6 ms·

Lithops

91 points by tonyjstark 5y ago

adzm 5y ago
Lithops are pretty cool and a crazy exercise in patience. I've become very interested in succulent plants in general; they are rewarding to care for and propagate, and don't need so much attention. It's been very meditative taking care of these plants, whereas most other houseplants were stressful. There are a bunch of beautiful and fascinating varieties. Lithops are tricky though since they are so incredibly easy to overwater, but plants such as Jade and Haworthia and Echeveria and their various hybrids are much more forgiving.
- blacksmith_tb 5y ago
  I grew (and killed) lots of 'living stones' when I was a kid. It is a real exercise in patience to not water them - I suppose if your only houseplants were Lithops, it would make things simpler at least. Maybe I should devote a single window to them to see if I can force myself to stay away longer.
  - teknopaul 5y ago
    I have a few lithops, they are hardy but I have not managed to keep the all alive they need water from splashing rain drops but not directly applied water in my experience. I shelter them from direct rain and it seems heat and cold are not a concern. I have had one flower but I was away so I have never seen a flower in full bloom. I have seen a coue split in two, to form two separate individuals, something Wikipedia says they don't do. really good plants if you travel a lot.
emj 5y ago
One of my favorites is Mesembryanthemum crystallinum[1], these came up in the discussion on Freeman Dyson and his will to create plants with warm blood [0] [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30394933 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30394933 [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesembryanthemum_crystallinum https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesembryanthemum_crystallinu...
- soared 5y ago
  [0] is absolutely wild, great link. Lithops is interesting, but their growth rate is like 1% of many other plants.
lxe 5y ago
Affectionately known as butt plants.
- sebastien_b 5y ago
  "Butt plants", but a lot also look like brains (like the two hemispheres). Also some types look phallic.
wk_end 5y ago
OP, were lithops on your mind for the same reason they’ve been on my mind recently? “All Hail West Texas”? —— “Absolute Lithops Effect” is the last song on All Hail West Texas but was the first song written; it is the summation of the album, the opening statement and the closing remark. A lithop is a hardy plant, a succulent that looks like a rock until it blooms its gangly flowers. The narrator in this song is waiting, stuck in a way that feels painful and raw, but they insist on their own survival. No matter what, even if they remain trapped in this room, they will survive: “And I, I feel sure that my wounds will heal/ And I, I will bloom here in my room/ With a little water and a little bit of sunlight/ And a little bit of tender mercy, tender mercy.” This is the whole point. This is what John Darnielle has been saying for over 30 years as the Mountain Goats: You can survive, and you can survive on your own terms no matter what they are, and you will emerge from the darkness into the light if you have to drag yourself there bloody and howling. You have a light within you that no one can extinguish if you refuse to let them. Do whatever you have to do to survive. With a little water and sunlight and tender mercy, you will survive. https://www.stereogum.com/2176877/mountain-goats-all-hail-west-texas-turns-20/reviews/the-anniversary/ https://www.stereogum.com/2176877/mountain-goats-all-hail-we...
- nateburke 5y ago
  His best album.
- bobchadwick 5y ago
  Came here for this
aappleby 5y ago
My lithops is about five years old, it has flowered once and divided once in that time. I give it a teaspoon of water every couple months if it looks wrinkly.
- mikeywazowski 5y ago
  Nice! Yeah IMO waiting until they're wrinkly is the key. I killed quite a few through overwatering until I finally realised I needed to be more patient. My wife bought me five different coloured lithops for my birthday a few years ago. They're all still alive, and I think all of them have flowered at least once. I never water them unless they're wrinkly; when they are, I give them a small amount of water each day until they're smooth again.
choonway 5y ago
this brings a new meaning to 'rock soups'. apparently they are edible and taste like capsicum.
soared 5y ago
It amazes me how many semi common house plants only ever naturally lived in some small corner of the world, but can be found in livings rooms around the globe! I visited Puerto Rico a couple years ago and was floored to see one of the most common house plants (snake plant) growing everywhere, ten feet tall and thriving. Really cool. If anyone is searching for a good WFH hobby, houseplants are great! Buy the right ones and you can still travel for weeks at a time!
nojs 5y ago
I was expecting this to be about some kind of intersection of devops and lithography. I guess rock shaped plants are cool too.
- sebastien_b 5y ago
  Yeah, not exactly techy stuff, but interesting someone brought it up. My wife acquired an interest during the pandemic, so I instantly knew what this was about.
- shoo 5y ago
  lithops activities involve patching cracks with mortar, ensuring adequate stockpiles of stone and tools are on hand to replace any failures that occur due to extreme weather events, centuries of erosion, or physical shocks. which brings us, inevitably, to lithsecops some leading security-conscious lith-oriented organisations have embraced a shift down mindset to incorporate security thinking within existing lithops teams, either by embedding security experts in the organisational groundmass, or upskilling existing practitioners. many security concerns can be addressed easily and cheaply within the geological cycle by designing and forming rocks that are too heavy and awkwardly shaped to be easily stolen or otherwise misused by the majority of unauthorised actors.
Osborne 5y ago
[dead]
verytrivial 5y ago
Anyone who finds this interesting is probably already watching the YouTube channel 'Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't' but on the rare chance someone isn't: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MncyGuQc_gc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MncyGuQc_gc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4yHbM9w4BI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4yHbM9w4BI Probably in my top-three de-stressing channels. Warning: NSFW language, rambling, but deeply enthusiastic and knowledgable host.

91 points by tonyjstark 5y ago

adzm 5y ago

Lithops are pretty cool and a crazy exercise in patience. I've become very interested in succulent plants in general; they are rewarding to care for and propagate, and don't need so much attention. It's been very meditative taking care of these plants, whereas most other houseplants were stressful. There are a bunch of beautiful and fascinating varieties. Lithops are tricky though since they are so incredibly easy to overwater, but plants such as Jade and Haworthia and Echeveria and their various hybrids are much more forgiving.

blacksmith_tb 5y ago
I grew (and killed) lots of 'living stones' when I was a kid. It is a real exercise in patience to not water them - I suppose if your only houseplants were Lithops, it would make things simpler at least. Maybe I should devote a single window to them to see if I can force myself to stay away longer.
- teknopaul 5y ago
  I have a few lithops, they are hardy but I have not managed to keep the all alive they need water from splashing rain drops but not directly applied water in my experience. I shelter them from direct rain and it seems heat and cold are not a concern. I have had one flower but I was away so I have never seen a flower in full bloom. I have seen a coue split in two, to form two separate individuals, something Wikipedia says they don't do. really good plants if you travel a lot.

emj 5y ago

One of my favorites is Mesembryanthemum crystallinum[1], these came up in the discussion on Freeman Dyson and his will to create plants with warm blood [0] [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30394933 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30394933 [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesembryanthemum_crystallinum https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesembryanthemum_crystallinu...

soared 5y ago
[0] is absolutely wild, great link. Lithops is interesting, but their growth rate is like 1% of many other plants.

lxe 5y ago

Affectionately known as butt plants.

sebastien_b 5y ago
"Butt plants", but a lot also look like brains (like the two hemispheres). Also some types look phallic.

wk_end 5y ago

OP, were lithops on your mind for the same reason they’ve been on my mind recently? “All Hail West Texas”? —— “Absolute Lithops Effect” is the last song on All Hail West Texas but was the first song written; it is the summation of the album, the opening statement and the closing remark. A lithop is a hardy plant, a succulent that looks like a rock until it blooms its gangly flowers. The narrator in this song is waiting, stuck in a way that feels painful and raw, but they insist on their own survival. No matter what, even if they remain trapped in this room, they will survive: “And I, I feel sure that my wounds will heal/ And I, I will bloom here in my room/ With a little water and a little bit of sunlight/ And a little bit of tender mercy, tender mercy.” This is the whole point. This is what John Darnielle has been saying for over 30 years as the Mountain Goats: You can survive, and you can survive on your own terms no matter what they are, and you will emerge from the darkness into the light if you have to drag yourself there bloody and howling. You have a light within you that no one can extinguish if you refuse to let them. Do whatever you have to do to survive. With a little water and sunlight and tender mercy, you will survive. https://www.stereogum.com/2176877/mountain-goats-all-hail-west-texas-turns-20/reviews/the-anniversary/ https://www.stereogum.com/2176877/mountain-goats-all-hail-we...

nateburke 5y ago
His best album.
bobchadwick 5y ago
Came here for this

aappleby 5y ago

My lithops is about five years old, it has flowered once and divided once in that time. I give it a teaspoon of water every couple months if it looks wrinkly.

mikeywazowski 5y ago
Nice! Yeah IMO waiting until they're wrinkly is the key. I killed quite a few through overwatering until I finally realised I needed to be more patient. My wife bought me five different coloured lithops for my birthday a few years ago. They're all still alive, and I think all of them have flowered at least once. I never water them unless they're wrinkly; when they are, I give them a small amount of water each day until they're smooth again.

choonway 5y ago

this brings a new meaning to 'rock soups'. apparently they are edible and taste like capsicum.

soared 5y ago

It amazes me how many semi common house plants only ever naturally lived in some small corner of the world, but can be found in livings rooms around the globe! I visited Puerto Rico a couple years ago and was floored to see one of the most common house plants (snake plant) growing everywhere, ten feet tall and thriving. Really cool. If anyone is searching for a good WFH hobby, houseplants are great! Buy the right ones and you can still travel for weeks at a time!

nojs 5y ago

I was expecting this to be about some kind of intersection of devops and lithography. I guess rock shaped plants are cool too.

sebastien_b 5y ago
Yeah, not exactly techy stuff, but interesting someone brought it up. My wife acquired an interest during the pandemic, so I instantly knew what this was about.
shoo 5y ago
lithops activities involve patching cracks with mortar, ensuring adequate stockpiles of stone and tools are on hand to replace any failures that occur due to extreme weather events, centuries of erosion, or physical shocks. which brings us, inevitably, to lithsecops some leading security-conscious lith-oriented organisations have embraced a shift down mindset to incorporate security thinking within existing lithops teams, either by embedding security experts in the organisational groundmass, or upskilling existing practitioners. many security concerns can be addressed easily and cheaply within the geological cycle by designing and forming rocks that are too heavy and awkwardly shaped to be easily stolen or otherwise misused by the majority of unauthorised actors.

Osborne 5y ago

[dead]

verytrivial 5y ago

Anyone who finds this interesting is probably already watching the YouTube channel 'Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't' but on the rare chance someone isn't: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MncyGuQc_gc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MncyGuQc_gc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4yHbM9w4BI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4yHbM9w4BI Probably in my top-three de-stressing channels. Warning: NSFW language, rambling, but deeply enthusiastic and knowledgable host.