Rabiea and Frithia seedlings (2 pics)

Time to update you on some of the seedlings. Rabiea albipuncta are now 6 months old and look much more mature than only 2 months ago. Glad to see that a couple of them still show the distinct red leaf tips.

They are currently having seven-month-old Frithia pulchra kids as neighbors. It is supposed to be a red (or redder) flowering variety but since Frithias never flower for me it's only theoretically different from the other Frithia pulchra plants I own.

PS: I really need to take some lithops pictures. I can't seem to be able to take any good ones lately...

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!

Rabiea albipuncta seedlings (2 pics)

The Rabiea albipuncta seedlings are now 4 months old and growing second pairs of true leaves. When the leaves first appeared they looked like thin blades. Now they are quite succulent.

My older plant is also doing well as far as I can tell. It dried off some older leaves (the ones that were damaged two years ago) showing woody branches and got me worried for a bit it doesn't look bad and all the new growth looks fat and healthy. 

Btw, I'm puzzled at the name. Neither my old plant nor the seedlings show any sign of white dots of some sort. Maybe with some imagination... 

Rabiea seedlings

Sorry, I couldn't focus the camera properly, the seelings are tiny. But I also couldn't wait until they are bigger to show them to you because of so much cuteness! Adorable ♥

Tiny flames~
Sown in November 2013

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 ;)

Getting better: Rabiea albipuncta

Continuing my previous post about a Frithia getting in shape I'd like to talk about plants that were struggling through really bad times but are now staring to feel better, probably because it coincides with how I feel. 

Last summer my Rabiea was badly bitten by mites and I was too quick using an anti-bug spray instead of just washing it. Awful cold burns and many damaged leaves were the result. You know that damaged leaves on a Rabiea sadly mean scars for a very long time. It took the plant several months to start growing new leaves again and now, almost a year later, it finally looks fresh and healthy. You can still see some scaring here and there but it makes the new green even more beautiful, I think.

It's too big for the 5x5 pot (and I'm very curious to see the roots) but I need to save space. Also, it might not be that happy to be disturbed at this point.

Rabiea is taking over

The Rabiea albipuncta is really expanding in all directions. In its winter state it could still fit inside the borders of the pot, now it's all over the place. :)

I love how it makes my "garden" greener and livelier. An explosion  amidst all those well-hehaved plants. :)

Rabiea albipuncta

This winter I got a most wonderful Birthday present - two new succulent plants. What else could you wish for? :) One of them is a big Crassula rupestris of which I still have to take a nice picture. The other is a Rabiea albipuncta. It had flowers when I first got it and is now growing very fast. I'm not sure about the proper care yet but will probably find out with time. 

The leaves have a very nice dotty texture. And the dots are see-through!