Hi all, posting here because apparently this is too obscure of a hybrid to find good literature on it.
I've had this Faumatium (Faucaria x Stomatium) for almost a year, but it's not exactly thriving. Here are my growing conditions:
- Indoor at a constant 68F, dry air, thru the winter. Will move outside when temps allow
- Under grow lights providing 500+ umol for 10h/day thru the winter, increasing to 12h recently to match outside photoperiod
- Potted in 80-90% inorganic medium
- I water like I water my other succulents: put in a bucket when the leaves start getting soft, give a bath for 10-20min, drain, place back on shelf. The saucer is just to protect the shelf surface from residual droplets, it does not sit in water
- Started noticing new growth about 2-3 months ago. Unlike with my lithops and pleiospilos, I did not stop watering and let old leaves reabsorb, I continued watering on above cue
The issue: old leaves are sort of always mushy, not quite rotting, but not dessicating either. They do not get fully turgid even after a deep watering. If I really watered at the first sign of softness I would be watering at least weekly, which feels like a lot for a mesemb. I think my watering cue is wrong. Would love to hear from y'all!
by RejectedCanadian
4 Comments
These guys, like their Faucaria parent, don’t re-absorb old leaves when putting out new ones. (I mean, they occasionally do, like any succulent, but not systematically like a lithops.) Beyond that, and the sense that watering while growing is good, I can’t really tell you anything, since yours is way happier than mine. 🙂 The tight tangle of leaves makes them very sensitive to humidity, but your set-up sounds great on that front…
I looked up the notes on care I found:
* ample sun, good drainage, infrequent water (70% grit)
* magenta color in direct sun
* more water in Sp/F, less in W/S
* fast growing in large clusters
I don’t have these, but i think you may be giving it too much drinky
Try treating it mean for a month or two
How deep is that pot?
Also, is all the substrate that large or is that just the top dressing?