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Well, I got myself a new CASIO Exilim (EX-Z2000) after all. I'm really bad with any kind of change (the Japanese would say it is because of my blood type, haha). So far I'm satisfied, but there's yet some major testing to come. This is my first test of the supermacro function. A pretty lithops fulviceps C170 had to pose for it. Looks like I'll need a tripod and some practice on the focusing, but considering that in this light I couldn't get any usable picture with my old camera, the abilities of this one look promising :)

There were signs of it before but now it's definitelly over - my camera said goodbye. I'm looking for a new one. Any recommendations? I had an older model of Casio Exilim and liked the pictures I took with it but it now broke for the second time in four years so I'm not sure I want a new model of the same brand. Also I'm not sure I should buy it in Japan, with guarantee and all.. Well anyway, to end this post on a happier note, here's a picture of my two hallii from back home. I'm very excited to see how they've changed this year. Until then I have yet some new purchases to show :) (Once I found a new camera..) C119 (l) & C052 (r) PS: ordered more seeds!

Today another beautiful plant arrived at my home. Yes, it's one plant! I'm so excited :)

Yes, I keep buying plants! Signs of withdrawal? :) Which makes me seriously worried about how to transport all this to Germany. I'll probably try sending a couple of plants with Express Mail Service soon to see how it goes.. and also because the plant growing conditions in my flat here are very very bad (the only light source is a desk lamp, haha). Plants with 1 or 2 heads can easily be sent with bare roots, but I wonder what to do with this one. It a helmutii C271 , an older plant (almost a bush) with 11 heads. I just couldn't resist. Never seen such a 'big' lithops before: you know I'm still quite new to this, my plants at home are pretty young. I hope I'll grow them to a bush-size myself oneday.

There's another curious thing about the lithops from the previous post . It looked like this the day I bought it... ... the next morning I found it looking at me! Everytime a two-headed lithops shows the new leaves or flowers synchronized like this it gives me a chill, haha.

This fella started his annual change as normal as it could but now that it's almost through with it it looks like something went wrong. I'm having various theories as for what happened here: is it trying to a) complete a yin-yang circle? (should I start worshipping it?) bite its tail? c) hug itself? d) find The Light? I sure hope it's healthy, because it looks like the part that is near to the ground is, well, not done yet: it's transparent and doesn't have any pattern. Still, it's firm and is growing fast, so maybe it's nothing or it'll get over it. I doubt that an insect would bite it to make it look symmetrical like this (unless the bug had an artistic disposition). It also looks funny if shot against the light! PS: purchased in Tokyo under the description lesliei v. minor "Witblom" C006A x lesliei v. lesliei "Fred's Redhead" hybrid. If it survives I'm thrilled to see what color the flower would be. PPS: I have real troubl...

I've already told you that I'm not particularly careful with my seedlings: I don't use any extra light sources or try to keep them warm. Mostly my strategy so far was to get them used to a 'grown-up' life as soon as possible, and it wasn't as bad an idea as you might think. I guess, the chances also depend on the kind of lithops, but watching their development closely it's still possible to step in if something goes wrong. Here's a sample of the kids I've sown in April 2008 (This was my first attempt and I got some of them burnt by the sun. I could avoid that mistake the year after). I let them 'hatch' in a normal cacti soil you can get in every store sometime in early spring (march or april) on a south windowsill. For the first two months they mostly stay under a see-through cover to keep the soil moist (so I don't have to mist or water them every day) - I would remove the cover every now and then every day to let fresh air in though. Af...