I’ve been growing Conophytum for about 4–6 months, but I still struggle to understand them.
I’ve been growing Conophytum for about 4–6 months, but I still struggle to understand them.
At first, I kept them on my balcony, but about half of my conos dried out from too much sunlight. After that, I moved the remaining conos indoors and started using an LED light, with the plants still getting some indirect light from the shaded balcony area. However, they have continued dying. Almost every week, one or two conos gradually dry out and die. Lately, I’ve also been watering them less frequently than before. I don’t follow a fixed schedule anymore; I usually water when it feels soft or looks like it needs water.
My soil mix is akadama, kanuma, peat moss, and volcanic gravel. I don’t know the exact ratio yet, but it is a fairly gritty/mineral mix with some organic material.
Some plants gradually became gray/dry and died.
One of my oldest recently died just before flowering.
Another twin-headed was about to flower, but both heads became soft/mushy and died.
One dead plant still had white-looking roots.
I’ve also noticed very small black insects around the soil/plants. The mushy plant didn’t have a bad smell.
I live in Thailand, so the growing environment is warm and humid.