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Guess what I bought...

Ahem. I got some LITHOPES!

I never really found them to be as cool as CPs, but I did kill a few when I was younger, just like VFTs... Now, The way I see it, is Lithopes are kinda like bonzai... An art... They do very little, so you have to decorate... Thats what I did...

I spent nearly thirty dollars on getting a nice little lithop garden. I bought a round pot... It is six inches wide, and three inches deep. I bought some cactus mix, and three lithop pots... Each came with two or three lithops in each pot, so all together, I have eight of them. The all fit nicely... Spaced well, and they're deep enough/not touching the bottom, etc... The pot looks kina muddy/weathered, with some fake green carpet moss on the side... Quite tasteful, not tacky... I then placed a few shiny "Floral stones" amongst the lithops to sorta create a 'rock field' in the pot... With the moss, and rocks that look like they're we all the time, the lithops kinda look like tuffets that faeries come to sit on and chill... Hehehe...

I read the PFT growing tips... Is there anything else anyone would like to add? I'll try to get a pic, but I dont have a digital... We'll see about that.

Thanks!
 
Ahhh, my friend Parasuco, lithops... I'm certainly no expert but I have had bad luck with cactus mix. It seems it holds too much moisture and the plants eventually rot. I've lost 3 in the past month. I'm going to repot all of mine in a very coarse mix of sand and small gravel... better drainage. I have a feeling drainage for these guys is the key to success. Too dry... ok. Too wet... fatal!
 
I'd have to say its the CP growing in us that makes us acutally, KILL cactuses... It's funny. They're the ones you can ignore, right? Ya, well, My friends mom actually killed a cactus in the past too. Too much love... and water...
 
funny my cactucs grows fine, i manage to weaken it by drying it out
parasuco sounds coool hehe
but i sure hope i dont ever be like that, im more into man stuff, than floral, i just like the digesting live insects part MUAHAHAHAHAH:D
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Man stuff eh, sounds like you got a bit of a complex there MISTER Raw - LOL.

I have to say I like flowers, there's some beautiful rhododendrons (sp?) and hoya around, and my garden is FULL of orchids!

I'm with Dyflam sadly, I love cacti but I think it's the humidity, they all turn to mush for me.

Can we see some pics of your set up Parasuco?

Cheers, Troy.
 
Well. If I'm acting a woman it may explain why I'm so hot... Eh, Raw?

Troy, I'm sorry... All I have is a regular camera, and It's my mom's so I have to wait till tuesday to see if its got film (thats when I'm going to her place next), then if it does have film, I'll take pics of my plants... Then we have to see how many empty shots there are left for her to take so that we can go and get it developed. Not till then will I be able to think about scanning them... hehehe. I'm laazzzy.....
 
I am a lithops executioner...

I bought 3 huge lithops (2 inches or so) from Walmart last month... 1 left..
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Murderer!!!!!

BOOOO!!!!

I have used, peat moss ( small amouts ) and lots of perlite. You can also add sand if you want.

Keep them away from lots of water ( ie a porch or where it can get rained on )....and ONLY water it like once a month...and just a little bit.

Too much water...and you will be like Ram
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I've got 4 baby lithops that I've grown from seed. They're in a medium bonsai container. They're doing great - what I did was mix 50-50 peat/sand and put that in the bottom half of the container. The top half is just sand (playground&#33
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Everyday I give the top a mist so that it's wet, and that's it. From the times I've transplanted them I know the root goes straight down into the peat/sand mix. They seem to be happy, a nice medium green color. The top dries out in 15min or so. I know the larger lithops need less water, perhaps you could try spritzing it every other week?
 
  • #10
Everyone now just types FB for instead of my nick so you're gonna get WT from me from now on wickedthistle (if ya don't mind
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So how long has it taken for you to grow your lithops?
How big are they now?
Where did you get the seeds?

I really like the look of lithops but never thought to try them.
What you are saying makes it sound quite easy so I'll give it a go if I can get hold of some seeds.

Still like to see some pics too.

Cheers, Troy (aka FB)
 
  • #11
I say fatboy (I don't even capitalize the 'F'!!&#33
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, or Troy. But anyhow. Numberone tip. Don't love them too hard or else they'll blow up.
 
  • #12
Hi,

well, in my previous life I was an "other succulent" grower, so I may add some points. They are best grown in most to complete inorganic medium. Sand and small rocks are best. Lithops are winter growers and do rest during summer. Surprisingly they don't like and don't stand too much direct sunlight. In their natural habit they are often covered by a thin layer of sand during summer. They should kept very dry in resting time and even in growing season they need very little water.With too much water they may even explode as you may already know ;-)

Troy, seeds should be available from many different seed suppliers. But it may be that it is too humid and maybe also too hot during nights at you location. When I do remeber correct, there are lithops-mini-greenhouse-starter-sets around here in Germany. They consist of a 12cm by 8cm mini plastic greenhouse, a portion of soil and a mixed lithops seed pack with about 100 seeds. They do go for about 5$ US.

Joachim
 
  • #13
well my name hints... I have 13!!! They're in their own nice pot with a half cactus mix/half sand/peat. One is showing it's appreciation by growing .5 inch and starting to flower in 3 days!!!
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Good luck!
 
  • #14
When I had one it flowered and then it blew up. Hehehehehe
 
  • #15
that's sad
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What do you mean it blew up?
 
  • #16
You'll know once yours blows up. Hehehehe
 
  • #17
no, they don't always, ask dyflam. How did yours blow up? With seeds?
 
  • #18
Hey fb (hee heee). I got my seed from a catalog out of the UK. (I have a few seeds up for trade so PM me if you like, but you're better off spending a few bucks to buy the whole pack because....) I must say that growing from seed is a bit of a pain. Most don't germinate. Out of a pinch of seeds (1/4 of the pack), I got 4 to grow. At least that's what I've seen so far. Got the four in the first week of planting, but the package says they can take up to 12 weeks to germinate.

I've had them for about 3 months and they're a little bigger than the size of this "O". They're cute, and I like the mystery of what they'll look like, but I think I might order the full-sized ones later on.

lm (heh heh) "blowing up" refers to overwatering. Think overfilled water balloons!
 
  • #19
When they blow up do they really like splatter, or do they just split and gush a little bit of flesh?
 
  • #20
gush and shrivel. Dyflams plants suffer from delayed lithops explosion.
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