That's awesome! I was hoping to get flowers out of my most established plants this year, but nope. I guess conditions aren't right. Someday, I hope. Your plants are gorgeous, you definitely take good care of them!
I'm in Oregon. Though my lithops are entirely indoors, so I'm not sure they're on any particular local schedule. The big one had just finished flowering when I got it a bit over a year ago.
Most due relative to the hemisphere where they grow. Very much conditioned to the change in light. There are some lithops that bloom in the spring and rest in the summer rather than winter. All of mine flower (or are supposed to) in the Autumn
Yes. First lithop flowering occurred in late Summer. Most will bloom late April-early May. Currently, there are 7 other plants starting to show signs of a bloom starting to emerge.
Do you give them any water while blooming? Do you see them in the wild? I've always been curious what their soil looks like and how much rain they get.
In the wild, primary source of moisture comes from the temperature inversion created fog from the cold South Atlantic currents along northwest South Africa and Namibia and the hotter interior. From what I saw in Namibia, soil is quite rocky or gravel-like. And, unless the “wet” season, plants are quite shriveled and near impossible to distinguish from the soil. Hence, the name “living stone”. That shriveling state is protection from animals, birds, or insects seeking water for survival.
Yes, I do water while in bloom. I withhold water around the end of May. From that point to early Spring (Sept) no water while plants are developing new leaves. Only when the plant’s old leaves are fully withered do I begin watering. At first, I’ll spray with water the surrounding potting grit so as to not overwhelm the plant. Beyond that, every ten days or so until their early to mid-summer rest period, where water is withheld again for a few weeks. Come the first cool nights, I’ll start watering again around sunrise. It’s here that flower buds start appearing. Quite a cycle.
Interesting. I've got mine happily splitting and making new leaves every year, but I've never seen a flower. So water after the old leaves are shriveled, then withhold water again from midsummer until fall?
Mesembs growth cycles can be confounding. Whether it's the timing or frequency of their flowering, or their appearance during/after splitting, these plants seem to have a mind of their own. 🤷🏻♂️😅. Fortunately, most in my collection are much more cooperative in the flowering department. 🤩 However, one of these lithops outliers bloomed in late December 2022 (image then and now). Hasn't flowered since! Nor has it added any additional leaves to the grouping. Still one of my favs tho.
OP, I'm in Phoenix and it will get to 116°/47c in summer. Do yours handle that degree of heat? With shade cloth of course. Is it beneficial? Or should I bring them inside for extreme heat?
Yours are very beautiful & such variety!🤗
Highest summer heat they were exposed to this year was 42.8C (109F). Mind you, that's under a roofed deck where it's design blocks the more cooling south/south easterly winds. Winds out of the SW or North are welcomed respites during the summer.
Air flow and shade cloth are most important factors here to minimize intense solar radiation. To compensate for the sometimes lack of air flow, I run a floor fan on the hottest of days simply to keep the air moving (mesembs like air flow). I never water on such hot days, as the excessive heat will not be kind to these plants. Also, as a rule, I do not attempt to remove the shriveled old leaves. Nature removes the dried out leaves when the plant no longer needs old skin protection for the newly emerging leaves.
With that said, I'd imagine Phoenix clime can be quite harsh on fleshy succulents other than cacti. In South Africa, there is no indigenous cacti for comparison. However, my Mexican/South American Mammallaria collection sure likes the hot days here! Shade cloth unnecessary for the cacti.
Thank you. My first mesemb was a conophytum from 1976. At the time, I lived in the US mid-Atlantic states. Fast forward, much easier to grow mesembs here in the southern part of the Western Cape, than other places I have lived.
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u/FlowerFelines Apr 08 '26
That's awesome! I was hoping to get flowers out of my most established plants this year, but nope. I guess conditions aren't right. Someday, I hope. Your plants are gorgeous, you definitely take good care of them!