Hanz, thank you for stirring the obsession into high gear. I was just teasing. I am growing quite a few different varieties from seed. Due to your post I purchased quite a few more varieties. X, That is wonderful information. Most of the day when the sun is out my greenhouse stays nice and warm. It just dips into the upper 30's lower 40's in the evening and during cloudy days. Thank you for the information. It seems they will do well in my greenhouse.

Benard - Things didn't go that well for my seedlings while I was gone. Two small pots were knocked over at my office and I'm able to save maybe three seedlings from those. I think my coworker was too worried her window was too bright and she moved my seedlings under a very dim CFL lamp instead. They became etoliated, but should recover just fine under better light. Here are my Neohenricia seedlings, now at 5 months: Here are my Lithops seedlings, now at 2 months and combined into a single pot: And lastly, here are my Titanopsis seedlings, now at 3 months: The other four pots with seeds I had let dry out. In a week or so, I will try to germinate them again.

Kim - Yes, I water my Fenestraria quite often. Can be a very thirsty plant! If your Pleiospilos has 3 stacks, you can give it good light and wait until the third set is absorbed. I'm no expert on Pleiospilos yet, still working on that. =) I really don't think soil is required for fine rootage with Mesembs. Here are the roots of one of my Cheiridiopsis in gritty: Rika's Lithops photos and descriptions are pretty fantastic. I spent a long time reading every post (currently around her 2012 stuff). Hopefully you'll get to see her approach to growing/learning to grow Mesembs. You can also try straight pumice for a month or two and see how that goes? Sounds like you will be pretty attentive and I doubt you'll kill them! As for repotting, make sure to get all of the old soil off. Soaking/swishing in water helps, as well as a little bit of spray. It's very important to get all the old soil off. Take photos of the roots and things as you unpot and wash them off - always helpful later if you run into trouble later. Rina - Eventually, I need to get a drill bit for pots! So far my drilling adventures are plastic pots only.

Most sources that I've read only recommend fertilizing once per year or very little, but I'm very skeptical how true this is. Like many recommendations on fertilizing, it has many assumptions which don't apply to all growers. Your soil mix and it's CEC (Cation Exchange Capacity) is important - how many nutrients it can hold and how tightly it holds onto them. My mixes are mostly grit, which has low CEC and nutrients leech out fairly quickly. Fertilization should be adjusted based on your mix, watering, and flushing frequency. If you really want to understand fertilization, nutrients, and its relation to your own soil mix, a EC/TDS meter is essential. Otherwise you are just guessing about what's happening. Not that it's a bad thing with a general approach, all depends how deep you want to go. =) Light is very important and I think this is the main reason for fertilization limitations of Mesembs. The majority of growers are not using grow lights and if they are, not at high intensities. By artificially holding back nutrients, I think the general advice aims to reduce leggy growth. This could be equated to over-wintering. For me, I have very bright lights and am able to let my Mesembs grow freely without etoliation. For the past year, I have also been fertilizing every other watering at 0.6mS/cm with Miracle Gro 12-4-8 with no apparent ill effects. My Mesembs are compact, colourful, and clumpy. Currently growing these genus: Aloinopsis, Antegibbaeum, Cheiridopsis, Corpuscularia, Faucaria, Fenestraria, Gibbaeum, Lapidaria, Lithops, Neohenricia, Pleiospilos, Rabiea, Stomatium, Titanopsis. At least, this is my theory and practice! I know many others have been growing Mesembs for much longer than me, so I am curious to their approaches.