Lithops - repot or wait

hablu · Post by **hablu** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 11:28 am

Shall I repot before or after wintertime? I like your opinion. Seedlings from 2005.(And two forgotten Pleiospilos'. Harry

templegatejohn · Post by **templegatejohn** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 1:14 pm

Hi Harry, personally I would leave them as they are. I have seen Lithops seedlings that have become so tightly packed that they were bending the sides of the seed tray and they have never come to any harm. Unless you want to do it for your own reasons, space etc. I would leave them.

John

iann · Post by **iann** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 8:10 pm

They look OK, there is still a little space around each plant. Make sure they get some dilute fertiliser during the autumn so they aren't starving eachother. Once they have no more room at all then they will stop growing, so I'd prick them all out in the spring. I take it you don't want to just store them at this size and would rather they grow

templegatejohn · Post by **templegatejohn** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 10:28 am

Hi Harry, unless you are pretty sure of what you are doing with Lithops I would not let them get to this stage, but you can see that they do not come to any harm as long as they are always kept reasonably dry.

The green ones second from the right at the top are Jackson's Jade, which is quite expensive at the moment. They should really have been potted up singly.

You really just get a feel of when they need some water, but an indication is when the side of the plant, not the top begins to wrinkle, this is also an indication that they have had too much sun. Lithops with basically take as much sun as you can give them, but they must have a constant flow of air around them, or they literally boil because of the high liquid content within them.

Iann's idea of a late feed is a good idea, particularly if they have been in the same compost for some time.

John

John

hablu · Post by **hablu** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 10:34 am

Wow, incredible. Do you leave them like that or repot them all eventually? Are they getting mature enough to flower if you keep them that tight? Harry

templegatejohn · Post by **templegatejohn** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 11:09 am

Yes, they will become mature enough to flower if kept close together. I find that Lithops will usually flower in their third year from seed, although like everything else there are exceptions.

Just been in the greenhouse and took this. it is a particularly nice Lithops otzeniana. It has just flowered at 3 years old. This is two plants, not a double headed one.

John

hablu · Post by **hablu** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 1:07 pm

And it is beautiful!! The color is perfect!! Harry

perrycornish · Post by **perrycornish** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 3:32 pm

John that Lithops otzeniana, is very lovely and looks extremely healthy. I too have benefited from this thread as I'm not sure on Lithops care and have a few

iann · Post by **iann** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 1:01 pm

Is that Aquamarine, John? My species L. otzeniana lose all pretense of being green in the summer.

templegatejohn · Post by **templegatejohn** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 2:37 pm

Yes, it is iann. It's a super plant.

John

iann · Post by **iann** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 4:52 pm

I think I'll pop 'Aquamarine' on the list, it's been on my radar for a couple of years but never quite managed to get round to buying it.

Spikey1007 · Post by **Spikey1007** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 7:06 pm

I didn't want to make another topic so i will post here. I put my one and only lithop in the green house yesterday and today i saw the edges of my lithop were wrinkled i have to say the green house gets very hot (if you put a ice cube on the metal shelf it melts in about 15 seconds so i gave it some water and brought it in and put it back ontop of my pc did i make the right decision?

Buck Hemenway · Post by **Buck Hemenway** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 10:04 pm

Spikey, I'm no lithops expert, but the ones that I have live well in a green house that reaches more than 45 deg C every day for three months or more. In that period I water them almost every day. They really want the sun and should not mind the heat once you get them a little used to it.

iann · Post by **iann** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 10:33 pm

Lithops love all the sun you can throw at them in Kent. Lithops are prone to overheating. That might sound contradictory but Lithops can't cool down, they are basically stuck at the temperature of the soil. A pot in the sun can get very hot. Your metal shelf could be a problem if it is that hot. Dark pots heat up faster. Small Lithops heat up faster. Pots surrounded by other pots stay cooler. Keep the air moving and you are extremely unlikely to cook a mature Lithops in this country in any sort of conditions where a cactus can live. Seedlings are easy to boil, I lost some on a very still July day when I got careless about ventilation.

The minor wrinkling is not a problem, this often occurs on the sides of Lithops on a hot afternoon. Remember that a Lithops in habitat would almost always have the sides completely buried to reduce water loss. If it is gone in the morning then you have no problem. If it isn't gone in the morning then you can consider watering although it can wrinkle up quite a lot without any problems. If the tops of the wrinkles start to bleach then your Lithops is burning and needs to come out of the sun immediately.

--ian

KittieKAT · Post by **KittieKAT** » Mon Oct 13, 2014 8:17 am

I just love lithops, just had one of mine finally flower, I've been trying to look for some interesting colored and shaped lithops to make a rock garden...but haven't really been on the lucky side of anyone wanting to offer any up for a small trade or whatnot...oh i wish i didn't get all excited about these cute little butt shaped plants lol cause now I'm obsessed and prob end up with thousands of them haha.

Lithops - repot or wait

Lithops - repot or wait

Re: Lithops - repot or wait