steineckeana regeneration

My steineckeana seedlings change for the second time.

Because of the light color and pattern you actually almost miss the "regeneration". Sometimes you can barely see something 's changing until the thin dry hull of the old leaves becomes too small for the plant and gets a rip.

After that you can easily remove the hull if you like.

spring cleaning

Once the old leaves have dried up I take my time to remove them. Even though several layers of old leaves look  nice and natural, in cultivation those layers can lead to problems for instance providing hiding places for bugs you can't reach that easily if needed.

There are not many plants with rests of old leaves left by now.

C055 olivacea v. olivacea

lesliei 'Fred's Redhead' x C006A

C053 hookeri v. marginata

schwantesii

The schwantesii have gotten two-headed now and are growing nicely. This is the first year I'm growing lithops schwantesii and I really like the shape and the flat surface of these plants.

karasmontanas

There is some progress among the karasmontanas. The seeds are ripe and the new heads are growing quickly.

You can't see it on the photo but this plant is actually getting three-headed.

The top-reds are as pretty as always. I hope to see their flowers in the fall.

titanopsis seeds

I've tried to pollinate my two titanopsis calcarea plants this year and apparently it worked. Both have developed seed capsules with nice fat seeds inside. 

I'm very fond of these plants, their leaves look like they're made of tiny stones or sand grains. If watered too much this interesting property will fade resulting in long leaves with very indistinct surface texture. "Less water" is the secret of a compact "grainy" plant.

UPD: There were more than 150 seeds inside!

dorotheae

All the dorotheae plants are done or almost done with the change. One of the plants I got from Mr. Shimada even got two-headed this year. One of those I got from Kakteen-Haage hasn't survived though.

all dusty

All of the lesliei v. venteri I bought last year and the rest of the Ventergreens are getting two-headed.

C153

C047

C001

'Ventergreen' C001A

another seedlings report

Even though it was the best time to sow lithops in February I've decided to drop it. In fact I'm not going to sow any new plants this year.

This means my youngest seedlings aren't that young anymore and are growing quickly. Some of the Ventergreen seedlings have distinct patterns and a typical color already (hatched last April).

Lesliei ssp. burchellii (C308) sown in June are pushing each other out of their container.

Being the youngest (hatched in July) julii v. fulleri 'kōsōgyoku' have finally cast off their first leaves and show some color.

Lesliei 'Fred's Redhead' (one year old) have grown a bit too long but will surely correct themselves soon (the new leaves are coming)