Lithops are called "living stones" for a reason. The English botanist Burchell, who first discovered this plant in 1811, while traveling through the desert area of the Great Carroe, once decided to rest and sat down next to a pile of pebbles. Upon closer examination, among these stones, he discovered plants that were almost completely identical in shape and pattern to pebbles. This is how lithops turbiniformis was discovered. The word "Lithops" comes from two Greek words "stone" and "appearance" or "lithos" - stone and "opsis" - to look. Currently, 37 species are distinguished.
The plant is from the sandy and rocky deserts of South Africa, from Namibia, Botswana and South Africa. The aerial part consists of two fused thick leaves, separated by a shallow gap, from which a peduncle and new leaves appear.
Lithops are super succulent plants belonging to the Aizoon (or mesembriantemic) family. The homeland of these unusual-looking plants is the arid regions of Southwest and South Africa. They are found on quartz, granite or limestone soils, sometimes even in cracks in rocks. Such habitats are extremely poor in water. Here it can be completely absent for months, and the annual precipitation does not exceed 200 mm per year. Moreover, the plants are almost all the time under the scorching rays of the sun. Only a small number of genera of flowering plants have adapted to life in such extreme conditions. Hence the unusual appearance of their appearance. Aizovye (or mesembriantemic) have been popular for a long time, and now they are one of the most interesting indoor plants. Lithops are precisely these plants. All aizovye grow in Africa,and the lithops are in the southern and southwestern parts of it.
Lithops are supersucculent, single-stemmed plants with two distinct "fleshy" leaves. The depth of the "cut" varies from genus to genus - it can be a shallow depression, and a cut that reaches the very ground. Plants of different species do not differ significantly in size - they all have a height of up to 5 cm. However, they are surprisingly diverse in color and pattern on the surface of the leaves, which makes collecting "living stones" an entertaining hobby. In the soil, the plants have a short stalk and a very long taproot, and between the leaves in the fall, white, pink or yellow flowers, similar to bright tassels, appear, which are comparable in size to the leaves and even exceed them. Flowers open in the middle of the day and close in the evening, and by the end of the flower's maturation they do not close at all. For several years, a mini-bed of lithops can fill a pot.
There are many “living stones” in nature, most of them belong to two genera - lithops and conophytum, but only a specialist can determine the species. In different species of lithops, the cut between the hoof-like, tightly closed leaves can be of different depths, while in conophytums it looks like a small dent on the top of a rounded "stone" from which the peduncle emerges.
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All lithops can mimic. This means that the color of the surface of the leaves repeats the general background of the area. By this, lithops are to some extent saved from animals that eat them. Growing up in the desert, lithops have to put up with a lack of moisture. These plants have very long roots that can go deep into the soil in order to get life-giving water, and during a drought period, lithops are generally able to burrow. This adaptability is provided by special contractile roots that pull lithops into the ground. The very accurate popular name "living stones" is quite consistent with the peculiarities of the shape and color of lithops.
What are the features of lithops that distinguish them from other succulent plants?
Lithops can tolerate temperatures above + 50 ° C in open areas. Lithops do not reproduce vegetatively, but at the moment of full growth of a paired leaf it is possible to divide it strictly in half, lengthwise - this is theoretically - I did not practice. Lithops grown from seeds should not be dived for the first year. The necessary components of the earthen composition for lithops should be clay and crushed red (preferably old) brick. The fruit with seeds should be taken out only the next year after flowering. The freed fruit must ripen for at least several months when stored dry in the dark. Seed soaking should not exceed 6 hours before sowing, as with very long soaking, seeds can germinate directly in the solution. Do not dry the seeds after soaking. In any case, transplanting and rooting should be done only during the growth period. Lithops cannot grow on soils that contain limestone. The growth point in lithops is located in the middle part of the neck, which makes it impossible to make a successful graft on another plant. The root system of mature plants is large and most of the roots are removed during transplantation. Growth of new roots to the previous size occurs within several days.
If you have a desire to grow such "pebbles" -lithops at home, then you need to make out in more detail what kind of plant it is. So, let's take another look from the other side, what are the “living stones” really? They are leafy succulents, as their leaves are juicy (“succus” in Latin means juice). Young plants of lithops are one pair of leaves that have grown together into a cone-shaped "body". More mature plants, growing, are denser clumps. Thus, lithops is a small stemless, leafy succulent. The upper part of the succulent leaves is truncated, flat or slightly convex. The color of the leaves has a wide range of colors, because lithops are disguised under both granite and lime stones, under crushed stone, sand. Lithops are called "super succulents" for a reason - they require a lot of sun (it's understandable why) and very little water (which is also clear).
Only on very hot days can they be lightly sprayed. From October to April, watering of Lithops is stopped altogether, kept at a temperature of 12-15 degrees, and they begin to water in late spring, when a couple of new leaves begin to appear. Lithops do not feed, they do not need it. They are transplanted when the lithops grow too much and they will live closely in the dishes. Lithops are planted in a container with good drainage, the substrate is made up of leafy earth and sand in equal parts. You can add a little clay, and sprinkle the top layer with fine gravel - it will look very decorative! Thus, lithops and related plants have a rather unusual and strange development cycle for our understanding. Each year, a pair of leaves is replaced by a new one. The gap in the new pair is approximately perpendicular to the gap in the old pair. Sometimes, instead of one pair, two adjacent pairs appear, having a common root system. Any of the pairs may eventually split into two more. In a few years, one pair can grow into a whole colony.
A similar cycle appeared in the course of evolution as an adaptation to a dry climate. Lithops (just like many other plants) track not only temperature and humidity, but also the length of daylight hours (Photoperiodicity), which is desirable to take into account in room culture. Usually on the surface of the soil there are two modified and highly thickened, variously colored leaves, which have a cylindrical or spherical shape. Under the ground, there is a shortened stem and a taproot that goes quite deep into the soil. The leaves are divided in the upper part by a more or less deep gap into two equal or more often unequal lobes. In some species, the gap is practically invisible, the leaves fit so tightly to each other. The surface of the lobes is flattened or somewhat convex, smooth, wrinkled or lumpy with more or less transparent spots,from grayish to olive green, called windows.
Through these windows, the sun's rays freely penetrate into the juicy leaf and hit the chlorophyll-bearing cells. They carry out photosynthesis. Between the windows on the surface of the sheet there is a varied pattern, specific to each species. These can be short strokes, lines, often branched or variably colored islets. During the dormant period of lithops in nature, the leaves are almost completely drawn into the ground, and only their upper flat part with windows remains on the surface. Over time, the old pair of leaves shrivels and dries up, and opposite to it, a new pair appears from the center. Thus, lithops always has only one pair of leaves per stem.
Lithops flowers (yellow or white, radially symmetrical 5-7-dimensional with a large number of sepals and petals) emerge from a longitudinal slit between two leaves. The flowering time is timed to the end of the growing period, from about September to November. Since the flower is quite large in comparison with the plant itself, it often covers the lithops almost entirely during flowering. Numerous seeds are formed in capsule fruits. In nature, they ripen during the rainy season (September to March).
Now, knowing the conditions in which lithops grow in their homeland, it is easy to imagine what needs to be done to make them cozy and comfortable in the apartment. Imported Dutch plants sold in stores are most often planted in a densely compressed substrate, consisting mainly of peat. In such a soil mixture, your new pets will not last long. That is why the first thing to do when bringing the purchased lithops home is to carefully free it from the soil. This must be done very carefully, since the root system of lithops in pots is rather weak and, in addition, can be severely damaged by inappropriate soil. The main taproot may simply be missing. If there are practically no roots, the plant will have to be re-rooted again. It is important that the root collar (the place where the shortened stem passes into the root) is not damaged. If the substrate,from which the lithops was taken out, it was waterlogged, the plant is dried in the air and only then is it planted again. Rerooting works well in dry (not wet!) Sand with sufficient light, not in the shade. The top layer of sand is periodically sprayed.
In intense sunlight (spring or summer), lithops are sometimes watered. Spraying is sufficient in winter and summer.
The most important condition for growing lithops is good lighting. They are even more demanding for lighting than cacti. Therefore, the plants are placed on windowsills, oriented to the south or southwest, as close to the glass as possible. Or they make artificial lighting. In winter, without it, even on the southern side, lithops can stretch out and lose their decorative effect. For illumination, two fluorescent lamps are sufficient, located at a distance of 10-15 cm from the plants. You do not only need to use halogen lamps for these purposes.
To protect plants from burns, they need to be shaded from direct sunlight, especially during the spring months.
In the autumn-winter months, the plants are dormant. In early spring they begin to water them, gradually increasing the amount of water. Lithops tolerate hard water well, but do not like droplets remaining on the surface of the leaves. However, spraying from a fine spray in the afternoon on hot summer days is good for them.
Lithops are propagated by layering or seeds. The second method, although more laborious, is used more often. Lithops' short stems rarely form branches that are easy to split. In addition, seedlings grown from seeds are more resistant to adverse external conditions and bloom more easily.
For sowing, shallow bowls are taken, which are previously kept in a strong solution of potassium permanganate for at least a day. The soil, consisting of leafy earth and coarse sand (1: 2), is steamed at high temperatures for prevention. It is good to hold Lithops seeds and potassium permanganate in a weak solution for several hours before planting. Pots with a hole are covered with soil 1-2 cm below the edge of the dish. The surface is carefully leveled with a small depression to the center, the seeds are laid out on it at a distance of 1-3 mm from each other and sprinkled with a thin layer of sand. To moisten the soil, the bowl is immersed 3/4 of its height in a weak solution of potassium permanganate until it is completely wet. Then it is covered with glass and placed in a warm place with a temperature of 20-25 degrees. The soil is periodically sprayed.
The first time seedlings dive in a year, planting them at an equal distance from each other in the same soil, but with the addition of granular superphosphate (1 tsp per 3 l of the mixture). When picking, the root system is carefully straightened so that it does not bend up, and then sprinkle well with soil. For the first time, the cut seedlings are covered with glass and kept in a place protected from direct sunlight. Then the glass is removed and placed in a sunny place. The second pick is the next year into the soil for adult plants.
As a fertilizer for long-term non-transplanted specimens, ammonium sulfate or potassium sulfate (0.2 g per 1 liter of water) can be recommended. This, combined with sufficient watering before budding, promotes abundant flowering.
