Enjoy, I am.

Nice pics.

Al

Nice flowers. Slugs, I think, although the top one might have been split by overwatering at some stage. Still healthy enough to flower though.

The bottom one might be Lithops salicola, or maybe L. marmorata.

The top one looks like one of the really xeric ones like L. meyeri. They are very easy to stretch with too much water.

Thanks SnB, Slugs? May be.. but very small or very clever because I have never seen them! I got the first one just two weeks ago and it was stretched already. Now they are both in the greenhouse with these new acquisitions (no watering till next spring!)
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Greetings
Davide

I love the flowers, ...and the plants of course, & I particularly like the middle lithop, the one with the red on it. it's most likely L. fulviceps, not sure about the others.

CP

Thanks CP, the red one is my favourite too!
Davide

Maybe not slugs then, but that damage looks very like something took a nibble. I might be tempted to give the stretched one a little drink since it is quite wrinkled, but I don't know what its like in your greenhouse over winter. You have to be very careful about watering damaged Lithops because they need more water than intact ones, but they are also more likely to split if they are overwatered.

That L. fulviceps is very nice. I wonder if it is a cultivar to have such a strong colour. The first one might be L. pseudtruncatella and the last one may be L. schwantesi, but its hard to be sure from a picture. The last one seems to have a seedpod, wonder if there's anything inside? If you get it wet, it will open up like a little flower, fascinating even if there are no seeds.

Thanks SnB for your remarks. I understood that watering lithops is an hard task! I'll keep you updated about last one's seepod.....:)
Davide

I also am partial to the L. fulviceps. BTW, I like your top dressing.

Al

I was wondering if the top-dressing is limestone?

Al, SnB: limestone? I don't know! it is gravel coming from the path of my house...
ciao
Davide

SnB:I followed your suggestion, I watered the last one and it opened up but no seeds at all:((
Davide

Those capsules are great fun, they open when wet and then close up again when they dry out. Hours of fun for all the family! Shame the seeds are gone already. Its very common to find seedpods on new nursery stock because they have usually lived with lots of pollinators close by, and I always check for seed.

Now I'm almost sure the rock is limestone. I was just interested if you had used it on purpose. Limestone is alkaline, which some Lithops certainly like, but I'm always interested in ones that might not like it. You can be sure that some cacti wouldn't like it, Discocactus (I think), Gymnocalycium, etc.

A limestone topdressing on top of a peaty soil will tend to make the peat collapse into mush much more quickly. It is like using very hard water for every watering. Maybe you have very hard water anyway! This whole area is tricky and you'll find more different opinions than people even though most of them have never used limestone for their plants ;)

Lithops are the most amazing plants in my opinion. I am about to become the caretaker of 13 of them as soon as they arrive in the mail. Last year I bought a single Pleiospilos nellii and told myself that if I could keep it alive and healthy, then I could venture into Lithops. Well, it's alive and kickin' a year later, so here I go! I also ordered three different Argyroderma and one Titanopsis. Lord help me!
Amy

Wayhay! Another addict :)

Fingers crossed, the Titanopsis and Argyroderma might be ready to flower very son. Which Titanopsis species did you get?

S&B,
I ordered Titanopsis luederitzii, Argyroderma delaetii, Argyroderma pearsonii, and Argyroderma ringens. I forgot that I also ordered a Aloinopsis rubrolineata. So I am anxiously wringing my hands as I await their arrival. I got an email from Shoal Creek saying they were shipped today. I was planning on treating them as I would any other S. African succulent. The Lithops, of course, require their own special care so I will be extra diligent with them. Advice for a first timer would be greatly appreciated!

Amy

The Lithops you probably know, don't water until spring. The others are all nominally winter growers.

Argyroderma I might not have quite figured out yet. They don't do a lot in summer and of course they don't do anything at all in my winter. Somewhere in between they look like they are trying to grow but never seem to get very far. Anyway, maximum sunlight and very little water at all times. They are very prone to split if you overwater.

Aloinopsis won't grow in summer, even here. They will try to grow the rest of the time but probably won't do much right in the middle of winter. A little more water than the Argyroderma. Maximum sun again, especially in winter. Seem to be quite forgiving.

Titanopsis are so much fun, they all seem to prefer different conditions but they are quite adaptable. All the species are usually described as winter growers but all can be treated as summer/autumn growers in England. I don't have this ex-species, which has now been lumped with T. schwantesii although it has a somewhat different appearance and a completely different distribution in the wild. The name tells you it comes from Luderitz just like Fenestraria. Try treating it like Fenestraria and it should do well, maybe a little more water. It is also quite tolerant, overwatering tends to kill off the outer leaves rather than cause any serious damage.

Thanks S&B for the good advice. From what I've read Argyrodermas love the sun, and their water requirements are similar to Pleiospilos so I'm in luck there. I will be extra cautious with them and go very light on the water. In the end, I'll probably end up underwatering them, just to be on the safe side.

I'm thinking of ordering the book "Growing The Mesembs". Do you think it would help guide me in my new venture into this group of plants? I do as much reading online as I can and soak it up like a sponge. I really should get a book to have on hand so the light from the computer monitor doesn't keep hubby up all night! LOL

We seem to have hijacked Davide's thread! Perhaps we should correspond thru email?

Amy

Amy, please keep on using this thread, I'm happy to host this interesting discussion. I wish to know more about the lithops world.
Davide

Here you go, Davide. Sorry for hijacking your thread :)

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BEAUTIFULLLLLLL FLOWERS!
Davide

Nice photo! When was that taken?
Amy

That's from the end of July. L. pseudotruncatella flowers very early.