One of these Lithops is not like the others

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iann
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One of these Lithops is not like the others

Post by iann »

One of these Lithops 'Red Olive' is definitely not like the others. Looks like a regular L. olivacea var nebrownii
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Works the other way too. This is a fairly convincing spontaneous 'Red Olive' although possibly not 100%.
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Sometimes even L. optica 'Rubra' reverts
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One of these L. divergens var amethystina is an odd colour. Too soon to tell if it is something special or just a bit weird.
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Two out of three from this hybrid with L. herrei. Interesting that they appear completely normal L. optica seedlings, except for the flowers.
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Two of these Lithops are not like the others :) L. viridis seedlings often show this reddish shade, but never seem to produce convincing red adults.
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--ian
forests-of-fire
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Re: One of these Lithops is not like the others

Post by forests-of-fire »

Wow. What lovely lithrops. :shock:
aklaum
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Re: One of these Lithops is not like the others

Post by aklaum »

Those red and orange ones are something else! I have to find some of these now :)
iann
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Re: One of these Lithops is not like the others

Post by iann »

The "orange" ones are regular L. olivacea var nebrownii. They'll be slightly duller as adults, closer to brown, because they will handle the English sun so easily. The red ones are cultivars, some very hard to find, but L. optica 'Rubra' is common enough and not difficult to grow.
--ian
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7george
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Re: One of these Lithops is not like the others

Post by 7george »

Hey, guys, how big Lithops plants normally grow? I saw recently a tray with plants in a local store and these were like a child's fist big, most of it. So I started to wonder how the hell they made those? I know that the staff in that store water everything regularly, but is this the only reason?
If your cacti mess in your job just forget about the job.
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Aiko
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Re: One of these Lithops is not like the others

Post by Aiko »

Very rich (peaty) soil and much watering results in giant Lithops. With some care they could probably be brought back to normal size in two seasons?
iann
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Re: One of these Lithops is not like the others

Post by iann »

I'm not sure that the "child's fist" is an SI unit, so I'm not entirely sure what to make of that ;)

A single head of even the largest Lithops species is abnormal if it is bigger than a couple of inches across. Some species will form big clumps though, bigger than my fist, let alone a child. Or you can stack up a single head and make quite a large "lump". I've seen them fill a dish a foot wide.

Although Lithops will naturally grow with little (or nothing!) showing above ground, when treated generously in poor light they can elongate so several inches tall. Combine that with being pampered to a couple of inches across and you can get a substantial amount of Lithops.

Then there are the little species that most people will never see for sale, single heads always less than an inch. Oten they stay single, but sometimes they clump up too. L. dinteri and L. werneri are both very small, but will make clumps of 20 heads very easily. L. divergens has equally tiny heads, although they spread themselves out to look big, and it prefers to stay single.

My advice is not to buy over-fed over-fat Lithops. They will die at the slightest provocation, or at no provocation at all. Colour is usually poor through lack of light and too much food.
--ian
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7george
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Re: One of these Lithops is not like the others

Post by 7george »

OK, I'll know, those were dark brown or purple ones, mostly single heads, just some 2 -3-headed, high above soil level, next time I'll do a photo.

As for other succulents and cacti, plants adapted to special greenhouse conditions and growing technology can fail at new, home collection environment.
If your cacti mess in your job just forget about the job.
°C = (°F - 32)/1.8
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