Baby toes ID and care

[iann]

Top dressing reduces evaporation. Beginners who rely on evaporation get water out of their soil will struggle if they suddenly add a top dressing. Rather than blame the top dressing, consider whether the soil simply holds too much water, whether the plant is overpotted and has more soil than its roots can deal with, or simply whether it needed to be watered in the first place. Long term, relying on evaporation with or without a top dressing will give you problems.

[david90531]

Thanks for the comments, learn something all the time. But so far my top dressing rocks haven't given me much problems. They do hold on to water a bit more but because of the climate here in Canada my soil still dries out quite fast, especially with central AC plus my timer fan, so far I haven't rotted anything yet. Hopefully it stays that way.
But I do find that some rocks will hold on to moisture more than others. Basically if you want the top dressing rocks to be dried out faster make sure you pick something that's less smooth and more acutely shaped.

[Astro]

Here are a few 2-year-old F. humilis/minima seedlings showing their first flowers. There are three or four plants in this one 2.5" pot (only two in flower right now). As you can see from the picture, one plant has pure white flowers while the other has hints of pink (not sure if this is part of the natural color variation or an indication that there is an F. pulchra in its ancestry).

Frithia humilis

DSCF6758.JPG (58.18 KiB) Viewed 1167 times

[david90531]

So pretty! I love Frithias too, definitely a nice variation from the Fenestraria. I have a feeling that I won't see a flower from my Fenestraria this year, but you never know!

[iann]

Fenestrarias flower in cool weather. This is a good time for the to start putting out buds, or maybe another month or two in hot climates. Then any time until spring. I've had flowers in June, but they were from buds that formed early in spring.

Frithias flower in hot weather My F. pulchra plants are nearly finished, F. humilis just beginning. The flowers are commonly pale pink, but I don't think it is a sign of hybridisation. Despite getting lumped into one species they don't seem to cross readily.

[david90531]

I see, that's good to know! It's been pretty chilly here...this is not a hot summer for Canada, at all. Average temp is 13-25 Celsius.

[iann]

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