Muddled Lithops

[iann]

Strange seedling. To be fair, it is a cross between two different species, so perhaps not surprising that something odd happened.

xrubra-0113.jpg (60.81 KiB) Viewed 1465 times

These are crosses between two different cultivars of the same species. From one parent, lots of slightly muddy 'near Aquamarine' and one 'near Bacchus'. From the other parent, lots of apparently normal L. otzeniana, although they do vary in colour considerably with light levels. Look at the new leaves that haven't seen the sun yet.

otzeniana-0113.jpg (81.25 KiB) Viewed 1465 times

[Astro]

Can I take a guess: optica rubra (as in caption ) x meyeri (Hammeruby?) ?

And the red otzeniana would be a ' near Czesky Granat', no? ('Bacchus' being salicola, but I'm sure you knew that) Nice pots of otz, by the way

[KittieKAT]

i like them hopefully the one with the bubble turns out okay

[iann]

Can I take a guess: optica rubra (as in caption ) x meyeri (Hammeruby?) ?

And the red otzeniana would be a ' near Czesky Granat', no? ('Bacchus' being salicola, but I'm sure you knew that) Nice pots of otz, by the way

Cesky Granat, yes

But no Hammeruby in there. That is a cross between L. herrei and L. optica 'Rubra', in order to get effectively L. optica 'Rubra' with yellow flowers.

[iann]

i like them hopefully the one with the bubble turns out okay

It is a failed cross so probably it isn't going to be OK. It is probably going to be compost, but I'll wait and see what the flowers look like just to see if anything curious turns up.

[KittieKAT]

Compost!!! Oooh noooo! How horrible,
Poor little guy with the bubble, maybe u can create a new type of lithop called "double mint bubble gum! "
Then that can be like a known trait lol!
Seems like a waste to toss the guy away after watching it grow for so long, give him a chance maybe its just a one time thing by accident and next year he'll be fine, or shoot send him to me I'll baby sit him for u heeheehee!

[Onzuka]

Okay, Iann and others, you have finally done it!! After months of resisting the urge, I'm going to start growing Lithops.

Steve

[Aiko]

or shoot send him to me I'll baby sit him for u heeheehee!

I second this. Throwing livings plants in the trash / compost bin I consider to be wrong. Boo! Shame on you! (I still have the urge to root every fallen Crassula leave, though...)

[iann]

or shoot send him to me I'll baby sit him for u heeheehee!

I second this. Throwing livings plants in the trash / compost bin I consider to be wrong. Boo! Shame on you! (I still have the urge to root every fallen Crassula leave, though...)

I hate it, but it has to be done. Lithops are available by the million. I can get thousands of seeds per plant per year, and grow most of them to maturity if I felt the urge. Given that, it just isn't fair to foist muddy half-breeds on the world. Very occasionally I would hope to find a worthwhile variation and stabilise it enough to be able to distribute, but the harder I try the more culling there'll have to be.

Here's the result of one 6cm pot of L. helmutii seedlings. You'll be glad to know they're still going strong and two years on several of them have flowered.

helmutii2.jpg (41.05 KiB) Viewed 1414 times

[KittieKAT]

Awww very sad poor "double mint bubble gum" lithop!!


Well the offer is out their to baby sit the little guy i mean if yr just gonna toss him out anyways why not give him to the kids in my program I'm sure they'll get a kick outta it lol!

And if it does do something amazing I'll gladly give u the credit as long as we keep the name as "double mint bubble gum!" Or double mint if it ends up not being bubbly after all! Hehe!