Wednesday 22 August 2012

New Lithops


So it hasn't been a very plant-y or blog-y summer. Between my thesis, cottaging, camping and the sadness from losing 2/3 of my lithops collection this spring, I just haven't had the heart to blog :(

I'm still pretty disheartened over the beating my collection took. We've had a much drier and hotter summer here than last summer, but also so much more humid. And I was stupid and put one tray of lithops outside on a bench that critters could easily climb. And climb they did, climbed and nommed a bunch of plants. Poor plants.

On the positive side, I have a ton of lithops, mesemb and caudiciform seedlings just waiting to be planted.

So why haven't I planted them yet? Well, THV and I are moving in a few weeks. Super excited to have our own place again. Once we are settled in I'll be planting like mad. No point in have fancy seeds if you don't at least try to turn then into fancy plants.

My local nursery finally got in some lithops plants this week (after a year and a half of waiting!). Surprisingly the plants are of much better quality than you usually see for nursery lithops in Canada. They even had L. dorotheae! The top picture is what I brought home with me - three dorotheae and a mystery lithops that I haven't identified yet. I'd have gotten a few other pots, but at $20 each it was too expensive, particularly with the upcoming move.

I did bring my camera with me and took some shots in the nursery:

L. marmorata (I think):


More L. dorotheae:


A whole pot of the mystery 'thops (sorry for the poor picture quality), can anyone identify it?:


Hopefully this post will break my blogging slump. I've missed it!

8 comments:

  1. Aw, sorry to hear about your lithops. :(

    But the ones you brought home sure do look handsome, especially in that bed of quartz! And the move mean you'll finally be able to set up that awesome plants stand thing you got a while back?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unsure if I will be able to set up the awesome grow light setup or not. Since we are sharing the house with roommates we aren't quite sure how much of our stuff will fit. The light rack will probably one of the lowest priority items given it's size and niche use. Sadly.

      Delete
  2. Hey, Sorry you lost a few, I know the feeling too well and it is not nice! We moved 4 times and some of my plants (I call them travellers) had to go 3000km before finally getting their own bit of soil to live in, moving them is not always easy, especially with lots of aloes. In the last I lost 50% of my lithops and had to restart from seed again. But there is nothing like having your own space to "bloom" in, so I share in that excitement as well. Best of luck and I hope your move goes seamless.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for commenting! I really like you blog, so nice to find other people out there who like bizarre plants.

      Sorry to hear you lost so many in moving - any idea what caused it? Maybe I can learn from you and hopefully prevent any more losses!

      Delete
    2. Oh a few things - last move took 2 weeks and the succulents were not dry enough, they need to be totally dry (bone dry). I also did not know the true sun or shade spots at our house, so some where placed in wrong place. Movers did not handle the boxes as they should, so damages. Best would be to unpot and package as one would send them, but with a move you do not really have time to repot plants while trying to find your feet, best is to just make sure they are dry and only water once you have some idea of placing, it always takes time to figure out where the best area are in new place. I find. LT

      Delete
  3. Going to have to sneak out one day and visit the nursery! Can never have too many plants right?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Fuss, sorry to hear of your loss, although having owned Lithops before, I thought you might be used to it by now, lol, although a loss is still a loss, and I send to you my condolences. Good looking new Lithops btw, and good luck with your move. Yes, please get back to blogging soon. Sheesh. ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the comment! I love your blog btw, so nice to be finding more and more lithops blogs out there.

      My move is done and almost all of my plants are now in the new place. I have stuff to blog about again :)

      Delete