And now for something completely different ^^

[andreas]

;D

Hi folks,

I was surprised to meet some CP growers who also grow flowering stones! I´ve been infected by this virus in summer last year... But as usual I wanted too many at once!

Here are some nice pics of my little stoney treasures:


Lithops bromfieldii var. insularis C 42


New lobes popping up and suck the liquid from the old ones.


L. lesliei var. venteri 'maraisii' C 153
One of the heads finally died - the roots have rot and then the new lobes have suddenly dehydrated! *boohoohoo....*
I have received replacements.


L. julii ssp. fulleri var. fulleri C 171 - strange drawing on the surface for a fulleri var. fulleri! Mixed up?






L. bromfieldii var. mennelli C 283


L. karasmontana ssp. bella C 285 - DEAD!




L. lesliei ssp. burchellii C 302


Renewing


L. naureeniae C 304 in flower


The same taxon but a different plant in flower









These are all images of my flowering stones. More will hopefully follow when the plants have fully renewed.

For those who wonder about the numeric system of the Lithops.

C 396 for example: This is the location data of wild populations of Lithops discovered and studied by Desmond Thorne Cole. "C" = C of Cole´s surname. There are other numeric systems but the "Cole numbers" are increasing by date of discovery. However not in all cases of Cole-populations Desmond T. Cole was the first discoverer. In the majority Cole located wild populations discovered and described by other botanists and sometimes much earlier. C 396 by the way is Lithops coleorum - named by Steven Hammer et al. after Desmond Cole.

I´ve already heard of trials to grow Lithops in the tropics but it was stated to be very difficult because these plants experience distinct seasons like winter and summer / rain and dry periods. They origin from South Africa and Namibia and grow in stoney savannahs with low vegetation and sparse rain falls.

Hope you like them.

Salam,

Andreas

[bluey]

Lovely pictures Andreas
Pity, all my Lithops seeds just went to heaven hehehe.

Thanks for sharing

[maini]

wow.....i think lithops is one of the unique plant
nice pict...

[pakde]

apik tenan ... tapi diliat-2 rodo nggilani !

[Mona | Banzai]

Mar 2, 2010 12:47:33 GMT 7 pakde said:

apik tenan ... tapi diliat-2 rodo nggilani !

opo ne sing mbikin nggilani, pak?

[saxman]

Cool..

Btw ada ga yg jual di Indo?

[yumcatz]

Dulu ada yang jual seedsnya. Pak Kim kalau gak salah. Sayang dulu gak mesen, sekarang susah nyarinya, he, he.

[pakde]

Mar 2, 2010 13:10:46 GMT 7 Mona | Banzai said:

Mar 2, 2010 12:47:33 GMT 7 pakde said:

apik tenan ... tapi diliat-2 rodo nggilani !

opo ne sing mbikin nggilani, pak?

imajinasi pakde emang kadang terlalu jauh, mon ....

Mar 2, 2010 13:23:48 GMT 7 saxman said:

Cool..

Btw ada ga yg jual di Indo?

kadang di pameran taneman yang agak gedean di jakarta ada aja yang jual, boss

[Antonio L]

kl sy kok pengen batu nya itu sy ambil trus dilempar ..he3x

[andreas]

Hello,

you seem to write a lot in colloquial language, the Google translator mainly fails to translate your posts.

I can only assume that some of you wonder if Lithops or seeds are available somewhere in Indonesia.

My start with Lithops turned almost into a catastrophe! I´ve learnt not to trust in advices experts give you! LOL ;D

I´ve had sown eleven packs of seeds of different Lithops taxa. That was late October last year. They germinated within only a few days and with a very good rate. But then several of the tiny seedlings disappeared just overnight! Soil too soggy! I kept it dryer - then many died of dehydrating!

Growing Lithops is really challenging - particularly if you grow them inside! But you can overcome problems by finding what works best for you under your special conditions.

In your tropical hot and humid climate growing Lithops can be rather tricky I think. They need distinct seasons for their growth cycle. I think daylength is an important criterion. Winter days don´t have to be longer than ten hours - but of course you can install a covering after 4 pm. The other question is temperature. I wonder how Lithops deal with very warm nights. In habitat they experience an extreme difference in temperature between day and night - particularly in summer. Summer days range from 30 to 40°C, but nights drop down to 10 - 15°C. Comparable to a desert situation - but not quite that extreme. Okay, Lithops don´t cause trouble when some nights are as warm as 25°C. Mind you, in summer! But what happens in warm winters? I´ve put mine below my roof window in the top floor next to my winter resting Sarracenias. Some of the heads burst! It was cold!!! 2 - 8°C in the night - rarely more than 12°C at daytime. Soil has to be BONEDRY in such conditions and also the Lithops heads (pair of lobes) don´t have to be saturated with water anymore! I put them back into my living room - next to my Nepenthes terra (highland terra) under my grow lights. Daytime temperatures are 18 to 22°C, nights drop to 7 - 13°C. Soil has to be BONEDRY as long as the heads are renewing. When the old heads have dried to nothing more than a skin you have to start watering again - but slowly! Only a little at the beginning and more the more spring approaches. Anyway: Watering Lithops means to treat them like cacti - it´s better to water too less than too much!

Then however in your climate you may have to water Lithops more often than I have to.

It would be good if you would know someone who has found a way to grow Lithops in your climate successfully. I know of a man from India who grows Lithops for many many years and has incredible plants. Take a look here: www.kkagrawal.com/lithopmulti/lithops.htm Unfortunately he doesn´t anywhere reveal how he cultivates them. I also don´t know if Krishna Kumar Agrawal still grows Lithops after he has moved back to India. He´s now living close to Jaipur. In doubt you could drop him an email to ask under which conditions they thrive in Jaipur.

I obtain Lithops mainly from Uwe Beyer, Cono´s Paradise, in Germany. I know Uwe ships to China and Japan and other Asian states. So, why not also Indonesia? You´ll find his shop here: www.conos-paradise.com/ At least asking is for free! ;D

So, finally some pics of other Mesembryanthemaceae ;D - lovely word, isn´t it?! - CP lovers actually must love as well, because they have some spikes at the margins of their leaves which resemble sharp teeth! They look like predators! ;D


Faucaria candida 'white flower'


Faucaria felina



Faucaria tigrina (seedlings)

Hope you like them.

Cheers,

Andreas

[yumcatz]

Yes, some of our member asked about where to purchase the plants. While others wrote using our local languange, Bahasa Jawa which named after one of our island, Java. ;D
.
However, importing goods here is very difficult thanks to the beraucracy and the traditional payment systems. ;D.

[bluey]

Hi there Andreas.
Sorry if some of our members using our local language ( Indonesia have lots of local languages ! ) and makes ya confuses with the translation.
Don't worry, some of our members will gives you ' translation ' if needed

Anyway, Its quite difficult to get lithops and like ' yumcatz ' said, " ... importing goods here is very difficult thanks to the beraucracy and the traditional payment systems. "
So its kinda frustating for some of us...

Thanks for your information.
Its very very helpfull.
Keep posting my friend

[andreas]

Traditional payments systems - what does it mean? You are still exchanging goods instead of paying with money - let´s say: someone gives you a tv and he gets a pig in return... ;D Sorry for being cynical! Seriously: You have no access to PayPal? International bank transfer between Asia and Europe can be a hassle! Alone because of incredibly high charges for the money transfer! PayPal is really a blessing...but not for those where the PayPal Ltd. hasn´t a subsidiary.

Cono´s Paradise is also selling seeds by the way. But I don´t want advertise for Uwe. Just meant to be an information. Probably Uwe doesn´t ship to Indonesia generally - I haven´t asked him. I only know he ships to a lot of Asian countries.

Kind regards,

Andreas

[yumcatz]

Not such a traditional :lol:. We are here still using printed money as the main payment instead the digital one like credit cards and e-money. Making credit cards here also not very easy as in USA for example. There are a very high income needed. ;D.