A New Seedling Generation of Lithops
I grew my first lithops from seed a number of years ago. Each year I would sow a few more seeds, and sell or give away a few of the older plants, trying to maintain a sensible sized collection of between 70 and 100 plants. There was no greenhouse involved, and winter brought below freezing outdoor temperatures. That meant that although all my lithops could be outside from May through October, once the first frost threatened, they all had to come back inside to their windowsill winter home. In any house, there is only so much available windowsill space. For me, that meant room for about 100 lithops. Any more than that had to go to the basement and under fluorescent lights.
One year, I believe it was 2005, I just stopped growing lithops from seed. I was always over the 100 limit. The end of growing lithops from seed also coincided, or maybe caused, a general waning in interest in my older plants. I had a brief revival in 2010, when I collected a seed capsule from one of my nicer Lithops fulviceps plants and grew about a dozen seedlings. But the thrill of growing from seed wasn't there anymore. Actually, lithops don't require a lot of care, but when all you do is maintain what you have, you really aren't enjoying your plants.
This year is proving to be different. I met someone, who also grew lithops, and their enthusiasm and excitement in growing their plants once again aroused my love of these strange little plants. It also encouraged me to again grow lithops from seed. This time I didn't have to buy seeds, my older plants always produce seed and I collected and few fruits (capsules) and sowed a mixture (which is often not a very good idea) of species.
That new sowing of lithops seed was three months ago and the resulting seedlings are shown below. I had forgotten how much I missed watching the seeds sprout and the seedlings grow. I've had a lot of fun the last three months with lithops again, and although I will still have to deal with too many plants this coming fall, maybe I can find someone to give plants to and create a new lithops enthusiast. :)
Titanopsis calcarea
Woody plants can live a long time, and mesembs ARE woody plants. Given the proper environment and care most mesembs can be with you for a long time. My records indicate that the seed that created the T. calcarea shown at the right, was planted in 1995, making this old friend 18 years old. I have a number of cacti that are older, but I believe this is my oldest seed grown mesemb. I have a 27 year old lithops but I bought it as a plant.
Growing Titanopsis calcarea has always been easy for me. I give it full sun for up to 10 hours in the late spring and early summer, and regular watering from mid spring through early fall. In winter I give it as much sun as I can, keep it on the dry side, and relatively low night temperatures, often as low as the mid 40's F. (6.5 C.) I give it some water during the late winter and early spring as it goes into its flowering period. It is now growing outside in its six inch (15 cm) ceramic pot, and seems as happy as ever.
In a year or two it will begin to spill over its pot and I really don't want to go to a larger pot. So, I'll be faced with reducing the size of the plant by dividing it, or at least pruning off parts of it. For me, the words mesembs and pruning, have never seemed to go together, primarily because I've always had the space to transplant to a larger pot. Recently I have discussed mesembs with a grower who has very limited space, and practices pruning and dividing as a normal part of their culture. Sometimes you have to change your growing practices based on the situation and such will be the case with this old friend. I really won't enjoy cutting it back, but I'll try to do it in a way where you'll never know I did it. I do have experience pruning trees and shrubs, and mesembs ARE woody plants.
Aloinopsis malherbei
What exactly is a Mesemb? That's easy. It is a member of the plant Family Mesembryanthemum. Well, that once was the case, but now all the members of the Mesemb family have been included in the family Aizoaceae. Plant classification is always in a state of flux.
Aloinopsis malherbei is a member of the Aizoaceae ( or Mesembryanthemum) family. In other words, it's a mesemb. As with most mesembs, it's a native to southern Africa, specifically South Africa. It's a succulent, with extra water stored in its leaves and tuberous roots. Part of the attraction of A. malherbei is the interesting shape and form of the leaves. But also adding to the attraction are the pretty orange-yellow flowers, which are produced in late winter through mid spring.
Both plants show at right were
grown from seed sown in 2001. They are placed outside in full sun beginning in early May and moved to a heated, plastic covered cold frame in the autumn as frost threatens. Thus, in winter they receive full sun and night temperatures that often drop to a minimum of 40 degrees F. (4.5 C.). The combination of strong winter sunlight and cool to cold temperatures contributes to a strong flowering display.
Aloinopsis malherbei doesn't present any serious difficulties in culture as long as the potting mix is well drained and it's given a lot of light.
Lithops bromfieldii v. mennellii
Six year old lithops should not be in their original seeding pot! Therefore I am going to remove these and give them their own pots. I believe several already have two leaf pairs, but that will be evident when they are unpotted.
If someone is looking for relatively easy lithops to grow, the bromfieldii group is for you. They grow fast and seldom cause trouble. These were under fluorescent lights for two years and have been out in the sun for the past four years. The leaf markings are vivid and I think this variety is my favorite within the bromfieldii group.
However, I have several L. bromfieldii v. bromfieldii plants that have a lot of dark maroon in the leaves and are very attractive. It's always hard to pick favorite lithops.
Epithelantha micromeris (The Button Cactus)
My old Button Cactus celebrates its 20th birthday this year. In 1993 I planted 20 seeds from Mesa Garden Seeds and had nine seeds germinate. By the time the seedlings were big enough for transplanting, there were only four remaining alive. Only two of those survived the transplanting. Those two seedlings grew well and developed into attractive young plants. Unfortunately, in 2002 the tornado that visited our home claimed one of those two, and now this is the sole survivor. What you see is survival of the fittest, or maybe luckiest. It has flowered and fruited faithfully for the past nine years, and now with a cluster of offsets all around, it is a grand old matriarch.
I was glad to get a photo of the fruit. Usually by the end of June the birds have made a meal of it.
Gymnocalycium ragonesei - The squished seedlings flower.
At the right is a photo of ten seedlings of Gymnocalycium ragonesei (sorry no common name) long overdue for transplanting into their own pots. Their growth has been good, to the point where they are squeezing in on each other. Nevertheless, they are old enough now to begin flowering and flowering they did.
Below right show the grand show as all but one seedling produced flowers. The poor squeezed seedling in the bottom row, third from the left, did not produce a flower. They put on quite an impressive show and the flowers lasted about four days.
My plan, as mentioned in an earlier blog, is to show them off, squished as they are, at the plant show of the National Capital Cactus and Succulent Society on the first weekend in August. The show will be held at the Brookside Gardens educational building in Wheaton, Md.
After the show is over, I will release the ten seedlings from their cramped quarters and give each their own pot, even poor little seedling 10, which is being squeezed into a triangle shape. Gymnocalycium ragonesei is a great little cactus that stays small, flowers easily, and has spines that don't hurt you when you handle the plant. As a size reference the 10 seedlings are in a 9 cm x 9 cm (3.5 in. x 3.5 in.) pot. If you are in the Washington, D.C. area on August 3-4, 2013, stop by Brookside Gardens and visit the squished gymno seedlings.
http://www.washington-dc.cactus-society.org/
Cleistogamous - Botany. Of or relating to a flower that does not open and is self-pollinated in the bud.
Frailea pumila is a small cactus from the grasslands of Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay. For most of its life it stays pretty much
hidden in the grass, but every now and then it comes forth with a halo of
bright yellow flowers, attracting any pollinators in the vicinity.
Unlike most cacti, fraileas don't really have to flower to produce fruit and
seed. They are part of an unusual group of plants that have cleistogamous
flowers. For me it is rare and exciting to see fraileas. They usually
produce little round, dry fruits without flowering. This
past Sunday, when F. pumila
unexpectedly produce its lovely yellow flowers, it became an instant
blog item.
The genus Frailea was named
in honor of Manuel Fraile, who years ago, maintained the cactus collection
of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C., which by the way, is the city in which I was born.
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