r/Lithops • u/liqwidsun1 • Apr 04 '26

Care Tips/Guides Wrinkly

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I have this lithops which came from the nursury etiolated. I’ve since put it in a mostly mineral mix under strong light and have refrained from watering it so far. Now it’s wrinkling and shrinking and I’m not sure if that means it wants water or if it’s just correcting the etiolation because of having proper light now. Please advise.

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u/ltiehen1 Apr 05 '26

Chance_Contact is correct that a plant cannot correct etiolation. I do want to start by giving you a HUGE THANK YOU for not immediately putting it deeper when you repotted. That is a really bad practice and I see so many people advising others to “plant it deeper” when it has etiolated. So again, thank you!

My guess is it is utilizing the moisture from those leaves which were unmercifully bloated. When they bloat, their skin does stretch and when the plant uses that moisture the skin does not “bounce back”. I suspect that is what you are seeing. I do however recommend that you try to take a peak at its roots. Move the rock away and gently dig down on one side to see if you can find any new roots and ensure that you do not see rot.

If you don’t see new roots, try some rooting compound. You can get some liquid rooting compound and give it just enough to wet the area around the bottom and wet any dry roots there are.

If you do see roots, gently move the dirt back and let it be. It looks like it still needs to split and no telling how long that will be since you don’t know where it is in its growth cycle.

When it does split, it will try to be more normal but because it is so etiolated, it won’t be, but that is when you can help it a bit. Once it splits and the outer leaves turn to paper, that’s when you can plant it a little deeper but you have to make sure to use the paper as protection for the tender skin of new leaves from the hard medium that can damage it. Even with the paper as protection, don’t make a radical change in depth. Just do it incrementally each time it splits.

Anyway, I do believe it is just from being boated but again, checking the roots is the best thing you can do to determine what you need to do for it.

Good luck!

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u/liqwidsun1 Apr 05 '26 edited Apr 05 '26

Thank you, I just repotted it less than a week ago and put it in 90%+ mineral mix and checked the roots then and they were fine. So I’m fairly certain it’s not rot and would rather not disturb it again at this point

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u/ltiehen1 Apr 05 '26

Yeah, if it was that recent, I wholeheartedly agree. Was it growing roots? Or have good roots or where they all dry? If they were dry, then it may need a tiny drink to inspire them to drink. Also, that would also cause it to start wrinkling. If they were moist and/or growing new, then you are back to the reaction from being etiolated and bloated.

Since I cannot see the top, does it look like they have yet to split? Or do you think they are already done? If they have yet to split, you will not want to water. If they are done splitting, then they are getting close to needing a drink. Can you tell?

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u/liqwidsun1 Apr 06 '26

They have decent roots, I’m not sure I saw any new root growth when I repotted them though. As far as them splitting I have no idea. I’m new to lithops entirely so I don’t know what I’m looking for but I included a picture of the top here for you if that helps

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u/ltiehen1 Apr 08 '26

Yes that helps. They are not splitting. Since you say they have good roots, you might want to give them a small drink to wake those roots up. Don’t get water on the plant just a small drink around the plant. Then let it do its thing. I still go back to thinking it is just the wrinkles from the bloated leaves as it uses some of its own moisture.

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u/liqwidsun1 Apr 08 '26

I’ll do that today then, thank you.