Skip to main content

September 9

the temperature is + 25 °C. i have reduced the amount of light the containers receive and it is now 13 hours. i try to simulate the darkening evenings although not in any scientific fashion. according to wikipedia seedlings generally require 16 hours of light and 8 hours of night. according to it seedling growth stops under less than 14 hours of light. i am going to risk it because i want to simulate more my own growing conditions. besides i am unsure if this universal law is absolute with living stones. i use plant lights and the article is naming that low intensity light of 16 hours or more brings continuous free growth. i don't know if my light intensity is considered low. it doesn't vary except being on or off. you can read more about my grow lights here.

the moisture has dropped in the other containers except in the monilaria one which has been watered yesterday. i water the argyroderma, the conophytum and the lithops by soaking their containers from the bottom for 2 seconds for the first time after sowing them. soaking from the bottom was recommended by many youtube videos and the seed seller. the argument is that the small seeds will not move around if soaked from the bottom.

21 of the monilaria seeds have sprouted, 8 of the argyroderma and 6 of the lithops.

and the first week is over.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

My grow equipment and the overall cost of the hobby (so far)

i ordered the seeds and the potting medium from a dutch seller called sunny plants. (all links on this post are non-affiliated) argyroderma delaetii 20 seeds conophytum calculus 10 seeds lithops mix 20 seeds monilaria moniliforme 20 seeds pumice 1 liter x 2 the shipping cost approx. the same as all the products together. = altogether the order was 50 euros things i already had at home: i potted the seeds in pure pumice in empty plastic containers with see-through lids. the containers were leftovers from different food packages. i used medical, sterile, non-woven swabs to cover the drainage holes in the bottom of the containers. i used the swabs already in my medicine cabinet. i used two plates i already owned under the containers. i used cocktail sticks from my pantry to help me sow the seeds. i used extension cord we already had for the plant lights. i had at home a bottle of cactus fertilizer so i didn't need to buy one. i bought: two small reading lamps...

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...

Useful links to find more information about growing living stones

i found useful information about these plants on the websites listed below although some of the information is contradictory. many also seem to agree that the care depends on your climate so general guidelines are difficult to give. e.g. southern africa (the origin of all the species i grow) has a different climate and their summer is when northern hemisphere experiences winter hence i decided to document my journey of growing living stones.  websites growlithops denmark includes info about the genera lithops and monilaria moniliforme   lithops-stories germany includes info about everything i grow except info about argyroderma and pleiospilos  lithops blog south africa includes info about the genus lithops terry smale uk includes info about the genera conophytum and lithops world of succulents includes info about all of the species i grow (see previous post ) youtube channels lithops canada includes info mostly about lithops not updating any...