Lithops News

All the lithops are growing, I think the move and sudden change in weather threw them off. On the plus side they are all at the same stage in growth now and should sync up with the seasons well.

A small Lithops collection

Lithops  lesliei doubling. No flower though, wrong time of the year for it anyway.

Lithops  lesliei

Faucaria felina, also apparently doubling one of it's heads.Reminds me of those stylized evil robot hands from the 1950's.

Faucaria felina

A Few Losses and a Few Gained

Happy Holidays! I hope everyone at least gets to enjoy some time off from work or school, whatever you celebrate or even if you don't celebrate anything. I noticed my view count jump up, so maybe if you are on the internet, hiding from your family, you might appreciate something new to read ;)

So, the move wasn't entirely without it's losses. Unfortunately it was the succulents that decided they weren't so thrilled with the Florida weather. To be fair it was the ones that had gone into their winter-almost-no-growth-at-all life cycle already before the move. I think the sudden influx of humidity and rain they got when I didn't take them inside right away is what did them in. Hey, I've been extraordinarily busy, ok? Things should settle down in the next month or so and I can be on top of everything again.

Lost:

• Frithia pulchra - Real upset about this one, it was one of my favorites.

• Aloinopsis luckhoffii - Meh, I liked it and plan on replacing it at some point, but it wasn't the nicest or most exciting as far as Aloinopsis/Titanopsis go.

Gained:

• Lithops NOID - Cute as hell, love the colors on these. I figured it would be worth a shot seeing as how I can do Lithops apparently. I think I understand when not to water and when to watch they don't overheat or burn. I may have to change the media and pots they're in with such different growing conditions but I have more research to do 1st.

• Aloinopsis schooneesii -Love, love, love it, so excited I found one. Have you seen the way some people have turned these into mini bonsai?!?! Just Google Images the plant name, you won't regret spending the 30 seconds. Now I just have to figure out how to make mine do that.

An excuse to buy a few more cheap little succulents is almost never bad, with the one exception of death. Seriously those two succulents melted in a matter of days. I haven't killed anything in a looooong time, so I guess I was due. I will try to replace that Frithia asap. It had the sweetest little purple flower that I will miss too much not to have around. I would like to have a better collection of weird succulents, but I'm just not so sure I want to deal with Conophytum or any other more difficult mesembs just yet. It's pretty darn humid here year round, not ideal for stuff that needs a dry winter or summer rest. Fingers crossed I can keep the rest of what I have by adjusting my conditions where I can. I'll have to scale back on my watering, and repot into a grittier mix.

Faucaria felina blooming

Faucarias are fall bloomers and luckily all my Faucaria had set buds while they were outside this fall. Last week I took everything inside as there was a surprise overnight frost a few days ago. I'm still getting everything organized and setting up racks and lights for everything's winter homes as although there's been no more frost, it's too cold to bother taking everything back out and then in again.

Faucaria felina finally bloomed though, even with the slightly warmer inside temperatures.

We got creative and set the blooming/about to bloom succulents against a window to stay on the cool side while I get the succulent's winter spot ready for them.

Faucaria felina ssp. tuberculosa, unidentified Lithops, and Faucaria felina (left to right)

Still waiting on Faucaria felina ssp. tuberculosa, plus there's another 2 buds on the other felina heads that should open within the next week or so too.

The Stapelia and Lithops Flowers Opened Today!

I was out all day today, but remembered to text my husband to take a picture of the unidentified Lithops flower when he got home from work, because I was sure it would be open today. I'll be gone all day for the next two days too, so if the Faucaria opens, I'll make sure he gets us some pictures of that too.

NOID Lithops flower, a little chewed.

To my surprise, the Stapelia had opened as well today. He thought I meant take pictures of the Stapelia, (which is why there's only 1 shot of the Lithops flower,) as I had texted him the generic, "please can you take pictures of the succulent on the front stoop, a little one in the front should have a flower open today." He doesn't know the names of anything so talking about a Lithops wouldn't have made a difference. When I got home I found out he had been waiting for the Stapelia flower to open for as long as I have. Fascinated by how big it was getting, he was excited to take pictures of it and took about 50. When I got home he insisted on showing me the pictures he took right away, because the flower looked like "hairy skin."

So without further ado, some of the Stapelia photos my husband also took today:

Opening!

Flower color in natural light. Husbands thumb for size reference

Strange, it only has four petals!

A little Macro shot for you

Cat inspection! Or in our house, this happens so often we've shortened it to "Catspection."

So, thanks for waiting patiently with me for pictures of the Stapelia. Now clearly I was off and it's not S. gigantea. I'm thinking it S. grandiflora, (or a hybrid?). If anyone can confirm or deny, I'd appreciate it. I'll take some more pictures when it's fully opened when I'm home on Monday, or maybe I'll let him seeing as how now I know he gets excited about taking pictures of the flowers. Oh, and no smell yet, I'll report back about that too.

Succulents doing things

Looks like I should have some blooms soon. Although it's been a slow month with the cooler weather setting in, the fall bloomers are getting ready to go.

This little unidentified Lithops below will hopefully bloom soon, at least from one of the heads. This one I've had the longest, 2 years, but will be the 1st bloom for me. If anyone has an ID for this guy, I'd appreciate it. Also, I know it needs a repot. Growing mesembs is not my thing and I'm still in learning mode. I've been too hesitant to mess with it. I'll repot it after it flowers though for sure.

NOID Lithops

Next there's one of my Faucaria felina ssp. tuberculosa. A knowledgeable reader re-identified this one for me as it was purchased under the label Faucaria tigrina. I'm becoming increasingly convinced it's felina ssp. tuberculosa.It's got some weird growths that I'm hoping will be blooms. It should certainly be old/mature enough by now to bloom.

Faucaria felina ssp. tuberculosa

 Then there's my standard form Faucaria felina. Also making the same growths, (top and lower left heads,) and is about the same age as the ssp. tuberculosa.

Faucaria felina

And lastly how long do I have to wait for this Stapelia to bloom!!! I can't handle this plant right now. If I could stop checking on it I would. Why can't I like fast growing easy blooming plants like normal gardeners?

NOID Stapelia

The bud is bigger, and seeing as how it's still not ready to open I'd put money on it being a S. gigantea or something similar.

Gibbaeum dispar

I traded some extras and got this cute succulent about a month ago. People have remarked that it looks like either tiny hearts or tiny butts, either way I guess both are cute? The genus name Gibbaeum comes from the Latin "gibbosus" or in English, "hunchback." Eh, I think my friends are more creative.

It does have a nice texture. It's hard not to touch it when I am watering my plants. Very soft and fuzzy. I haven't had this one very long, so I'll be watching it. Everything is easier to care for once they're growth habits are memorized. I hate guessing on when to water certain more picky succulents. I still am unsure when it comes to watering more difficult mesembs, haven't quite got it down yet. This one is supposed to be active and flowering through spring, it hasn't done more than work on the new sets of leaves for me, so I guess that's normal.

It isn't dying though, so I guess I'm keeping it happy. If any succulent fans have any suggestions or specific to this species cultivation advice, please let me know in the comments.

Faucaria tigrina

I wish Faucaria were more popular, I had no idea the genus even existed for the first few years I was growing succulents. I started taking the offsets from my plants to share with other people, everyone who likes succulents should have one of these. They look like tiny little toothy jaws, almost as if they were a carnivorous succulent. In fact, "Faucaria" is from the latin "fauces" meanin  "jaws" or "animal mouth." Sometimes the taxonomists are dead on. It should be pretty obvious why I like them at least.

Faucaria tigrina clump and an offset I divided.

Faucaria tigrina is from the Eastern Cape Province, Albany in South Africa. They are fall/winter bloomers, but still need full sun to open. They can go dormant during spring/summer, so I stop watering if they stop growing. These should be watered when dry throughout the rest of the year. I found that even if they go dormant, accidentally watering before you realize they're dormant won't rot them, so they're tougher than some other mesembs when it comes to rot sensitivity. I've seen some places on the internet report that they won't go dormant at all if you continue to water them year round, so there's always that too.

I haven't had any problems growing them in full sun (6+ hours a day) here, but I wouldn't recommend it for people growing closer to the equator during the hottest summer months. The leaves get a reddish hue to them in the summer, which is pretty, but no burning. Although these are stemless and usually grow in mats, over time they can form woody stems and develop some height too. I haven't seen one large enough to do this, so maybe if you grow the same plant and never divide it for 10+ years you might see some stem action.

Aloinopsis, Frithia, and some Sedum blooms

Aloinopsis luckhoffii, a native South African succulent forms these little rosettes and stays on the small side. Perfect for growing here. Everywhere I read says it's supposed to bloom in the spring. It did bloom in April, with only one flower. The end of June here is most certainly considered summer, but I won't complain about another three blooms along with a decent amount of new growth.

A little rained on by the time I got to try and take a decent picture.
I like how the buds are camouflaged to look like the leaves when closed, neat!

x3

I was surprised to find a Frithia pulchra locally in the very beginning of spring. Normally it would be buried a bit deeper in soil and use the "windows" at it's leaf tips to collect light. However, I potted it a bit high because I can get away with that here. Rot is my main worry, not burning or dehydration. Plus one of this plant's redeeming values is that the leaves turn purple in high light.

Frithia pulchra this spring

Cute!

These Sedums aren't mine, but I did grow up with them. I was at my father's house recently and was just in time for the start of the blooms. They've been growing on a rock wall on his property (zone 6b) for almost as long as I can remember. Sedums make excellent ground-cover plants. These stay green in winter, are hardy enough to freeze (for much longer periods of time than most succulents,) can live in full sun to part shade, and they bloom easily. There are so many Sedum species, hybrids, and cultivars that I couldn't hope to tell you the ID's of these, just wanted to share some pretty pictures.

Pink Sedum flowers

Yellow Sedum flowers

Now I'm off to a barbeque, hope you have a Happy 4th USA readers, and hope you have an awesome day to readers everywhere else.