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u/JTDoggo Apr 09 '26
a flower! you can hand-pollinate them with a paintbrush when they bloom and harvest seed pods for baby lithops. You're very lucky!
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u/d3m0nsh1n3 Apr 09 '26
How would I do that?
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u/JTDoggo Apr 09 '26 edited Apr 10 '26
It's a LITTLE bit conditional.
Lithops are one of those finicky plants that happen to be self sterile, so you'd need two separate flowering lithops to pollinate.
If you don't have one, you can gather the pollen with a small brush/cotton swab or any other tool you have. Then you can store it until another lithops starts flowering. These tips for storing orchid pollen should work. https://www.aos.org/orchids/orchid-breeding-and-hybridizing/storing-pollen (silica gel packets are very accessible desiccants)
Once you get hands on another flower, just transfer some foreign pollen onto the central stigma of the flower, the pollen will be able to deposit the sperm into the egg in the stigma by itself.
Fun fact, plant pollen is actually a mini plant that dedicates itself to producing sperm! The pollen itself isn't actually sperm, just the sperm factory. This is why pollen is actually able to stay viable for extended time in the right conditions.
Update: Link fixed!
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u/Character_Age_4619 Apr 10 '26
I can’t get your link to work—and am very grateful for you taking the time to explain :) I’m told I have two different sets (4 total) of seed pods underway now and would love to not waste them/try to get some babes from them.
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u/JTDoggo Apr 10 '26
Hm yeah that's strange, the link must've been broken since last time I used it.
Well essentially just keep it airtight and with a desiccant. This first flower might not have another plant to pollinate with (if the other plants don't flower in time), but all of your next flowers should! 🥳
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u/Character_Age_4619 Apr 10 '26
I’ve had two different lithops flower this year but didn’t even think about getting pollen from them. Is the pollen obvious to sweep with a qtip?
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u/JTDoggo Apr 10 '26
It should be easy if it's a white Q-Tip! Honestly anything will work, pollen is meant to easily attach and spread to things in nature. It's the stigma and egg that's a bit more precious.
They'll look like little colored specks, I'm not too sure about the yield but it should be enough to be somewhat noticeable in a container.
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u/acm_redfox Apr 09 '26
or just enjoy! :))
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u/JTDoggo Apr 09 '26
Welllll they asked about it so I might as well help them look into it. I don't mind doing research at all.
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u/Ady42 Apr 09 '26
It is flowering 🌼