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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April 7 to 25

i water and fertilize my living stones on the 7th of april and notice that one of the conphytum plants has dried up and died. i watered the living stones just a week ago but it clearly was not enough. on the other hand both argyroderma plants are changing their leaves the second time. on the 9th i transplant the last living conophytum plant to a smaller pot. i realize it's too early but the plant is too tiny compared to its nursery pot. before i transplant my conphytum i remember to rinse the pumice. at this time my conophytum is also finally changing its leaves for the second time - its second set of true leaves. to me the conophytum calculus seem the most finicky of the bunch. only one out of ten has survived this far. i keep the photoperiod at 12 h/day during this month. as i receive guests this month i fiddle with the timer to keep the lights on during more pleasant hours such as 10 am to 10 pm versus 7 am to 7 pm. my guests sleep in the living room so i do not wish to dist...

My grow lights setup

Wikipedia on grow lights : "A plant's specific needs determine which lighting is most appropriate for optimum growth. If a plant does not get enough light, it will not grow, regardless of other conditions." "Grow lights usage is dependent on the plant's phase of growth. Generally speaking, during the seedling/clone phase, plants should receive 16+ hours on, 8- hours off. The vegetative phase typically requires 18 hours on, and 6 hours off. During the final, flower stage of growth, keeping grow lights on for 12 hours on and 12 hours off is recommended." "In addition, many plants also require both dark and light periods, an effect known as photoperiodism, to trigger flowering. Therefore, lights may be turned on or off at set times. The optimum photo/dark period ratio depends on the species and variety of plant, as some prefer long days and short nights and others prefer the opposite or intermediate "day lengths"." ...

June 2 - transplanting the rest of my living stones

i water my only conphytum. because of the growing algae problem i am ready to transplant the rest of my living stones. i first rinse pumice and fill the new pots with it. i carefully transplant the living stones and observe that i have 18 monilaria plants, 2 argyroderma plants and 3 lithops plants. i choose a shallow but wide container for the monilaria. it used to be a plastic instant food container. i plant the argyroderma and the lithops in clay pots. clay will help the containers to dry faster since i don't have so many plants left. i separate the algae infested pebbles from the old pumice and only boil the cleaner ones which i pack away to wait for further use. my monilaria plants my argyroderma plants my lithops plants

Growing Living Stones at 63rd Parallel North

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