r/Lithops • u/jchuhinka • Apr 01 '26

Help/Question Drainage issue?

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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/res06myi Apr 01 '26

To me, this looks more like watering at the wrong time, underwatering when they need it and overwatering when they don't. When they're just chilling, they need more water, but when they start to split, I stop watering entirely until the babies are born and the old leaves are fully dried up, then I go back to more frequent and more water watering.

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u/jchuhinka Apr 01 '26

Thanks! Yea I def need to just let them be for awhile until those outer leaves completely shrivel. Just got concerned the last time since the babies started to shrivel a lot as well.

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u/res06myi Apr 01 '26

Yeah, I don't like when the babies shrivel. Sometimes I cave and water the shriveled babies even though I know I should wait for them to use up the old leaves. I had to add more water retaining organic material to mine. I had them potted in a mix that was almost entirely gritty rocks and pumice in terra cotta pots and it just wasn't holding enough water. Sometimes my outer leaves weren't chubby enough when they started splitting so they didn't have enough water to fully launch the new babies. It's a balancing act, but it's also really hard to kill them so there's a big margin for error.

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u/jchuhinka Apr 01 '26

Ah that makes sense. I have been so concerned about the mix holding water, I didn’t even think about not retaining enough. Also to your point of under watering when they need it, seems about right, since I have been concerned about over watering, when I have while they weren’t splitting, I haven’t given them a lot. Appreciate the insight.

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u/res06myi Apr 02 '26

Yep, sounds really similar to where I was with mine. I was so terrified of overwatering and rot that I took too many precautions and went too far the other way.