Growing Lithops and Other Difficult Mesembs

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Aiko
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Re: Growing Lithops and Other Difficult Mesembs

Post by Aiko »

Are you sure these are old enough to flower already? They look young to me.
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Daedalux
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Re: Growing Lithops and Other Difficult Mesembs

Post by Daedalux »

Aiko wrote: Sat Oct 20, 2018 7:32 pm Are you sure these are old enough to flower already? They look young to me.
That is the main problem.. They were store bought and they came in that horrible peat mess, I repotted them ASAP in pure pumice (was that a good idea or should I repot them next year with a bit of plain dirt without peat? like 5%?)

I'm just going to give them a good soak in the end of October and let them be it seems, right? :)

Thanks!
keith
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Re: Growing Lithops and Other Difficult Mesembs

Post by keith »

"should I repot them next year with a bit of plain dirt without peat? like 5%?)"

That's what I do but more like 25% sandy dirt, and I think they are too small to flower yet. Next year for sure. I have stopped watering mine except for some weeks old seedlings.
Jude
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Re: Growing Lithops and Other Difficult Mesembs

Post by Jude »

this is very very helpful, thanks :)
dwood5513
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Re: Growing Lithops and Other Difficult Mesembs

Post by dwood5513 »

wooleya farinosa
can't find any info online except general location (coastal areas?). i don't know what this could mean except maybe shallower watering (?).
any pointers to growing this would be appreciated.
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C And D
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Re: Growing Lithops and Other Difficult Mesembs

Post by C And D »

Wooleya farinose would fall into the Winter growing mesemb group.

I have been growing them for years, very pretty at times.
I water them almost year round, but they seem to be in growth mainly in the Spring.
Any lean soil mix will work.
I replanted my old plants last year and the roots were so thick that I just decided to top the heads off and reroot them.

I got some seeds from it one year for some reason, maybe they are self fertile?
Maybe I get seeds every year and just don't notice them??

I threw them in the garden and they grew nicely, so now I have several clones.
Check out our plant and seed lists
http://www.CandDplants.com

Craig and Denise Fry
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C And D
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Re: Growing Lithops and Other Difficult Mesembs

Post by C And D »

Photo from Succulentguide.com
w_farinosa_a_600.jpg
w_farinosa_a_600.jpg (52.36 KiB) Viewed 19313 times
Photo of seedlings in garden
IMG_8017.jpg
IMG_8017.jpg (125.58 KiB) Viewed 19284 times
Last edited by C And D on Fri Feb 15, 2019 4:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Check out our plant and seed lists
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Aiko
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Re: Growing Lithops and Other Difficult Mesembs

Post by Aiko »

dwood5513 wrote: Thu Feb 14, 2019 6:03 pm wooleya farinosa
can't find any info online except general location (coastal areas?). i don't know what this could mean except maybe shallower watering (?).
any pointers to growing this would be appreciated.
This little bit of information from the pen of Steven Hammer might help a bit: http://www.vivante-passerelle.net/index ... ya-en-gb-2
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C And D
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Re: Growing Lithops and Other Difficult Mesembs

Post by C And D »

Growing Mesembs from seeds is Easy!!!
just toss seeds into garden
water everyday
and then....
IMG_5482a.jpg
IMG_5482a.jpg (128.36 KiB) Viewed 19283 times
IMG_1485a.JPG
IMG_1485a.JPG (140.49 KiB) Viewed 19283 times
maybe not so easy after all...
even if you live in Southern California
The garden has about 20% of that going on these days, maybe the soil has turned
Check out our plant and seed lists
http://www.CandDplants.com

Craig and Denise Fry
dwood5513
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Re: Growing Lithops and Other Difficult Mesembs

Post by dwood5513 »

C And D wrote: Thu Feb 14, 2019 6:24 pm Photo from Succulentguide.com
w_farinosa_a_600.jpg

Photo of seedlings in garden
IMG_8017.jpg
wow cool! btw i tried your acid bath on some opuntia and got success! great idea.
dwood5513
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Re: Growing Lithops and Other Difficult Mesembs

Post by dwood5513 »

Aiko wrote: Thu Feb 14, 2019 6:47 pm
dwood5513 wrote: Thu Feb 14, 2019 6:03 pm wooleya farinosa
can't find any info online except general location (coastal areas?). i don't know what this could mean except maybe shallower watering (?).
any pointers to growing this would be appreciated.
This little bit of information from the pen of Steven Hammer might help a bit: http://www.vivante-passerelle.net/index ... ya-en-gb-2
thanks. i just discovered this site recently. really helpful stuff. wish hammer's books were cheaper.
dwood5513
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Re: Growing Lithops and Other Difficult Mesembs

Post by dwood5513 »

C And D wrote: Fri Feb 15, 2019 4:50 pm Growing Mesembs from seeds is Easy!!!
just toss seeds into garden
water everyday
and then....
IMG_5482a.jpg
IMG_1485a.JPG

maybe not so easy after all...
even if you live in Southern California
The garden has about 20% of that going on these days, maybe the soil has turned
wish i could do that. in oregon these would turn into piles of mush by october. i may still try it experimentally.
MadHoney
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Re: Growing Lithops and Other Difficult Mesembs

Post by MadHoney »

Speaking of mush... I live in the Tampa Bay area on the west coast of Florida and my issue is that my plants melt overnight even when I haven't watered AT ALL in weeks. My mix has zero soil and mostly made of chicken grit and perlite in the bottom half of the pot with aquarium gravel and/or rocks in the top half. I’m dealing with plants purchased from big box home improvement stores this season and working on acclimating them back into the sun, I know that will help. Any tips for keeping them alive until then? I lost all but two lithops last season, they both finally started to split showing new life inside then a darn raccoon stole one last month. I was heartbroken so like any crazy plant addict, I went on buying rampage so now I have a bench full of plants that I would very much like to keep alive!

Just the basics, nothing fancy here:)
Aloinoposis schoonesii
Aloinoposis rubolineata
Aloinoposis luckhoffii
Aloinoposis malherbei
Braunsia maximilliani
Faucaria tigrina & variegata
Pleiospilos nelii & royal flush
“Stomata species” (Stomatium agninum?)

Any input would be greatly appreciated, I’ve admired so many beautiful “rocks” here!
CephaloSquad
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Re: Growing Lithops and Other Difficult Mesembs

Post by CephaloSquad »

This is a great guide thank you! I'm further up in NorCal but the weather in the summer especially is similar enough. I accidentally killed my first lithops this past December when I watered in the winter...I misunderstood the cycle, and thought wrinkles on the side meant "thirsty." After that I re-read my information about the lithops growth cycle, and this guide adds a little more detail and confirms what I read before. It's also well written. Now I have 8 more lithops, I'll be referencing this guide to make sure they stay alive.
Miki J.
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Re: Growing Lithops and Other Difficult Mesembs

Post by Miki J. »

C And D wrote: Thu Nov 14, 2013 4:18 pm You can transplant them now.
Just don't water them until next Spring, they should be fine.

Pot of Lithops otzeniana
IMG_2833.jpg


Lithops Table in October this Year
IMG_2823.jpg
Wow I can see on your already crazy Lithops table some large grown Pseudolithos. Awesome !
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