Nice pics.

Al

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.

Greetings
Davide

CP

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.

Al

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 ;)

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

Amy

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.

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