A Lesson in Etiolation (plus new Lithops!)

[Kattatonic]

After my return from a week long holiday to celebrate the US holiday Fourth of July (Independence Day,) i came home to one of my newer stacked crassulas etiolated straight to the sky! To think i thought i had given it a nice sun spot, but it clearly was not enough. Lesson learned here. I quickly moved my other stacked crassulas to more prime sun spots, realizing that they too were beginning to stand and stretch for more light.

So for now i guess i'll just have to wait for some new growth on this plant and hopefully start rebuilding those awesome little stacks.
Just to clarify the following two images are of the same plant. This etiolation happened over the course of a week and a half, maybe two weeks.

Before

Before

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After

After

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On a lighter note, i was childishly delighted when i paid a visit to my local nursery and found a whole box of lithops!
I'm new to caring for these, so any tips for great growth are appreciated. It's already been noted that this soil may be a tad too rich.
Also if any one can specifically ID the name of these lithops i love the knowledge.

Lithops

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At the same nursery thet also has a selection of "Split Rocks." I've been wanting one of these so had to take one home.
Care tips welcome.

Split Rock

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This same day i took the time to re-pot many of my succulents.
Thanks for looking! Have a great day!

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[C And D]

My recommendations

Use way smaller pots and mix in at least 50% pumice in your soil mix.

One wrong watering will turn those Lithops in to a pile of mush.

The Lithops are all forms of Lithops lesliei.

That rich soil could also be part of the cause of your Crassula etiolation problems

[Kattatonic]

Well noted your comments, and i am going to re-plant the lithops tonight.
The etiolation of the crassula actually happened in a different soil.

[iann]

I can remember many years ago buying a particular pot of Lithops seedlings because they were all completely different. They all turned out to be L. hookeri, over 20 of one species!

I think that is Pleiospilos bolusii, more of a summer grower than P. nelii, although maybe more of an autumn grower in your climate.

[Kattatonic]

Hey Ian, thanks for the input on the Split Rock.
We have a pretty warm winter here, around 65 F during the day with temperatures rarely below freezing at night.
Do you know what constitutes a growing season for the Pleiospilos? Heat, cold, sun strength?

[greenknight]

Might be a good time to take cuttings of that Crassula.

[Aiko]

Are you sure this etiolation happened in just two weeks? I find that very doubtful. This would not even happen that fast in my winters with a complete lack of sunlight.

[greenknight]

It is quite hard to believe - how long before was the before picture taken?

[iann]

Hey Ian, thanks for the input on the Split Rock.
We have a pretty warm winter here, around 65 F during the day with temperatures rarely below freezing at night.
Do you know what constitutes a growing season for the Pleiospilos? Heat, cold, sun strength?

Mostly temperature, particularly night temperatures. Of course the temperature of a plant in strong sun will bear no relation to the air temperature anyway, but it takes a lot of daytime hear to make them dormant. Night minima consistently above 50F might do it though, certainly when they are around 70F. If your summers are hot enough to put a mesemb into dormancy then you still have spring or autumn.

[Kattatonic]

Ian,

Thank you for the info, i'm going to watch my closely, but i have a feeling you are right that i might have some autumn growers due to the heat.