I wish all Mesembs were blatantly obvious about their intentions like the Pleios are! They are so easy to understand. Steven Hammer says observation is the key to understanding what your plants need. I'm beginning to see what they need by looking each day. They seem to tell you what they want if you pay attention. I'm so cautious with Lithops though. I'm afraid I'll kill them but I don't like the horrid shriveling they seem to be experiencing right now. I'm just trying to trust my instincts. Amy Pleiospilos bolusii

Oh, my bad, didn't finish reading your original post. Glass jar? Unless it has a drainage hole and provides good air flow, otherwise that doesn't sound like a good permanent home for succulents, especially these guys. They are quite easy to overwater and leaves will burst and causing rot. If you're planning to grow these make sure you get them a nice pot with great drainage, research on the soil mix on the forum so you'll give them a happy home. Good luck!

It's cool that you're local :) SF, South bay, etc? I'm south bay WARNING: ESSAY-LENGTH RESPONSE AHEAD: Indeed, it does sound like too much sun & heat. Although it's true that C&S can withstand difficult climates, it seems to me that the common misconception is people often think they can bring home a C&S that has been sitting in a shady area and just plop it in their sunny front yard or window, thinking it'll be fine (I've been guilty of this :p). The key here is that you have to acclimatize the C&S to the weather- get it used to taking that much sun and heat. A sudden change in weather for any C&S won't be a good thing. I have had some tough ones survive though. They just didn't look too pretty with sun burn scars. Brown and clearish sounds like they skipped the sun burn part and turned straight to dead mush. I've had that happen too.... they looked very creepy. Very zombie-colored... Not all lithops species (C&S in general) are not all created equal. Some may be tougher than other in terms of survival or prefer certain climates (coastal lithops vs. desert lithops). I also have not had the best luck with big box store lithops. I feel that they are too pumped full of fertilizer and whatnot (to get them to grow faster) that they don't do well for too long after you bring them home. I like to visit this nursery called Dry Garden in Oakland for lithops and conos. They do not get their lithops from big box stores. Not usually anyway. I also like to buy lithops from Mesa Garden & Arid Lands In my experiences for the last few years of growing lithops, is that you're always bound to kill at least one per yr. LOL. You can't be too harsh on yourself. Since you live in the same climate, I would actually suggest C&S soil for lithops & not 100% pumice. Definitely do not buy garden soil or whatever other "normal" soil. That contains too much organic and water retentive matter. The reason I don't suggest pumice for you is that I've tried it, and my lithops didn't enjoy it. 100% pumice means ZERO moisture.... so my lithops looked very sad and wrinkly when it was warm. I've talked to others in similar climates and I've heard similar experiences as well. I think it may be too hot and dry here to use 100% pumice. HOWEVER.... If you live in the city (SF), you may want to try 100% pumice, as it is much colder up there. :) Steven Hammer (famous mesemb grower) refuses to use 100% pumice, so I'm also determined to try growing without pumice. For watering, the lithops do have a cycle of growth (read me) you must align your watering regime to. However, don't try to follow this cycle like a rigid schedule. All lithops will have some variation. Some might start absorbing old leaves later or earlier in the year than others. Rather than following a schedule, you should observe the lithops for signs of change. Also, I've learned that it's not good practice to withhold water from your lithops for months - except when it's producing new leaves of course. That should be the only time you withhold water. IF you buy any lithops that are already producing a new set of leaves, definitely don't water, no matter what season it may be. Resume watering when the old leaves have dried to a thin sheath (see pic). After 1st watering: See how it is perking up and breaking the sheath? Yum, water! Anyway, I try not to be afraid of watering my lithops, because if you get the lithop used to light waterings, such as spraying, the lithops will not grown extensive, strong roots as they are meant to. I even water during "dormancy" season, if I see that my lithops are getting wrinkly. But, if I am not feeling confident about watering my lithops but I also feel that it does need some water, I will spray downwards near the base with a spray bottle. feel free to ask me to elaborate on anything or ask more questions.... But note that what I am telling you are only my own experiences in a specific climate. :) Here are some interesting links: http://www.lithops.info/en/gallery/images.html https://lithops-stories.blogspot.com/ https://lithopsblog.wordpress.com/2017/02/06/growing-lithops-from-seed/ http://www.smale-conophytum.co.uk/grow_lithops.htm

I do appreciate that meloformis! Lovely colour, too. The greenwayi looks almost like a variegate. I got a variegated mamillaria recently. I think I must do a euphorbia post for my latest. The usual euphorbias for sale are crown of thorns, trigona and the other cactus-like ones. Oddly enough, this nursery also had a gorgonis. I think I'll go back and get one of those. As for the usual suspects, our mesemb list is like yours, except for fenestraria, those die in summer rainfall climates. We also see Pachypodium lamerei, haworthia: attenuata, coarctata and limifolia, lots of aloe hybrids, senecio, cacti: mamillaria and astrophytum. Gasteria of various kinds but mainly hybrids. I don't have a peculiaris although I have robusta and denticulata. Cheirodopsis will fit right in to your climate because they are also winter rainfall plants. Don't water yours now, you will see it get going when the weather cools down, mine are busy growing new leaves right now and they do nothing all summer although I do leave mine out in the summer rain and they don't mind, so long as the soil drains well. I know this is heresy to most but I have been growing quite a few mesembs in straight potting soil. So long as they aren't overwatered, the easy mesembs appreciate the organic mix, they aren't plants that like poor soil. Those fine little roots spread around all over the pot. Even the picky ones like pleiospilos nelli, lithops, fenestraria, lapidaria that grow in more traditional sandy mixes, the emphasis is on well-draining small sandy particles, not large gravels or pumice. I try and use large clay pots for the mesembs, with large pebbles on top of the soil to keep the roots cool and water the easy ones whenever they are dry