Some of my S. African friends in motion - even if it's slow motion. The Karoo Rose is a really fascinating, confusing ball of wrinkles and showy, bright blooms; in this stage, I could watch it unfolding in almost real-time. I did try the "paint brush in the flower pollen," but across species. It will produce no Karoo Rose x Lithops hybrid. Or will it? Every one of these "open, split horizontal, open, split vertically" came from the same ooze with a slightly different taxonomy. Dreamy Sunday thoughts. Note the brownish red Lithops duo who refuse to eat their young thus far lol. Also, check out those tiny lithops, who are at least two years old. I thought about tossing them, twice, but the roots are very established and clinging. Fun fact: I recently read that Lithops do benefit from a fertilizer, but the nitrogen should be low-ish. Lithops and all the scorched desert/ quartz mine dwellers absorb nutrients more slowly because, well, the organic matter in a quartz mine is scarce. Slow chewers who like light drinks of water, basically...but I am also insistent on an occasional Spring bottom watering. But maybe now I get what people mean by "fertilizer them sometimes." I'm not a flipping greenhouse so IDK. That kind of accounts for the more humidity-gathering blue columnars and melocactus who live in similar inorganic conditions. They are so slow to mature for a reason. Same with barrel cactus, etc. etc. Yes, that outdoor cactus is thriving in completely impacted sand and rocks, and it knows what it's doing. Don't dig it up and add Pearlite :) Okay, enough fake Scientific Model talk. Look at my flowers.
