I'm in agreement with madabouteu. Although H. fasciata does not usually have its leaves tightened up to the stems like that, I wanted to be sure. They grow on elongated stems (unlike H. attenuata). If the upper leaf surface had been free of tubercles--smooth--then I would've leaned toward H. fasciata. H. coarctata & H. reinwardtii have forms that look very much alike (suggesting they really might be just one species). I'm going to say it looks most like H. reinwardtii 'Zebrina', with the bands on the lower leaves instead of dots. You made perfect sense...descriptive words that paint a picture, even though we had photos to see! Thanks!

Thanks X! I tend to do well with orchids in sphagnum, so for now I think I'll keep my epis in it as well. I've done quite a bit of internet searching on epis over the last coupla days, and what I keep finding are all these complicated mixes -- very little mention of sphagnum as a pure medium. But I like sphagnum, so I'll give it a try with these guys. For the other species, I know it's hard to make an across-the-board recommendation. I think the hardest part for me is the "no peat" rule. I'm gonna have to spend some time looking around town to find any kind of pre-made medium without peat, or to find pumice, or to find coir. But I do know two places in town that sell Farfad, so I'm going to start there. I'm not quite dedicated enough (yet) to pay for shipping costs, so it's gonna have to be local. As for my growing environment -- in warm weather, I throw everything outside. Very little true full sun, mostly dappled shade to a few hours full. Knoxville, TN -- warm and humid, but not as bad as many other parts of the country. In cold weather, shelves in front of very large south-facing windows. I have had some trouble with rotting in the summers, because I haven't in the past done enough to protect the plants from watering. I gotta work on that next summer! My biggest succulent buddies right now are agaves and haworthias, especially a few variegated ones of each that I just bought. I would be very sad if I killed them this winter! Thanks for your input!

I agree that it is showing signes of etiolation. Thanks Neil that is what I thought it was. What started this whole thread was a question about the white markings on a Haworthia rosemarieo said was reinwardtii. That one had white dots where as mine has what looks to me like white ridges vaguely similar to the white ridges on my H. attenuata

As stated above, it is a seed pod. I use pieces of clear straws placed over the maturing pod. I usually don't wait until it turns brown; that is personal choice. I wait until the top just barely begins to split. I remove and plant immediately. This pod is too large for my straw!!!! I will be watching g it closely as it is a maughanii x pilosa cross Your pod is most likely the result of open pollination. The pod is three-chambered and will contain several very small black elongated seed. I sow in pumice fines or similar just barely covered. Best germination for me happens with cool night temps down to 62 ~ 64 F