Worth knowing:
The Living Granite resembles visually the Living Stones of the genus Lithops. The thick-fleshy leaf pair is connate directly at the base and appears like a small granitic stone that opens only at regeneration or flower formation. The Living Granite develops about 7 cm big, orange or yellow coloured flowers with a strong coconut fragrance, and blossoms unlike other species of the Pleiospilos already in early spring instead of autumn.
Natural Location:
The Living Granite has its natural habitat in the semi-desert Karoo steppe at the border between the western and the eastern Cape of South Africa.
Cultivation:
Seed propagation indoors is possible throughout the year. Spread the seeds onto finely sieved potting compost or cactus earth that contains about 25% sand and is moistened with a water vaporizer. For a light germinator you don’t need to put any potting earth on top. Cover the seed container with clear film to prevent the earth from drying out, but don’t forget to make some holes in the clear film and take it every second or third day completely off for about 2 hours. That way you avoid mold formation on your potting compost. Place the seed container somewhere bright and warm with a temperature between 20°C and 25°Celsius and keep the earth – preferably with a water sprayer – moist, but not wet. The first seedlings will come up after one or two weeks.
Place:
The Living Granite can be kept in half-shaded to full sunny places. On warm and sunny days, you may ideally spray the plant. During summer, you can also move your plant to a somewhat sheltered place outdoors, but only after a short acclimatisation period of a few days.
Care:
Water the plant once a week during the growth period, but avoid waterlogging in pot and saucer since that will cause the roots to rot. Even without watering the leaves will shrink only slightly and the plant stays strong for a couple of months. Matured plants can even endure a whole year without watering. From December until March, you should give a weak dosage of fluid fertilizer for cactus plants every three weeks. After one year, you can shift the plant into common cactus soil, but choose a tall pot since the Living Granite develops a deep reaching tap root. Further repotting can be done during spring every three to four years.
During the winter:
During winter, you can keep your Living Granite in a sunny place at room temperature. The plant will split up and shoot new leaves from the center, while it consumes all the water and nutrients of the old leaves. During this regeneration period you should water only sparsely and let the plants‘ nature take its course.
Picture credits:
- © © ZooFari - CC-BY-SA-3.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
- © Frank Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © Frank Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © Sabine Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © Sabine Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © Sabine Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © Sabine Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © Sabine Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © Hectonichus - CC-BY-SA-3.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
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