The cultivation method of living stone plants in tropical regions
Are you curious about the experience of growing succulent living stone plants, the cultivation methods of living stone plants in tropical regions? Please correct me if there are any mistakes!
In the native habitat of living stone plants, the daytime temperature is usually warm, or even hot, but at night it is cool, sometimes even reaching freezing. Daylight hours are shorter in winter than in summer. Germany also has a similar climate. The only huge difference is that the native living stone plants can almost accept sufficient sunlight every day of the year, while in Germany, there will be long periods of frost and snow in winter.
Although I do not have experience in cultivating living stone plants in tropical regions. Tropical areas generally have smaller day-night temperature differences, higher humidity, and similar day and night lengths in winter and summer. Some of my guests living in tropical countries have tried to cultivate living stone plants in their environment, and it seems that living stone plants are relatively easy to adapt to different environments.
They may require two months of short daylight hours (to make the plants bloom). This condition can be easily achieved by shading them during the last part of the day. You can start with 12 hours of daylight and then manually shorten the daylight hours by one hour per week until it becomes 8 hours. Then spend about a month to return the daylight hours to their original length. This method helps the plants to bloom. If you have almost 12 hours of daylight every day of the year, living stone plants will continue to grow, but this can only be maintained for 2-3 years, after which the plants may slowly die. Moreover, it is unlikely to see them bloom during this period.
The most challenging part is the high night temperatures. Living stone plants prefer night temperatures between 0 and 10 degrees Celsius throughout the year. I've also heard that some enthusiasts in tropical regions put their living stone plants in the refrigerator every night. Although this is indeed feasible, it becomes a joke if you are cultivating a large number of living stone plants. Try to increase ventilation and place the plants in the coolest place you can provide to help you grow them safely. Light misting can also help to cool the environment. However, this also increases the humidity of the air, making it a bit too humid. Use your imagination; actually, no care difficulties are considered difficulties.
Living stone plants prefer to grow in acidic environments, so remember not to let them get rained on (is rain alkaline?). Also, do not increase the temperature and humidity. Just a few waterproof boards on top should be enough. However, make sure the medium is completely dry before watering.
Shading is sometimes necessary, especially when you introduce new plants and help them adapt to the new environment. Keep them away from excessive direct sunlight until they return to normal growth.
When the temperature is above 20 degrees Celsius, the germination rate will decrease, making seeding difficult. (The best temperature is 15 degrees Celsius under diffused light)
The plant will tell you where the problem is. If the body splits, it means excessive watering. Try to keep the medium dry. If new growth appears before the epidermis dries, it means they are growing too fast, which means the dormant period is insufficient. If the plant does not bloom in the current year, it means there is a problem with your daylight hours.
If your plants keep rotting, try to reduce the humidity of your growing environment, increase ventilation, and avoid any organic materials. Any gravel with low salt content is a good medium. Use fungicides only after all other attempts have failed.
You (residents of tropical regions) have an advantage condition: in the tropics, you no longer need greenhouses, and you don't have to spend a considerable amount on heating in winter.
Below is a conversation with Uwe. I will only translate a part of his response to me.
I first sowed Haworthia 20 years ago and achieved a germination rate of 97%. Although I tried to use my sowing technique at the time, I have never achieved such an amazing germination rate since then. Last year's sowing ended with a germination rate of 40%.
Your sowing temperature is very good (even though I said not to exceed 15 degrees Celsius), and after sowing, I often place the sowing container in a place without strong sunlight, keeping the internal environment moist for several weeks. I have a much higher loss rate for living stone plants than for Haworthia after sowing. The young plants of living stone plants easily rot and can be killed by the spring sun, but Haworthia seedlings generally do not have this problem. So for me, Haworthia seedlings are much easier to raise than living stone plants.
Besides, it is best to store Haworthia seeds for a few years before they are in good condition, but I am quite impatient, which has caused me to lose a lot of seeds (implying that very fresh seeds are not necessarily suitable for sowing). In addition to temperature and sowing time, my Haworthia sowing temperature is lower than that of living stone plants, and I sow Haworthia in autumn and living stone plants in spring, with all other sowing techniques being the same. After germination, I take some shading measures for the young living stone plants, while I do not shade Haworthia (this reverses my view of the weakness of Haworthia seedlings, and I always doubt whether I misunderstood that sentence). And I let the living stone plants go without water for 2 months in winter, while I water the Haworthia plants all year round.
These are my cultivation and sowing methods in Nettehoefede, Germany, where there is almost no sunlight in winter due to the mountainous terrain, which is not enough for living stone plants but is actually very good for my Haworthia.
The above is all about the cultivation methods of living stone plants in tropical regions, and green plant enthusiasts may refer to it for reference.