Lithops

[keith]

What are the hardest and easiest lithops to grow ? Maybe they are all the same ?? I have 2 growing now for many years don't know what they are? probably easy ones because I got them at a garden center.

L. lesliei sounds familiar. Does it come in both yellow and white flowers with different patterns ? I plan to try some more right in with the North American cactus I have under screen.

So many succulents out there its crazy.

[iann]

Easiest to grow: There are perhaps five or six species you're likely to find in a garden centre and they're all pretty easy to grow, or at least harder than average to kill: L. lesliei, L. salicola, L. hookeri, L. karasmontana, L. aucampiae, L. pseudotruncatella.
Hardest: L. viridis, L. francisci, and similar species that I doubt you'll ever find in a garden centre.

L. lesliei is a yellow-flowered species, but there are cultivars which have white flowers.

[keith]

Thanks

[keith]

My first lithops seed raising this is what I noticed so far, Lithops are tiny seeds and germinate fast. Tiny plants some green some tan color 4 days after planting. Its been unseasonable hot here about 90F day to 65F night. Also first Conophytum seedling is up its green. I kept that pot inside for a few days because it was too hot outside. First time I tried cono's also. Tiny seeds can stick to the small gravel and not fall down in between the tiny rocks and germinate on the gravel ( pumice) and if the roots don't get down I expect these ones are doomed but are the first ones I'll see under a 4x hand magnifier. both cono's and lithops have tiny seeds. Under shade cloth 60% with extra window screen on the pots and plastic on the pots held on with rubber band just like all my cactus get. I really soaked the Lithops so will probably take plastic off at night and put back on during the day.

I used Mixed packages from Mesa so probably easy types. 100 mixed Lihops and 100 mixed conophytums. The mesa order was pretty fast. Been buying seeds there for 25 years always good.

[fabricatorgnu]

I have lithops and hope to grow more. I think the one thing you can do is underwater them. I tend to think they grow really slow, though!

[keith]

I think these little Lithops need more sunlight ?

[keith]

Of course with this bad picture how can anyone tell ?

[iann]

No rush. They aren't really stretched. You can introduce them to the sun any time, but for now they seem to be doing OK. They'll stay mostly green until they get sun or very bright artificial light. Different species will go different colours, you can start to guess what they might be

[keith]

Hi iann, Ok I took the window screen off the top of the pots but they are still under double shade cloth I use for baby cactus seeds, and 1 year old cactus seeds, and 4 year old cactus seeds, etc.

Small cactus need shade I'm guessing Lithops not as much ? My conophytums didn't really germinate for me, just a few and then they just don't grow, stay as tiny green blobs.

I've got second pots going with a different soil , denser and no diatomaceous earth powder. High PH no good ? Does diatomaceous earth powder have high PH?

I don't know ? Epithelanthas seem to thrive in it. I did the same soil experiment with Lithops they also germinated quickly but maybe they are just easy to germinate.

Succulents are fun a new thing for me

[greenknight]

Lithops can take sun, overheating is the only thing to worry about - quite easy to fry them.

I don't think diatomaceous earth affects pH, it's mostly silica.

[iann]

Lithops are easy to germinate. Conophytums too, just need to be cool. Little green blobs is all you'll get from many of them for months, then slightly bigger green blobs with a few spots!

Lithops don't seem to care much about soil, so long as it is pretty open. Not sure I'd want to be adding any sort of powder to it, but if it isn't too much and the rest of the soil is coarse enough it should be OK. If they go colours then you're OK. If they go white, you did it wrong

[keith]

Lithops seedlings still alive and its gotten hot and very dry again. Not under plastic anymore so they have to make it on their own at 100F and 10% humidity and 40 MPH winds.
They are under shade cloth ~60% . Pretty tough little plants. I think The conophytums , the few that sprouted, might just stop growing or die, and they are under plastic. But rains are coming again so we'll see. It will get hot, then rain, repeated all the way through the end of the year.

Humidity 6%
This Afternoon
Sunny and hot, with a high near 99. Breezy, with a northeast wind 20 to 25 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph.
Tonight
Clear, with a low around 59. North northeast wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Friday
Sunny and hot, with a high near 98. Northeast wind 10 to 15 mph becoming south in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph.
Friday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 55. South wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light and variable.
Saturday
Sunny, with a high near 87. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph becoming south in the morning.
Saturday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 53.
Sunday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 81.
Sunday Night
A slight chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 51.
Monday
A slight chance of rain. Partly sunny, with a high near 75.
Monday Night
A slight chance of rain before 11pm. Partly cloudy, with a low around 49.
Tuesday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 74.
Tuesday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 49.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 75.

[keith]

One of my old Lithops flowering don't know what species? I have a yellow flowering Lithop also but it flowers later. Probably done watering for the rest of the year. I water them just like my cactus.

[iann]

Can't see too clearly, but looks like L. salicola. Looks very old.

"Typical" flowering is yellow ones first, then white, but there are definitely exceptions and also just general randomness.

[keith]

Some more Lithops. No more water until Spring except the babies. Never grown Lithops from seed and I started in the fall which I never do with cactus. I guess I have to keep them going through the winter this year. Meanwhile the conophytum seeds sprout then die, very different than lithops so far.