Today at the store I stepped out of my car in the parking lot to find these on the ground next to their squished cup.
I was referred to this group and now I'm terrified I'm going to have rescued it just to kill them 😅
Hello everyone! Thank you all so much for your comments on my last post. I have taken you alls advice and have tried to make my lithops lives a little happier. They are in their own pots now with a mix of gravel, perlite, sand, and a bit of succulent soil. I am still worried about how wrinkled they are and believe it may be that the roots have not recovered from their travel. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I should do? I have mostly left them to their own devices, but I am concerned.
I found lithops for the first time ever at Lowes and had to pick some up, unfortunately they were in 100% organic soil and doomed. I put them in with a mix of small lava rocks and very minimal organics. I figure I shouldn't water until they shrivel a bit but I was wondering if Im doing anything wrong and what stages each one is in. Also there were no labels so I have no idea the species/cultivars. The grow light is just supplemental, its in a south facing window that gets good sun its just really rainy right now. Any tips on keeping these rocks alive would be appreciated 😅
My lithops split, then absorbed basically all of the old leaves. I waited till they got a little wrinkly and then did a good watering. They still look quite sad and wrinkly. One of them almost looks like it’s cracked. Is there any salvaging these?
hes alive somehow. he doesnt look alive. i hope the baby will look prettier but he has ALWAYS looked this ugly. i got him for $10 at a store awhile ago but they only sold singular lithops, but when i went back they had pots with multiple in one and they were all colorful and gorgeous. so now i have this singular ugly lithop. i still love him though. but i have no idea if hes suppose to look like this, i havent been able to find anything online that looks like him. i provided an older photo of him as well when he was just beginning to split.
Hehehe I’ve always loved the way these little guys looked. Finally picked up one of my own at the Muttart Conservatory (like a botanical garden).
Any tips/tricks and or advice for care?
I don’t know a ton about them, are there subspecies of lithops? If so does anyone know what these are?
Purchased these lithops at the Moorten Botanical Succulent Garden in Palm Springs in February. The outer parts have dried and they seem happy on sill. Now what do I do to repot? Thank you.
I need some experienced/expert Lithops people to answer this please. I ordered these red lithops because I cannot find them anywhere I roam to purchase. These 5 came with no tap root? They are what appears to be cut off? Will these grow or do I need to contact this seller?
These guys have not been watered in 6+ months but 2/3 still haven’t finished splitting. Should I water them?
Two years ago I bought my first three lithops from the HD garden center. they were little singles that I placed in this ceramic container. They live in a eastern window and get watered every 6 weeks or so, vice allowing for the older splits to be absorbed.
They flower and split a few times a year and what was initially three tiny double leaved plants, have grown into this mass of fatties.
Not a conventional way of watering or caring for them, but they seem to be thriving in their own weird way even with the lower light from living by the coast.
Lithops are my favorite houseplant. I learned lithops over 10 years and now I am pretty good at growing them! But I was not always good at it. Here's the 9 ways I've killed them:
Age 15: bought some at home Depot for my mom's mother's day gift, but loved them so much they became mine. Sister tossed her purse at my first ones ever, executed it while it was flowering. She did not mean to do this. Looked again for them year after year.
Age 18-19: Bought them again online. Over watered in whole soil and turned them to mush.
Age 19: Stepped up my soil game. I bought inorganic pumice and akadama, with small amounts of organic. They never rooted. Died.
Age 21: Looked into rooting. Bought mini bare rooted ones off etsy. Thought they'd do fine in the same adult mix with same watering schedule. Some died from not rooting, some died from underwatering. Tried watering too late and they just suffered. $40 worth of bitties DEAD. BABY LITHOPS MASSACRE.
Age 21: Bought mature ones at home depot. They were successful. Learned to root them, watered correctly, got my akadama/pumice/organic ratio perfect! I still use this soil mix today. But, I did not give them enough light. Etiolated. Put them in direct sunlight without acclimation. Died.
Age 22: Same thing, but decided to give them direct sunlight from the getgo. Died within 5 hours after moving into heat and sunlight. I felt like a failure.
Age 23: Bought lithops, mesembs. Over watered the mesembs, died. Underwatered lithops, died.
Age 25: Successfully growing lithops. Learned rooting, watering. Cat got ahold of them and executed them.
Age 26: Bought some from home depot again. Made a cat proof shelf. They were thriving. So happy. Perfectly happy under grow lights. Randomly exploded one by one. Went on reddit and asked what I did wrong, and was told, "they just do that sometimes when they're about to flower, especially ones that were from a big box store and were over watered before". I didn't feel sad just annoyed.
Age 28 (now): Healthy, happy lithops. They're doing great.
"The path to success is not linear."
If you or a loved one are struggling with lithops, so did everyone. Keep trying my friends. You'll get it. 🫵😎🤘
My advice: buy a small amount to learn on, and do your research. Most of these deaths were groups of 1-4. I bought 10 at one point and killed all of them. They are tricky to learn, but easy once you do learn them! I tried so many different things to keep them alive.
Also, not all lithops from big box stores die. I've rooted and grown healthy ones. It's just a gamble!
Hope this comforted you, horrified you, or made you laugh. Here's my newest cluster!
I watered this little punk a couple months ago for the first time since I got it over a year ago, it was doing the pizza crust top so I assumed it was thirsty. It perked up and seemed to be doing really well for a couple of weeks. Its in a mostly inorganic sandy, rocky, soil mix. Plenty of bright direct light. I thought maybe it was splitting but I dont see any new leaves coming through the center, just looks like rot to me.
What da heck is happening?
I wont lie i feel like a terrible lithop owner, my largest lithop i recently potted and was doing well, its old leaves were nearly crumbled and i dropped him :( im planning on trying to save him advice is welcome as well. He isnt fully severed and taproot is intact so im hoping he can callus and i can repot and use tooth picks as support :)
1st time I haven’t killed a lithop from over watering- it’s been over a year and they haven’t split or been watered - they look thirsty, need help!
Are they resting? Not sure what to do at this point.
The two singles are my originals from before I knew what I was doing. The other two pots are two-three weeks old.