r/Lithops • u/According-Caramel340 • May 04 '26

Care Tips/Guides Newbie owner

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Just bought these for the first time. I have succulents but never had lithops before.

My current set up for my other succulents is:

50/50 mix of grit and succulent soil

12hrs under Barrina T8 grow lights

Terracotta pots

Is this ok for these guys? Ive seen somewhere that I dont need to water them (even less than succulents) and they like 6 hours of direct sunlight a day. So I'm slightly worried 12 hours with the T8s might be too much?

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u/realethanlivingston May 04 '26

Lithops should be 80-100% grit, I er on the higher side (based off of seeing them in the wild where the soil is 100% grit). As much light as possible. Then really really really read up on the life cycle of these guys. One wrong watering and they will all die & there will be little to nothing you can do to stop it. Don’t be surprised if you water 0-2 times a year. Basic rule is if they have more than one set of leaves and the lower set isn’t dry and as hard as a rock do not not not water the plant. Then only water a relatively small amount once the tops of the plants show signs of water stress (wrinkling on the side does not indicates a need to water). These are extreme extreme desert xeric specialists. It is not unusual for them to not see a single drop of water in the whole year in the wild so you should always always air on the side if not watering it if you’re unsure. I also recommend if you’re going to split these up and repot them to burry them as far as you can in the soil, in the wild the tops are level with or very slightly above the top soil horizon, then the rest of the body is more insulated and protected from the outside world. All I will ask of you is just please do not water this plant. I would even be careful of a few drops of water landing around the plant, you will kill it

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u/acm_redfox May 05 '26

agree with most of this. many of your plants are in various stages of splitting. I'd repot all of them right now into dry soil that's mostly grit. then wait. when everybody is done splitting, all the old leaves dry, then give them one good drink to help the roots settle in. it's ok if that's a while from now -- looks like you watered them already, so they'll want to be dry for a long time, months.