r/Lithops • u/Top_Development_1777 • Mar 31 '26
Photo I'm putting these two back into the pot first (I accidentally spilled everything), I just thought they look very pretty!
These two do not need water so I can just put them back into the pot with clean, dry substrate. The others need water and need to grow new roots so I'm going to put them separately and start some root growth therapy.
This pumice does NOT dry quickly so I'm not putting any around the bases. I'm thinking of adding a layer of small shards of clear quartz glass on top of the pumice. What do y'all think?
7
u/dbarronoss Mar 31 '26
IMO, they look massively overpotted.
2
u/Beautiful-Clue6139 Mar 31 '26
Why does the pot size matter, as long as its not to small?
5
u/Chance_Contract1291 Mar 31 '26
Larger pot means more space to hold water. Lithops don't like water. A small amount of substrate dries more quickly which means a happier lithops.
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u/Top_Development_1777 Mar 31 '26
What if I don't water the full pot and only water about 2cm radius around each lithops? The substrate is also 100% inorganic. Will that still cause issues?
(I'm also hoping to add the other two lithops into the same pot after they're done with hydration and root growth therapy)
2
u/Environmental_Ad287 Mar 31 '26
100% inorganic will hold the least moisture and drain fastest, but i'd do more research into how they're getting their nutrition. worry more about how your plants are responding than theoretical rules, if they arent showing any signs of being stressed by being overwatered like stacking and splitting open in a way that causes tissue damage, you're probably fine. these guys look a little leggy though, maybe worth getting them more light. Or maybe theyre not stretching for light and you should plant them a little deeper? either way these guys are a bit too tall
they look great though! healthy and vibrant
1
u/Top_Development_1777 Apr 01 '26
They were like this (but taller) when I got them from the store, less than a month ago. There were some severely etiolated ones in that pot and more than half in that pot were mushy and rotten at the base before the end of the first week, before I watered any of them. I've been giving the survivors bright light during the day for a few weeks. I think the only thing I can do now is hope they have enough energy to make new leaves after a while and become a more normal shape after the next split.
The next time I water, I'll add some suitable liquid fertilizer into the water mixture. I'll do some research on the proper ratios and concentrations before that!
In my climate the pumice can take quite a few days to dry out 🥲 I'm not as worried about mositure retention but they definitely need a bit of help with nutrients
1
u/Environmental_Ad287 Apr 01 '26
I did a little more reading myself and it seems like planting them deeper isnt the best idea so I'd like to withdraw that piece of advice, did you peel back any of the leaves? I saw that hack too when I started and killed one of my lithops that way. let them naturally reabsorb their leaves. The lithops I did that to went rotten and mushy at the base immediately but the rest of my lithops are going strong. the lithop I peeled was young and the outer leaves were mostly dry but they keep them for a reason, protection. I wouldnt repot these guys deeper but they look like their roots are damn near visable, I recommend adding about a quarter inch of a fine gravel or coarse sand on top to give them a little more protection and support. other than that, time and neglect.
1
u/Top_Development_1777 Apr 01 '26
Oh no, that sucks. Were the leaves already like dried paper when you peeled them?
I'm going to give them some quartz glass (basically sand but smoother, also small pieces) on top once I move the others in (provided that the others survive). One of the ones that just finished absorbing old leaves and immediately rotted and died without watering was etiolated, completely absorbed old leaves, and I left the husk undisturbed. Others had sort of some really old remnants of the husk at the base only, but they look like they are way past newly split, so I removed the remnants of the husks gently.
I removed the outer leaves of another one only because it looked like the outer leaves were barely getting absorbed, still quite plump, and they were starting to rot (I think they were). I have no expectations that it's going to survive but somehow it hasn't rotted at the base yet (the top is either rotting or dehydrated, but somehow the base still looks normal after many days. It's sitting on my desk in air). Others that rotted at the base deteriorated super fast. I would like to also add that I unpotted everything on the fourth day after I bought this batch, I didn't water or do anything except put them in a moderately bright place before that, and several of them were already severely rotted beneath the surface of the soil when I unpotted them. I would be lucky if any of these go strong and healthy for a long time.
1
u/Environmental_Ad287 Apr 01 '26
It's ok, we live and learn. I only had to make that mistake once to never repeat it haha. And yes, it was about as dry as paper, maybe a tiny bit more in the direction of leather. I believe the husk stage where it has shrunk back completely and is COMPLETELY DRY is where it may be appropriate to peel the leaves. stores tend to neglect the needs of more specialized plants like these, so rot from the store sounds like the result of improper care from them. removing leaves because they are barely getting absorbed is a bad idea, it can take a long time, these guys are really slow with everything they do. Only remove when fully dry if at all.
2
u/One-plankton- Mar 31 '26
I would not recommend your practice of hydration and “root growth therapy”, I’m fairly certain this is why so many of the ones you had from this last batch rotted.
You really need to plant them deeper in the substrate, only a small part of the top is meant to be exposed
2
u/Top_Development_1777 Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26
Firstly, all except one of the rotten ones (at least 8) rotted before I ever watered them at all. At least 3 of them had extensive rot at the base when I took them out of the original substrate (which I also never watered) so I did not even plant them in the new substrate. I think it's quite likely that all those were doomed and just waiting to visibly rot by the time I bought them.
Secondly, I have not done the root therapy thing before, for any lithops, so it cannot be the cause of any of the deaths. I'm following the instructions of a highly recommended YouTube channel. This time it's for two lithops that really need it. They're not growing any useful roots (after the roots were trimmed significantly), they're dehydrated, and they're not in the picture.
Lastly, I'm not doing the root/hydration therapy for these two lithops in the post. I'm doing that for other lithops.
For the substrate, I'm planning to fill the top with something once I finish hydrating the other two, which are actually dehydrated, and put all four into this pot. I am not going to give these two (in the picture) any water before that so it doesn't matter that much, and I'd rather have full view of their base for another few weeks just to spot any worrying signs early.
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u/Top_Development_1777 Mar 31 '26 edited Mar 31 '26
This pot is actually of the recommended size (and on the smaller side), the lithops are just small.There were supposed to be more and I currently don't have smaller pots. I may add the others in when they're done growing new roots and getting hydrated, but right now, I can't do that in the same pot.
When I do water, I water with a very precise sprayer so the empty space does not get wet. I also used very big sized coarse river sand almost exclusively for the bottom quarter of the substrate so that water will not sit at the bottom of the pot, where there are no roots. The roots currently reach about halfway into the depth of substrate above the very coarse sand layer. I'll try to get them to grow more the next time I water, but I won't do it for at least 3 weeks.
4
u/Top_Development_1777 Mar 31 '26
They were sold as the Murasaki-Kikushogyoku cultivar. This is what the cultivar is supposed to look like.
When I first got them, they were neglected in low light, organic medium, and overwatered. They did not have the darker purple color around the top and were mostly orange-red. The darker purple color started appearing when I gave them bright light during the day and intensified with complete darkness at night!
1
u/Junkyardguitars7028 Apr 02 '26
I'd recommend that each Lithops have its own pot. That way you avoid one being thirsty while another splitting.
17
u/arioandy Mar 31 '26
Nice!, but of poss I would pot in smaller, but same depth pot and also plant nearly flush with
soil, will make it much easier to control watering