Caring for the "living stones" lithops and the conditions of their maintenance in the apartment

Amazing plants live in the lifeless space of the rocky African deserts. It seems as if they got here from another planet. Unusual appearance, extraordinary vitality and "habits" as in animals attract the attention of biologists all over the world. Speech, as you probably guessed, is about perennial plants of the Mesembriantem family - "living stones", or lithops. Easy maintenance makes it possible to keep these extraordinary representatives of exotic flora in urban apartments.

Let's take a closer look

Scientists do not for nothing call the climatic conditions of the deserts of Namibia, South Africa and Botswana extreme. The unbearable heat of the day, which mercilessly kills all life around, is replaced by the night cold. For many months, not a drop of rain falls on the parched earth. Lack of moisture and the burning sun do not allow the vegetation to develop. To survive, lithops babies had to adapt in every possible way to existence in such conditions. And now we have an almost perfect mechanism in which wise nature has calculated even the smallest details with pinpoint accuracy.

• Outwardly, the plant cannot be distinguished from small pebbles, not exceeding 5 centimeters. Hence the name of this exotic: Lithops, which translated from Greek means "stone appearance". Even the color of the leaves adjusts to the landscape. In nature, this property is called mimicry. And it serves to protect against animals looking for food.
• The ground part of the plant consists of two or more voluminous fleshy leaves fused at the base, separated by a slit. From them, you can determine that the plant belongs to succulents and the leaf plates serve as special reservoirs for the accumulation of moisture.
• The color of the leaves varies depending on the type of plant and the surrounding area. You can see grays, browns, greenish and even purple tones with or without patterns.
• Lithops have no stem, which makes it possible to reduce the evaporation area.
• The roots are many times the size of the ground part of the plant. And during a severe drought, they pull almost the entire plant underground.
• Only windows remain on the surface - patterns of a sheet plate. Through them, heat and light, necessary for photosynthesis, penetrates into the plant.
• A rather large chamomile-like flower appears from the gap between the leaves of a three to four year old plant. It opens by noon, and collapses with the onset of darkness. Such beauty lives a little more than a week. Under the influence of sunlight, the petals can change color: whites turn pink, and lilacs turn terracotta.

Advice

Lithops bloom at home should be expected from early August to November. But the ability to mimicry domestic specimens, unfortunately, lose.

A completely unexpected property of a plant, borrowed from animals, is molt. Yes, yes, don't be surprised. This is the name of the leaf replacement process. In February, the shell of lithops begins to wrinkle, dries up and bursts, revealing to the world two brand new perpendicular seedlings.

Advice

Do not remove old leaves from molting lithops. They serve as a source of moisture and nutrients for young embryos, and without them new leaf blades will not be able to gain strength.

Which type to choose?

For a long time, the plant remained unnoticed. Maybe it's because of the harsh climatic conditions of his homeland, which hinder scientific research.Or the fault is the excellent disguise - it is easy to pass by the lithops, not distinguishing it from an ordinary pebble. Only in 1811 this exotic plant was accidentally discovered by the English botanist Burchell. To date, science already knows 37 types of exotic stones. Moreover, these are specimens born by nature and artificially created by man. The most interesting ones become decoration of home collections.

• Aucamp - named after the girl Juanita Aucamp, a collector, explorer and a big fan of living stones. This specimen is rather large, with blue or brown leaves covered with a mesh pattern of windows. Pleases the owners with a bright sunny flower.
• Brownish - the green or brownish leaves of this plant are decorated with dark specks. The long petals of the yellow flower curl extravagantly downward.
• Keglevid - grooves and papillae are located on a pair of plump red-brown leaves. From above, the composition is complemented by an orange flower, up to 4 centimeters in diameter. Side shoots grow in old plants.
• Leslie - one of the smallest species with a varied color of leaves: from coffee with milk to dark brown with a pink tint. A distinctive feature is a thin pattern resembling a star, and fragrant white flowers that are quite large compared to the leaves.
• Marble - gray-green rounded veined leaves really resemble pieces of marble. During flowering, the plant looks like an expensive brooch, decorated with a large white daisy.
• Divided - received the name because of the beveled gray-green leaves, diverging in different directions and forming a deep gap. In autumn, medium-sized yellow flowers grow from the cut.

Intrigued? Then hurry to the flower shop and add "pebbles" to your home garden on the windowsill.

In the shop

Be careful when purchasing a succulent plant you like. First of all, pay attention to the following signs.

• The presence of spots, traces of mold and rot, damage. Even the slightest sign of plant unhealthy can turn into a big problem in the future.
• The degree of rooting of the flower. To do this, slightly shake the pot with the plant - it should sit tightly in the ground.
• The quality of the leaves - they should be fleshy, firm, brightly colored.

Advice

In nature, living stones are very miniature plants. Discard too large copies. Most likely, growth stimulants were used in caring for them. Such flowers are less viable and do not adapt well to home conditions.

How to care for lithops at home?

To make African guests feel cozy and comfortable in your apartment, you should create conditions close to natural ones.

1. Provide a high level of illumination. Accustomed to the bright sun, these plants grow beautifully on southern or western windowsills, and it is better to put the pot very close to the glass. Even direct sunlight does little harm to exotic species hardened by African nature. In winter, it is recommended to add artificial lighting.
2. Do not change the usual place and do not unfold the pot - lithops do not tolerate spatial movements well.
3. Of course + 50 ⁰Indoors is too much. It is worth creating more gentle conditions for the plant: +25 ⁰With summer, and +15 ⁰With winter it will be enough. The plant loves daily temperature drops, is sensitive to changes in atmospheric pressure and does not tolerate frost and drafts.

Advice

After a long gloomy winter, lithops need some time to get used to the bright spring sun. Therefore, it is worth temporarily rearranging the pot to the east side, since the morning rays are not too hot.

It is worth feeding this house plant only if it has not been transplanted for more than 2 years. In this case, the depleted supply of nutrients in the soil can be replenished with the help of special feed for cactus and succulents in weak breeding.

Exotic life cycle and watering

It is interesting that even home-bred lithops exactly repeat the life cycle of flowers growing in the wild.

• In summer, the home of living stones is drought. Succulents, fleeing the heat, go into hibernation. Nature has programmed the plant to do without moisture from the outside at this moment, using the reserve accumulated in the leaf plates. Therefore, it is better to stop watering in the summer.

Advice

You can sparingly water a flower in summer only if you notice a strong wrinkling of the leaves.

• By the end of August, the desert nights become very cold. Large temperature differences cause dew to fall out in the morning. Create a familiar atmosphere for the lithops - spray it with water from a spray bottle. This should be done in moderation, so that after half an hour there is no trace of the water.
• Autumn in Africa begins the rainy season - and the stones come to life. Their active growth, flowering and fruit formation begins. The plant now requires regular watering. One condition is to prevent waterlogging of the earthy coma.
• In winter, the lithops begin to molt. Young leaves have enough moisture, which the old shell gives them, so we completely stop watering and spraying.
• We will renew it only by the end of March, when the old leaves dry up and become thin as tissue paper. We water regularly until the end of the annual cycle, which falls on the end of May,

Advice

When watering the plant, you need to ensure that water does not fall on the surface of the leaf plates and into the gap between them. Otherwise, the flower is threatened with decay.

Do you need a transplant?

Of course, lithops, like all other indoor plants, need a transplant.

1. In the store, these plants are sold in transport peat soil, which is completely unsuitable for our stones. Immediately after the purchase, it is worth replacing the pot and soil, thoroughly cleaning the roots from the old substrate.
2. Once every three years, a planned plant transplant occurs, since the roots grow too much, filling the entire space of the pot, and the soil is depleted.
3. An emergency transplant should be performed if there are signs of trouble: waterlogged soil, traces of mold and rot on the plant.

The new pot should be 1.5 times deeper than the main root of the flower and wide enough. Drainage holes and a pallet are required. In the homeland of the lithops, stony soils are easily permeable to moisture and air. This must be taken into account when choosing a substrate. It is better if it contains clay, fine red brick chips, river sand with a coarse fraction and leaf humus. Do not forget about the drainage layer: expanded clay or pebbles are fine.

When all the components are at hand, proceed directly to the transplant.

1. Place a drainage layer on the bottom of the pot.
2. Sprinkle with soil on top.
3. Remove the plant from the old container.
4. Clean the roots thoroughly.
5. If they are overgrown, remove some of the processes.
6. Put dry roots in warm water for a few minutes, salted roots in acidified water.
7. Place the plant in a new pot and sprinkle with substrate without deepening the root collar.
8. Sprinkle with small pebbles on top - it will save you from moisture stagnation and decay.

Advice

Living stones do not like being alone. Therefore, it is best to plant them in groups, at some distance from each other.

How to propagate plants?

Over time, many species of lithops are overgrown with leafy shoots. They are often used for reproduction. To do this, during the vegetative period, the following manipulations are carried out:

1. cut the cuttings;
2. sprinkle the cut with ash or crushed activated carbon;
3. dry the shoots by placing them with the cut down;
4. after a week they are buried in the soil to the middle;
5. watering begins after a week.

The stalk should take root after three weeks. But this method of reproduction often fails - the cuttings do not take root.Therefore, at home, flower growers prefer to grow lithops from seeds.

1. To begin with, the seeds are placed in warm water for 6 hours.
2. At this time, prepare a container with a suitable substrate.
3. By dipping the needle in water and catching small seeds with it, they evenly distribute them on the soil surface.
4. Sprayed from a spray bottle, cover with glass.
5. The makeshift greenhouse is aired daily and the seeds are sprayed.
6. After 10 days, the first shoots appear, which are watered as the soil dries up.

New lithops dive only a year later. After transplanting, young plants need acclimatization: for some time they should be protected from direct sunlight and abundant watering.

Cautions

It is also worth adding lithops to your home collection because it practically does not get sick. Still, it is worth paying attention to a few points.

• Due to improper watering, an excess of moisture accumulates in the pot, which provokes the development of putrefactive processes. Without timely action, the plant dies.
• With a lack of sunlight, lithops can stretch out and weaken. In addition, when molting, old leaves do not dry out and interfere with the development of new ones.

They are afraid of lithops and mealybugs - a rapidly multiplying parasite that sucks juices from a plant. It is a tiny, up to 5 mm long, pest, the elongated body of which is covered with a white waxy coating. It can be located both in the roots and on the leaves of the plant. You can recognize it by the white bloom on the leaves. If you notice such signs, transplant the plant and replace the pot. Wash the leaves with a solution of warm soapy water, and then treat the whole plant with an insecticide such as "Aktara", "Fitoverma" or "Confidanta". At a late stage of infection, it is difficult to help the plant: the leaf plates turn yellow, wrinkle and dry out.

Observing all the rules for caring for lithops, you will definitely manage to grow healthy plants that will delight you with an unforgettable extraordinary appearance, surprise you with the exotic beauty of a flower and share the energy of the hot African sun.