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Can you believe it's not a Mesemb? This is the last of my recent Crassula purchases - Crassula mesembryanthemopsis. What a beauty!! The photo doesn't do it justice (click for xxl). This plant came from a German grower. Big thank you to him~

I just realized that I haven't yet addressed the acclimation issue here directly but it is something all of us have good or not so good experiences with. Obviously not every Lithops or other succulent we grow is the one we grew from seed. A lot of them were acquired as seedlings, cuttings or adults. You probably also have noticed that the plants you grew from seed are stronger and healthier and don't die that easily. They hatched in your particular conditions and are used to the care you give them. They accept what they get without complaining while the plants we receive as adults first need to learn and get accustomed to the new situation they find themselves in. If you receive your new plant in the mail it's normally "bare-root" and you have no choice but to pot it. But also if you buy one in the local shop or at a nurcery, in its own pot and substrate, the first step should be re-potting. Even though it appears to not be helpful in terms of "easy transitio...

It's time to update you on my Frithia humilis seedlings (sown in June 2012). Over the summer, in which we have had hot t° and lots of sun for a prolonged peroid of time, the seedlings stopped growing long leaves they did before and changed their appearance to match the conditions thus looking much more like adults in their color and shape. Moreover they started to hide in the pumice stones whenever it got to hot which is a very much appreciated sight for any Frithia enthusiast. The plants react well to water but quickly return to their "short-fingered" state with old leaves fading into bright red color. That's exactly the habitat-like behavior and looks I was hoping for! Click on the "frithia" label below and scroll down to see their development from seed to today ;)

I recently got this older plant from an obviously very skilled grower in the UK and I'm really excited to grow it from now on. Such a majestic tree it is! I only have small pots to offer at the moment so from any point of view it's better for it to be elevated. And even like this the thickest part of the "trunk" ist still underground. The leaves are slightly different from those my younger plant has, more nananthus -like. My younger and smaller A. rubrolineata also has thick roots but even though it's raised up as well, modest as it is, it hides them behind its wide leaves.

Here's just a little something to lighten up our mood :) ☆

Here comes No. 2 of my recent purchases of compact-type Crassulas - C. 'Coralita'. I didn't know it before but Bob informed me that this is a hybrid cultivar from a crossing between C. perfoliata v. falcata (red flowers) and C. susannae (small size). Also, as the name probably suggests, its flowers should be pinkish-reddish. If you ask me what I like the most about this plant - the answer is on the second pic. The leaf surface looks like it was dipped into powdered sugar :) PS: C. ausensis ssp. titanopsis is currently growing even more flower stalks *joy*

My Avonia quinaria ssp. alstonii continues to surprise. Now explain this to me. From what I read everywhere Avonia quinaria is the only Anacampseros species that is not self-fertile hence needs a genetically different partner to develop seeds. Today I noticed three out of its flowers, now dried up, were still attached to the plant. Normally they drop very soon after they close, just as the other flowers did. Since I normally remove old rests of flowers or old leaves from my plants I pulled on them and felt they weren't exactly soft. It turns out there are seed pods with seeds inside. And most of them have a nice viable size and shape. How did this happen? It was flowering all alone.  I remember Bob Stewart warned me once that these girls are trouble XD