It was in 1973 that I first got in contact with growing cacti. A book on the subject got me all hooked. From then on the addiction did just grow. Although I started with a very mixed collection, grown on window sills all over the house, I felt that I needed a greenhouse. I did buy and build a "kit" greenhouse, UK made, in my backyard in February 1976. What a wealth! I directly felt attracted towards "unpopular" genera in the cactus world, Parodia ss and Weingartia ss not to name them.
My original "mixed" collection, cacti from North and South America was narrowed down to almost only South American species after a couple of years. I only kept some individual plants originating from North America because I particularly liked them or because I wanted to see if they really presented a challenge in sowing and cultivation. I have cultivated that sense of "challenge" all over time, trying difficult cacti and trying to raise them without the need of being grafted.
In 2003 I was able to acquire some additional greenhouse equipment when our research campus moved out to another location and the huge research greenhouses were abandoned. An additional outside table was transformed into a cold frame by building a home made roof over it. Total surface got up to about 11 square meters now, an absolute maximum as all the outside stuff had to move in/out of the main greenhouse, under the benches, to get in or out of hibernation.
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| In early Spring |
Although I was able to build a very large group of international cactus friends, a lot of them from former East-Germany and beyond, from which I got terrific and genuine plant material, I felt a sudden urge, around 2004-2005, to find a new challenge in growing succulents. For no particular reason I thought that growing Lithops could be something worthwhile to try. It was just a random choice as I knew almost nothing in particular about the genus, ok actually nothing at all, but then of course I was not completely illiterate about "non-cacti" succulents and in particular those growing in South Africa! Several of our club member-growers were enthusiastic South African flora collectors. In December 2006 an excellent opportunity did appear. I was offered a lot of collection surplus Lithops which was to be sold at a very decent price, and from there on, the rest is history. I did dig in with the same addictive eagerness as I did my cacti!
It is very unfortunate that one has to find out that there is a lot of conflicting information on the internet when it comes to growing Lithops. Even worse, there is a lot of very curious, mythical, alchemist, witchcraft, completely inconsistent or plainly wrong information on the internet when it comes to growing Lithops, and all of it is happily shared just adding to the general confusion.
Social media groups are probably the worst source of info because of their cyclic redundancy and the need to repeat information about every day for "newbies", who apparently are not capable of reading/searching for old postings.
Members of groups seem to search for instant gratification and a quick recipe "one size, fits all, no effort" and even worse, all seem to be in need of having their advisory "say" after 3 postings, newbie or not, picking up other people's advice without having a clue about its context and selling it as their own not bothering too much to undertake any serious research about the validity of the claims they make, even if they give it the wrong interpretation. Confusion galore! Youtube doesn't seem to be much better after all, spreading curious plant cultivation myths that cannot be debunked. Unfortunately all this bickering does not bring anything useful for a successful cultivation of complex plants, like Mesembs. So, if you are just an occasional "gimmick/gadget" collector then these pages here may be just boring for you, there are no "ready made recipes" here, if you are taking up cultivation as a serious matter then please read on and find leads for your proper research!
So, in the end, the reason for starting this blog/site is because some people convinced me to write down my methodology and concepts, against my better knowing. I flatter myself that my methodology is largely based on Lithops habitat conditions, the way I understand them and transposed in the best possible way under a completely different climate because I live at 51° N.L. So, bear with me if you want to see what, how and why I do things.
Cheers.
