Today we will see what such an exotic guest of our apartments as lithops (living stone) is like and what the care of lithops consists of.
This genus consists of more than a hundred species and varieties. The natural habitat of Lithops is the sandy and rocky deserts of South and South-West Africa. In appearance, lithops resemble a forked hoof. The leaves absolutely imitate the stones on which they grow in deserts.
In fact, all lithops are composed of a pair of vertically accrete leaves. The plant reaches a height of 3 cm. These are highly succulent plants, like, for example, the well-known cacti. There are different colors of “living stones” – brown, green, gray. Typically, the leaves are decorated with a pattern that helps the lithops blend in with the desert environment. From time to time, a change of leaves happens, and this can make an unprepared gardener worry, because not everyone can take it easy on the fact that the leaves of their favorite plant are wrinkled and are about to dry out. There is no reason to worry if young ones appear between the old leaves. Despite the fact that lithops are like stones, they, like most plants, bloom. Flowering occurs most often from July to October. A peduncle appears above the leaves, which turns into a bud of size, most often exceeding the diameter of the leaves. The flowers are similar to daisies and rarely appear in numbers greater than 2.
The root system of plants goes deep into the ground.
Lithops care.
Since this plant is native to deserts, it prefers to be in bright sun all year round. The most suitable place in the apartment is the southern window sill.
The temperature in the summer must be maintained at a level of 22-25 degrees, and during the rest period 12-15, but not lower than 7.
The lithops period lasts from April to September, and during this period it is worth watering the plant very carefully, once every two weeks. After that, watering needs to be reduced, and from January to March, and completely stop.
Among other things, lithops do not need to spray the leaves at all, but it is advisable to ventilate the room in the summer.
If you want to feed the “living stone”, you need to do this no more than once a month in the summer. Fertilizer for cacti is considered the best.
The soil should consist of deciduous humus and sand in a 1: 1 ratio, and lithops should be transplanted when the plant grows strongly.
If you want to start propagating these amazing plants, you can do this using seeds that appear after flowering, or by separating young shoots from older specimens.
During the dormant period, it may happen that the plant will hit the worm, in order to avoid this, you need to treat it with protective agents while the “living stones” wake up from hibernation. If the prophylaxis stage was successfully skipped, and the pests are wound up, you can get rid of them with the help of garlic gruel and soap with the addition of water.
