Waking Your Conophytum — Tyler Thrasher

Conophytum are by far some of the most interesting succulents out there, in terms of morphology and survival mechanisms. They are also incredibly variable in color, shape, texture, and even flowers.

Lets start with the fact that this plant takes a long hard fucking nap. Right at the peak of heat and summer, Conophytum will SHUT IT DOWN. They cease growth and instead shrivel in on themselves (sound familiar?!). Each leaf pair contains within it, a smaller and more vulnerable pair of leaves. During summer, the old leaves die back and shrivel to form a papery husk. This papery husk protects the new vulnerable leaves from weather and UV damage and can serve as brilliant camouflage in a barren rocky desert.

Its during this time that the plant will receive little to no moisture. This is true in habitat and should remain true in cultivation. While my personal conophytum are dormant, I will refrain from watering completely. Even if they look like a pile of garbage bags. If you swear to the old gods that they are dead, you will be shocked and embarrassed when they inevitably burst forth with life and tiny vigor in autumn.

It would be beneficial to make sure your conophytum have access to air flow however. Remember there’s still wind where these come from (Southern Africa). During dormancy I make sure my circulating fan in the greenhouse rotates on them directly.

In the Northern hemisphere I begin testing the rains around mid-late August. I’ll start by drizzling them lightly with rain water. After a week you may or may not see activity and growth. Either way, I water a second time but REALLLLYY drench the pots. Its usually another week after this that I begin to see life pump back into the plants. The papery husks will begin to swell and tear, you may see tiny flowers begin to poke through, or you can see the color underneath begin to press toward the older leaves.

I prefer to fertilize at the beginning of a plants growth cycle with diluted fish emulsion or any standard 1-1-1 fertilizer.

During their growing period you must be mindful of waterings. Conophytum will sooner burst in half before rotting. These are very opportunistic growers and will take any and every chance to soak up moisture. If your conophytum is plump and turgid I would refrain from watering for another week or so.

The different species of Conophytum will flower during different periods in their months of active growth, but most will flower near the beginning of their awakening. Its not unusual to see flowers before the end leaves fully emerge either.

If you have a night blooming conophytum, they can be some of the most aromatic flowers in your collection.

Your Conophytum will actively grow and consume through early spring. Its as this point that reserves are going toward the new leaves and the old leaves retire. You’ll notice this when the whole plant quits plumping up after a watering, or the leaves begin to look dull and spotty. DO NOT FRET! Your conophytum isn’t dying, it just wants to be left the fuck alone. And you should do just that. I have heard depressing tales of growers tossing entire benches of conophytum into the compost thinking they had died. Don’t assume death unless it has been an entire growth period (or two to be safe) without any active growth or healthy leaves.

I won’t water my Conophytum again until that following August/September.

You may notice a little brown paper sack looking growth on your conophytum. This is their seed pod, and they are tiny. The seed resembles dust. You can snip the stem of the seed pod and store it for later sowing any time (as long as the seed pod is dry). I will cover how to sow Conophytum and Lithops seeds in the next blog.