My growing conditions

as stated in the description of my blog i live at the 63rd parallel north and the sun is visible here "for 20 hours, 19 minutes during the summer solstice and 4 hours, 43 minutes during the winter solstice". wikipedia

i live in a temperate climate, in a subarctic climate to be exact although we don't experience permafrost here. the winter temperatures are generally subzero (degrees celsius) and the summer temperatures at least over + 10 °C. however i am growing my plants indoors and the temperature is therefore at least + 20 °C all year round.

i don't know how humid it is in our apartment but during summer time my laundry takes longer to dry and the doors seem tight in their frames. during winter time the central heating keeps the indoor air very dry. e.g. the need for more moisturizing skin care products is evident during winter time.

my growing conditions affect a lot what plants i grow and what equipment i need for growing them.

Comments

May 2 to 28

i continue watering the only conophytum more often than the rest of the living stones. i am a bit scared it could die at any moment because of the transplanting and because its neighbor did die of drought. i water the conophytum plant on the 2nd (it shows clear wrinkles), the 8th, the 15th and on the 22nd of may. i just let room temperature water run through the pot. in addition i bottom water and fertilize all of the living stones on the 5th, the 12th, the 19th and on the 28th of may. i also gradually increase the amount of light my plants receive until it is about 16 h/day at the end of the month. my only conophytum on the 7th of may . the conophytum plant is residing in a 125 ml cup because it is so tiny. the cup didn't have a drainage hole originally so i needed to drill one in it. you can find several tutorials from youtube by searching for "drilling hole ceramic pot". the important part is to use a correct drill bit and to remember to use water to prevent t...

Living stones?

according to wikipedia i am growing plants from the family aizoaceae . they are sometimes also called ice plants or mesembs. according to wikipedia they belong to the subfamily ruschioideae and the tribe ruschiae. my plants belong to the genera argyroderma , conophytum , lithops and monilaria. the exact species are argyroderma delaetii, conophytum calculus , lithops (mix of unknown species) and monilaria moniliforme.

First flowering!

in february i notice something new. one of my lithops plants which is splitting into two new sets of leaves is also growing flower spikes! one of them seems to be developing faster than the other. i know it's the wrong time of the year for this and especially since the splitting is happening at the same time. i think the plant is confused because i have treated it like an immature plant and kept watering and fertilizing it regularly after the first year milestone. the plant hasn't absorbed properly its previous leaves either. because splitting time is usually a sign that living stones shouldn't be watered and since my plant seems so confused i decide to stop watering all of the lithops plants and my argyroderma plant which is also splitting. i stop watering right after the first bloom opens. the first bloom lasts 4-5 days. unfortunately i was away for a night and cannot say for sure how long the flower lasted. it had withered when i returned. however i noticed that the ...

Growing Living Stones at 63rd Parallel North

Search This Blog