hello :-)

[TinySeed]

Hello everybody
My name is Lucie and i have recently developed a passion for those lovely little lithops plants!
I have kept cacti before, and am also growing two aloe veras from a cutting off my auntie (she said "look at these!" and pulled them out by accident)
i also have a venus fly trap which is sitting in a little saucer of water because i read that's what they like
ooh, i have a guzmania, which is a bromeliad like a pineapple.

Right, these lithops. I bought what i think are lithops from my local garden centre recently. I think they are lithops because they have two big fat petals with new ones poking through the middle. I am not sure because they are so tall and pointy. My research on the internet makes me think that perhaps they have not been given enough light.

Here is a picture of them. I was wondering if someone here could diagnose their problems and give me some advice. I have grown very fond of these little things and am terrified of losing them!!

What are they?
Should they be buried deeper? (I am going to mix the soil with sand - it is cactus compost and not suitable i don't think)
When do i stop watering them? Is it October to May?
Last question: Of a winter are they ok left where they are or should i move them? It gets quite cols in my flat, and the windows get frost flowers on them because they are only single glazed. SHould i put them in the airing cupboard or just move them further inside the room? They are on a windowledge in the kitchen at the moment, overlooking the docks :-)

I am aware that i was perhaps only supposed to introduce myself here, and i apoligise for launching into so many questions, it's just that i'm really keen to purchase some 'proper' lithops (if indeed, they are not lithops in the photograph!) and want to make sure i know how to care for them. Thank you.

smallerlithops2.jpg (29.59 KiB) Viewed 2490 times

smallerlithops1.jpg (31.89 KiB) Viewed 2490 times

[EddieA]

Hello Lucie
Welcome to the forum . I can't help much with your plants but there are some really knowledgeable people here many of whom keep Mesembs and I expect you'll get an ID and advice on cultivation.
Meanwhile here's some light reading The Lithops Page
Good luck with your plants.
Eddie

[TinySeed]

ooh, a reply! thank you Eddie.
I think they're called "Pleiospilos Bolusii" (I scoured a website that sells them).

I've been trying to identify the others i bought too, so i think i'll put them in the discussion board thing and see if anyone can tell me.

[Dave_S]

Lucie

I'm sure someone can help you out with ID'ing your plants, unfortunately it isn't my strong point

Just wanted to say Welcome

Dave

[Diane]

Hi Lucie, to the forum. You are quite correct that these plants are Pleiospilos bolusiiand they are in the Mesembryanthemaceae family as are Lithops, but they are not Lithops! What you have are young seedlings, the one on the right in your second pic shows the new body starting to emerge from the older leaves, the middle one has already done so.

These plants come from the Little Karoo area of S. Africa, in very arid areas, and high levels of light. This should give you a clue that they need as much light as you can give them, to stop them stretching to the light (called etiolation).

As you are growing them indoors, watering should be done carefully - only when they have dried out completely. Normally under greenhouse conditions, they would be kept dry over the winter - I can't really advise what to do indoors, but keeping them dry might be the safest bet. I don't think your flat will be too cold for them - in a greenhouse they will happily go down to about 5C.

Giving them enough light is probably going to be the main problem for you - this family of plants require very high light levels, but good luck!

[TinySeed]

Thank you Diane!!!
When you say to only water them when they have dried out completely, do you mean like properly shrivelled up and crispy? They were a little wrinkly but when i repotted them from the garden centre pots they got fat again - i think because the campost had so much moisture in it. I'm going to get some sand to mix with the soil.

Is tapwater ok, because i have a venus fly trap and that prefers rainwater.

[Diane]

When I wrote " only when they have dried out completely." I meant the compost they are growing in! In other words, don't water if the compost is still moist. With a bit of practice, you can tell just from picking the pot up, whether it is dry or not - it will feel light when it's dry. You could use a plant label stuck in the pot to tell if it's dry or not - when you pull the label out, if it's quite clean with no soil stuck to it, it's pretty dry.

Tap water is fine to use - Venus fly traps are a little fussy over their water!

[TinySeed]

Ha ha, trust me to get confused! No wonder they were looking so nervous...
Glad you cleared that one up
Thanks again.