Hello. I've been a lurker for quite some time. Excellent website and great members! Without me having to post a single time everyone has answered all my questions regarding several Japanese Red Maple varieties. Thanks! But to the business at hand... I "rescued" a few lithops and a pitiful looking Pleiospilos from my local Lowes yesterday. The soil they're planted in is all wrong. Nothing but your basic potting mix. No sand, no pebbles. Just dried up potting soil with a LOT of peat moss. All the plants are suffering from too little sunlight and too much water (leggy growth and a few ruptures due to the excessive watering). I bought the necessary components to make my own Succulent potting soil mix but will use a little extra sand as that seems to be the consensus for lithops and many other mesembs (will use 2 parts sand, 1 part perlite, 1 part potting soil). I want to repot them as soon as possible. I know you always have to take extra care when repotting sick plants. But I'm not familiar with the root structure of lithops and other mesembs. Should I shake off all the old soil or would it be okay to gently wash it off before repotting? I'm a little worried about washing them since they've already obviously received too much water. Anyone have any thoughts about getting rid of this old soil? Any insights into the root structure? Also, any problems with my proposed potting mix? Thanks a lot in advance. Cheers!
Well, I repotted them. Now I have to hope for the best. I didn't wash the soil off, just gently brushed off most of it. They had a 2 1/2 inch long tap root with many fine hair roots towards the lower 1/3 of it. Hopefully they'll do okay. Also ordered an assortment of lithops, lapidaria, frithia, pleiospilos, and fenestraria seeds from Mesa Gardens. Everything I've read about this nursery glows with happy sentiments. And considering that I'll be getting nearly 2000 seeds of some funky and rare succulents for under $25, I'm very impressed. Can't wait for them to come in.
