December, 1 year + 3 months

in december i watered but did not fertilize my living stones on the 3rd, the 15th and on the 30th. i reasoned that since many of the living stones are changing their leaves and since the daylight hours are being reduced the plants would need less fertilizer. i think it was not the right decision for the monilaria plants which were still growing like weeds.

by the end of the month i kept the daylight hours at 9,5 hours a day. i was afraid to keep the grow lights on too long during my vacation because i thought the plants would survive the drought better with less light. the dry period before the last watering at the end of the month was 14 days.

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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.

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...

Growing Living Stones at 63rd Parallel North

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