Lithops, Gibbaeum & Frithia Pulchra

Lithops are an enigma to me. They are a very small succulent from South Africa. They consist of pairs of "leaves" living side-by-side almost flush with the soil unless it is watered too much. The white daisy-like flower, which I excitedly saw a few months ago grows up from between the "leaves."

So, why is it an enigma? This is my second lithops plant. The first one I kept for over a year and I THINK I must have overwatered it. I thought it would recover but, no matter what I did, it just died. The way I kept it for a year was that I would water it half as often as the other cacti and then only with 1 tablespoon of water. I would mist it with water quite often. I kept this up until I placed it outside. I thought that they had a growing season and that I should water it a little more. NOPE! Anyway, I decided to try again. This one, I have treated slightly different. I have not watered it any more but I didn't mist it enough, I think. I placed it outside a few weeks ago and, so far, I haven't noticed anything except that it is more wrinkled. I am watering it slightly more than normal but I am also trying not to water it too much like before. With Lithops, the watering dance is very delicate.

Here are some guidelines for Lithop care:

-Water when dry with 1 tablespoon of water from late spring to early summer.

-Stop watering during its summer dormancy.

-Give the plant just a little water if it begins to shrivel during dormancy.

-Resume watering in late summer to early fall.

-Keep the plant dry through winter and spring.

-Allow old leaves to completely dry up as new ones grow by not watering.

-Fertilize sparingly.

This is a type of Gibbaeum. I haven't seen this one flower but I have seen it develop new growth between the old leaves and watch the old leaves dry up. Supposedly, if you water them well in autumn, it will flower in autumn. Then you don't water much at all at any other time.

Frithia Pulchra, or Baby Toes, is a truly unique plant. The leaf tips have translucent windows which are able to diffuse bright sunlight. They will flower with clusters of pink and white blooms but I did not see this one bloom before it came to its own end. You see, these plants only live around 5 years before baby Baby Toes inherit the soil in which it is planted. If you look at the picture above closely, you will see a small baby peeping up in the middle of the fray. There are 2 or 3 more babies underneath a couple of the old wrinkled leaves. When I thought that I had lost this plant, I became very happy when I spotted the babies! I hope I can keep them alive!

They require light shade, a dry summer and thrive above 61 degrees Fahrenheit. This species is also called Fenestraria rhopalophylla.