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Lithops seed germinated...

I decided to toss some lithop seeds into a 1" terra cotta pot on my desk on friday. They're sitting about four inches underneath a 17w fluorescent 24" strip. This morning when I walked in, what do I see? I bunch of little lithops sprouted over the weekend. I really didn't think they germinated that fast, but i'm not gonna complain.
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Any tips on keeping lithop babies alive?
 
Don't overwater them. I actually overwatered some seedlings simply by following the standard directions of misting every two weeks. I am not sure how much water they need as seedlings, but it doesn't appear to be much. As long as you can take care of getting them light, they don't need much else.
They grow very slowly though.
 
That works well, i'm sure the heating vent above my head will help to keep them dryer.  
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Btw, they all start off looking the same like everything else, right?
 
Good luck with them - even though I don't know what they are - What exactly do they look like?
 
In my experience, they started off looking like a green piece of gravel. After almost a year, they're still very similar. Just small little round rocklike things, although slightly different colored now. They haven't got the split down the center yet.
If they came up that quickly, they're definitely the lithops seedlings. They seem like very easy plants from seed, if only it wasn't so slow growing them.
 
Yeah, there's no split, but there is a little indent, so I guess there would be one if it was 1000x or so.
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They seem to be doing alright. Right now some are pretty easy to see, they seemed to clear the sand that I put on top. Wish I had a camera so I could post them.

Lil Flytrap,
Lithops are succulants that have adapted so much throughout the ages to conserve moisture that they only consist of a tap root and two leaves. In nature (or when they're healthy
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), they look like rocks on the ground. So much that animals often pass them by because of it.

Here, check out this pick Lil Flytrap, it'll give you a better idea.
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Cool lithop rock garden
 
They are very sensitive to repotting for the first half a year (I know from experience
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) so don't move them! Also they have variable sprout times, you just got the quick ones. Don't be surprised if more sprout up in a few weeks to the next few months. When misting, the sand will sometimes start to stick to one another and knock a seedling over, just gently put it back upright with a toothpick if you prefer. After they're a bit established, about the size of this: "o" you can begin to bottom or side water a bit, though it still likes some top misting. I have mine in a bonsai pot and tray and bottom water, only misting every 2 weeks
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I also germinated a few from seed a year or so back. Now they're the size of an "O" on the keyboard and have split for the first time a few months ago. I followed the instructions to avoid watering during the winter and noticed they were shriveling. It got to the point where I figured I was doing something wrong and decided to water them anyway - because they were almost dead. The next day they had miraculously perked up, and three weeks later had split and grown by 200%. They will look almost exactly the same for at least 8 months...then you may begin to see different shapes, colors and patterns. So, if something seems wrong, try doing exactly the opposite!
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Cool! I have a Stone Plant that is a pale green and it has lots of big blobs on it - looking like round stones! It is very small however! Where can I get Lithop seeds?
 
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (lil_flytrap_boy @ April 15 2003,06:45)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Cool! I have a Stone Plant that is a pale green and it has lots of big blobs on it - looking like round stones! It is very small however! Where can I get Lithop seeds?[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
You can try Mesa Garden for both plants and seed (they have a huge selection) and don't limit youself to Lithops - give Conophytums a try, too
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  • #10
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Merlin @ April 15 2003,5:52)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">You can try Mesa Garden for both plants and seed (they have a huge selection) and don't limit youself to Lithops - give Conophytums a try, too
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Merlin,

Hehe, deja vu. You really like those conophytums, huh?
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You know, I may just have to get some seed and try them. Any other suggestions for a lithop/conophytum dish garden?
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  • #11
Sounded familiar did it?
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 Still, I'll stick by it.  I've had very good luck with Mesa Garden.

As far as growing Conos and Lithops in the same pot - it's probably not a good idea.  While they grow very similarly, in general, Conos are winter growers and Lithops are summer growers.  From what I've read - I haven't been through a full year's cycle yet - each needs a near-waterless resting period during the time that the other is growing, so growing them in one pot would be really tough.

As far as suggestions for other plants, I'm glad you asked.
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I'm getting into some new genera of Lithops/cono relatives...

Titanopsis calcarea
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Aloinopsis malherbeii
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Titanopsis primrosii
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(Those are all 2 1/2" pots, BTW)
 
  • #12
Very very nice. What will, in your opinion, grow well with and compliment lithops?
 
  • #13
Suggestions, eh?
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Using the old adage “Give a man a fish and he can eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he’ll sit in a boat and drink beer all day”, let me give you what little generalized info I’ve got on Lithops and its relatives.

Lithops and Conophytum are both genera in the family known as “Mesembs”.  Mesemb is a shortened version of "Mesembryanthemum".  (Scholars are evenly divided as to the original meaning of  Mesembryanthemum,  some thinking it comes from Old High Elven Mesii Ammbrian-themu (“Even I Wouldn’t Eat That”) and others saying it’s from the Klingon M’s’mbr’ank’muk  (“That Looks Like My Butt”)).  But I digress.

Generally, Mesembs grow in one of two different South African climate zones.  The different conditions in these zones cause two very different growing habits and Mesembs can be divided into “summer growers” (actually spring-summer-fall) and “winter-growers” (fall-winter-spring).  Lithops are summer growers, so what you need are other summer growers to grow along side of them.  Unfortunately (or fortunately, really), there's over a hundred Mesemb genera and it isn’t always obvious when they grow.  Also, a lot of the other genera look enough like Lithops that they won’t give you the visual variety you’re probably looking for.

All that said, take a look at Faucaria, Frithia and Stomatium.

But really, what I’ve done is search for “Mesemb” (or “Mesembryanthemum“) in Google “image” mode or gone to the Mesa Gardens listings (no, I’m not getting a commission – more’s the pity), picked a likely genus name and Googled it.  Either way, if I saw a plant that I liked, I did some more research and tried to determine the growing season and maybe even some cultivation info…  It does get interesting when you get two sources disagreeing on the growing requirements - for instance, I’ve seen Titanopsis listed as both summer and winter growers.

As I’ve said, I haven’t as yet even finished a full yearly cycle with these plants.  I’m far from expert in any of this.

Let me know how you do.  Happy hunting.
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  • #14
I know we talked about this on PM for a while, but you never told me that my suggestions worked in only four days!...
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CONGRATULATIONS, please keep me posted on how my favorite non-CPs do!
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  • #15
Hi
i heard some one one here was wondering where they could get some lithops seed
i have a couple difrent varietys i could maybe trade and conophytums to
i also have about 50 other difrents kinds of cacti and succulent seed i can trade

Let me know if you interested

Enoc22
P.S. i got my lithops to sprout in only 2 days
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  • #16
Enoc,
How are you taking care of the little guys?

P.S.:
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  • #17
Hi
right now i have them in a little planstic pot(and onother in a tera cotta one) in a ziplock baggie that is half shut half open and water them when the soil is realy dry also and they seem to be doing well so far

Oliver
 
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