Rest in peace my last Conophytum Calculus

i water only the monilaria plants on the 12th and on the 23rd of march. i spray the monilaria plants on the 12th with miss orchid girl's spider mite solution and i fertilize them on the 23rd.

i water my conophytum plant on the 12th. i decide not to give any more water for it after that because last year it created a dry sheath at this time. i don't see anything yet but i am hopefull. in the end of the month i gently press on the plant to see if it has new leaves inside it and the whole plant cracks. unfortunately i don't see anything inside and i have to conclude my conophytum is not going to make it. sadly it probably didn't like the spider mites, early repotting and the excess watering. rest in peace little one.

i do not water my lithops or argyroderma plants this month. the development of the second flower spike halts but i think helping the plant split is more important than seeing the flowering. maybe the flowering continues next autumn when i resume watering.

during march i increase the daylight hours to 12 hours a day.

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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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