Friday 21 September 2012

7. Progress Pictures

These are just some recent pictures, a state of the nation update from the Lithops patch.





A reddish maroon L. aucampiae from Francois Hoes.


L. gracilidelineata
L. julii from Francois Hoes. Two are reminiscent of that kiku... whatsa name sort.



L. julii with nice reticulated pattern.


L. karasmontana from Francois Hoes
L. karasmontana from Francois Hoes



L. karasmontana from Francois Hoes



L. lesliei. A purplish one too – yipee! Frieda’s purple rinse?
L. salicola. A wine god red one from Francois Hoes.



Adult of mysterious parentage from garden centre. L. aucampiae me thinks.

Also of suspicious lineage. I think L. lesliei.  It has very faint peachy undertones. Interesting.
L. karasmontana. Nice reddish ones from Francois Hoes.

9 comments:

  1. Ooh la la! A feast for Lithops fans eyes. They look magnificent Paddarotti! The reddish maroon L. aucampiae & Bacchus look divine, and I've always liked the reddish L. karasmontana very much. Congrats!! :)

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  2. Very nice. They are all looking gorgeous!

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  3. Have you sowed any new Lithops seeds lately? My latest experiment ended not so successfully, after returning from a week away; my own fault. Anyhow, also, would you believe that I've killed all of my Spanish moss & other Tillandsia plants? I think I accidentally drowned them. Peace brother! :o)

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    1. Oh dear... sorry to hear Lithopsland is suffering a declining population :( What was the experiment?

      I think Tillandsias like a good watering 2 or 3 times a week - a good spraying so that the water runs off, but then they must be able to dry out. Soaking them in water is unnecessary. They also have microscopic hairs (trichomes) on their surface which help them to take up water. I don't think it's ideal for them to be kept constantly wet or misted. I think handling them constantly could also damage the hairs on their surface. Best is to put them somewhere where they get good light and where they have adequate temperature & ventilation so that they can be given a good spraying / drench and 2 - 3 times a week, while being able to dry off in a couple a hours.

      Lithops should really be able to fend for themselves if left for a week. If they require 24 hour care I'd say the conditions are just too far from optimal. Try to keep in mind that they are arguably the lowest maintenance plants in the plant kingdom with the possibile exception of pond slime ;-) Can you post some pictures of your growing environment on the LL blog so that we can see the growing setup. Is it on your balcony? Inside? On a window sill? One really shouldn't have to suffer the trauma of all these fatalities... :-)

      Yip, there are quite a few new faces in the seed bed. I'll try do an update soon. But soooo many of them are at the awkward stage where they've just done the first costume change and are showing tantalizing details of what might be to come, but it's not easy to catch that with my fairly basic camera. I've also noticed that they really do undergo major changes from seedling to adult and that some very promising looking things suddenly go rather bland as they reach full size. Fortunately the opposite happens as often. Will try post a couple of pics soon....
      :-)

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  5. Hi! Just found your blog and it is wonderful! I am about to sow lithops seeds and as I am completely new to it, the information you provide is like heaven :)

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  6. Hi! Just found your blog and it is wonderful! I am about to sow lithops seeds and as I am completely new to it, the information you provide is like heaven :)

    ReplyDelete