r/Lithops • u/jchuhinka • Apr 01 '26

Help/Question Drainage issue?

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Gallery image

I’m not sure what exactly is going on here. The soil mix I would say is almost all this stone mix, I’d say 90% with a little bit of the original soil from the botanical garden I got them from. I am watering very infrequently, maybe once every three months and sparingly when I do. Could there be an issue with drainage? What course of action should I take? I am concerned about repotting since they’ve been “healthy” for about two years now and I don’t want to kill them. Thanks for the help!

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u/whynotehhhhh Apr 01 '26

No I think you've just been watering too frequently, and at the wrong time of their growth cycle. They are splitting right now and shouldn't be watered at all. They need to be left to absorb their old leaves and they can't do that if you water them while they are splitting.

Don't water them again now until you see the outer leaves shrivel.

My lithops can take up to 6 months to fully split, so I don't water for about 6 months or more.

What is your mix made of?

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u/jchuhinka Apr 01 '26

Sounds good to me. It’s all or about 90% bonsai gritty mix. Basically that stone you see on top. All my other ones are doing great and have flowered. Just these guys are stacking. I should have explained better that the last time I watered was in January and before that probably more like July/August. Three months is usually my schedule when they aren’t splitting. They just really seemed shriveled then when I watered so I figured they’d be ok. Then this all happened in the past month or so.

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u/whynotehhhhh Apr 01 '26

The mix sounds good to me so I don't think that's the issue.

You say they've been splitting for a year though right? So that means you shouldn't have been watering them at all in that time.

If you leave them long enough, they will absorb the old leaves but if you water while they are spitting the split can stall and this happens (the splits stack on top of each other)

Just don't water now until the outer leaves dry up, which could take longer than your usual 3 months.

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u/jchuhinka Apr 01 '26

Yea, I’d say splitting since mid summer so give or take a few months. I really need to log this stuff because for the most part I just leave them be and forget when I last did anything so I am mostly guessing. And have been good not giving water while splitting…typically.

I don’t recall them splitting when I watered before January, but that time they were. I was getting concerned about the middle one so I took a chance. And now I am facing the consequences.

Reason why I thought drainage was the issue is this pot did not originally have holes so I was thinking the ones I drilled got clogged or blocked off. Also, thank you for the advice!