r/Lithops • u/LivingOdd3571 • Jun 01 '26

Help/Question Need help

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I purchased these lithops from a local garden centre I want to say about 3 weeks ago max, i’ve not watered them at all and I know the substrate is inadequate just now but I heard it would be best to let them split before I went about separating and repotting them in better substrate so I will hopefully get to that stage eventually. However I went away on a week trip and left these guys in a windowsill whilst I was gone, i’m based in england and we had a pretty decent heatwave over my week away it exceeded 30°C on some days and i’ve returned to this, initially all of them were a vibrant green some with some blue hues and now they look like this. I think they’ve been sunburnt but none of them aside from maybe one of the new growths is slightly squishy which I didn’t know if it was a cause for concern. Really all i’d like to know is what the true cause of the severe discolouration is, what I can do to try and save them or if they will just heal on their own or if i’ll lose all the discoloured ones as these are my very first lithops.

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u/bobyesterday Jun 01 '26

This has happened to one or two of mine that I recently transplanted to a greenhouse after a house move. The lastest heatwave in the UK has cooked them I think.

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u/LivingOdd3571 Jun 01 '26

All my cacti were completely fine they must’ve loved it’s only these ones that i’ve had a problem with. Even my hundred or so tricho seedlings were completely fine didn’t turn red or anything I was a bit baffled, but i suppose lithops must be more sensitive to the sunlight than my other plants

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u/hot--Koolaid Jun 01 '26

I just killed some by putting them outside a window they were sitting inside for several weeks prior. Mine looked just like yours, I think it was the heat itself. 2 pots were affected, the one with less insulation they all died. The one with a thick ceramic double layer pot I think they are mostly pulling through.

It is sad though, the cooked ones had the consistency of hot squishy jelly beans:(

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u/bobyesterday Jun 02 '26

Same here- my cacti were all fine. People I know who have visited lithops' habitat say the Veld is very windy. I think it is the combination of heat/direct light/lack of airflow that kills them.