Both Gibbaeum dispar and Rhinephyllum muirii seelings are now 7 months old. What a difference in size! Nothing out of the ordinarily though. Still, I didn't expect Rhinephyllum to develop side branches so quickly (there are 2 seedlings). A nice surprise :) Gibbaeum are slow but steady.
I'm not too familiar with Rhinephyllum muirii, except that it apparently has a fleshy caudex or swollen root stock and attractive leaves with a blunt apex and small whitish tubercles. Your seedlings are certainly cute. I've read mixed reports about whether to grow it as a summer or winter mesemb. Hammer suggest growing it as a spring and summer grower but tolerates water at all times of year. This would indicate to me that it grows whenever water is available, and I would suggest matching the primary watering period with the best sunlight period.
ReplyDeleteAh, the Gibbaeums are always interesting, the typical mesemb - little round plant gems of the Little Karoo and Western Cape Province. I tried growing G. pilosulum once because it reminded me of Muiria. Your G. dispar seedlings look great. Once mature Gibbaeums can handle very dry conditions, and, if you water too much they like to crack and split open. I believe you have the kind of watering discipline to handle them, but your light situation will be your most difficult challenge with Gibbaeum. But, you have a way of dealing with your less than optimum light conditions that is quite remarkable, so it will be interesting to see how these little grey green "fish mouth mesembs" grow for you. What an exciting collection of small South African succulents are are putting together in a small apartment window. Quite remarkable.
The reason I wanted to grow Rhinephyllum was the Rhinephyllum on the cover of this book: http://www.cactusbookstore.com/images/court.jpg ;)
DeleteR. muirii should have slightly tanned round leaves when well-grown. My seedlings have long green leaves at the moment but I'll be working on their idial, more compect form once they've survived to relative adulthood. Now I'm just glad they're growing quickly and branch out :) That should be the foundation stone.
Thank you for your advise. Sounds reasonable. :) Once they are bigger I'll try to get them accustomed to a watering schedule according to the best sunlight availability
I've just experiences the splitting of a Gibbaeum. The very first leaves of the plants on the photo have burst from too much water. Nothing dramatic but I'll need to keep this in mind... Even though they are small seedlings overwatering is no good for them...
Btw, are grown G. geminum allowed to keep several pairs of leaves at the same time? I've noticed that my younger plants never dried up any old leaves but keep growing new ones. The older plant is drying up the old leaves as soon as the new ones are big enough... I haven't had it for that long for it to be a accurate observation but I'm still curious which growth pattern is more appropriate and should be aspired to.
The plants in question are these: http://lithops-stories.blogspot.de/2014/03/new-arrivals-gibbaeum-argyroderma-and.html Maybe you can help me :)
I was able to sit in the garden last weekend and pot up seedlings. Now I must work out where to put them. I enjoy seeing the photos of your seedlings looking so good.
ReplyDeleteThank you Alain. I fully understand. :) Transplanting seedlings is so much fun - looking for a place to put them less so...
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