis almost ready to shine

Btw, one of my Titanopsis calcarea plants is growing a flower, too. Let's see how it goes. With my plants I never know if they'll change their mind at the last minute ;)

T. calcarea seedlings roots check (4 pics)

These Titanopsis calcarea seedlings are now almost 3 months old. Even though they are so young they already have several leaves and the leaf surface is just as nicely textured as the adults. The roots are of an appropriate size compared to the plant size. After the inspection I've planted them more evenly in the pot and can now only hope they don't hold the dig-up against me.

They spend their whole days in the full sun but, compared to Stomatiums, rarely look thirsty. I like that.