Transplanting for those who live dangerously (4 pics)

Okay, what I'm about to describe below is not the correct way of transplanting, in fact it's very risky and I would never do it with lithops and other mesembs because they rot easily. Yesterday however I was facing a challenge of transplanting over 60 Anacampseros seedlings (An. retusa fa. rubra, An44) from the 5cm container they were growing in. Basically it looked like this:

My goal was to give them more room to grow but at the same time not to use more than 4 new 5cm pots. Also, I wanted to do it quickly. Anacampseros are easy and don't rot when young (rotting sometimes happens to adult plants with thick roots) and I have way too many of them to worry.

The method is simple: fill up the new container with dry pumice, then water the top layer (really just as much as necessary, don't make the whole thing wet), poke holes into it and stick in the plants. 

This way you can fit up to 25 plants all neatly into one 5cm square pot quickly and with little effort.

Remember, if you're not afraid to lose plants and need to do the transplanting in a hurry this is the method to go for. BUT if you use it for mesembs the risk is very high - the seedlings might turn to mush the next day. I warned you! In case of Anacampseros, I have transplanted all my seedlings (hundreds of them) using this method a couple of months ago and had zero losses (you've probably seen the LQ pictures of my huge plantation over on Twitter). Young Anacampseros are low-maintenance.

The new Anacampseros free seed list! (2 pics)

Hi guys!

I finally found time to compile the Anacampseros seed list. If you are fascinated by these plants as much as I am make sure to check it out here or to the right under "new!"

Also, this is my 600th post. Congratulations to me :D

Transplanting in general (7 pics)

I've been doing some transplanting. And there is more to be done because I really want to sow again very soon, all the seed rests that are probably not viable anymore, some of my own seeds (Avonia!), and some conophytum seeds I bought this year.

So this is how it goes. 

Step 1. Squeeze the container from all sides. This is why we use plastic and not clay ;)

Step 2. Pull out the plants. If they don't come out easily, stop pulling and squeeze the pot again.

Step 3. Now fill a pot with fresh dry pumice, up to the top.

Step 3.1. Examine your plants for bugs and remove all old soil from the roots. It's ok to pull off some roots as long as the main root is intact. Don't be squeamish. I usually rip off some of the main root as well if it's too long. If you are transplanting from dry soil into dry soil the plants won't mind (roots inactive).

Step 4. Use a stick to plant the seedlings into the container by dragging them down by the root (in case of adult plants you will need to wiggle the stick to let the pumice stones collapse around the plant and drag it down on their own). You can arrange them to your liking and put really a lot of plants all in one pot this way, saving precious space.

All done.

PS: I actually thought I could put a couple more trays on the windowsill but it looks like it's occupied now :D

Flowering season of sorts (7 pics)

Winter is coming. It's dark when I go to work, it's dark when I come back home. Oh and the sun is rarely shining on weekends. That's a bit annoying after the rainy summer we've had here. Still, some lithops and conos have been flowering and there are currently 4 more lithops buds growing. That's not bad considering the conditions they had to endure this year. Strangely (or not?) the lithops that grew flowers this year are all the usual suspects, the plants they are flowering for me every year, L. bromfieldii 'Sulphurea', L. fulviceps 'Aurea' and L. dorotheae. If not for them I would not have any flowers at all. I'd recommend north-earopean growers to have those in their collection if they want to see flowers.

L. bromfieldii v. insularis 'Sulphurea' C362

L. fulviceps v. fulviceps 'Aurea' C363 

L. dorotheae C300

I kept last year's seed capsule to see if the plant will grow flowers out of the same head every year. This is what it's been doing for several years now. This year however the usual flowering head is resting while the other two are growing flowers.

Conophytums were more eager to flower. I could even catch flowers on the plants that have not flowered before.

Conophytum meyeri 'Leopardium' - that's one very yellow flower!

Conophytum verrucosum 

And of course Avonia quinaria ssp. alstonii was so kind to show some flowers as well. Good timing too - I was able to catch them on camera. I really want to grow these plants from seed. So far I was not successful.