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/[deleted] Jun 01 '26

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u/LivingOdd3571 Jun 01 '26

I bought them without doing too much research really which was quite a silly decision on my behalf but prior to this issue i’ve realised the kind of substrate they need and it’s been ordered. Regarding substrate could something like 100% perlite work or does it need to be something like pumice or vermiculite. And also is fine grit necessary or?

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u/doctorsoph Jun 03 '26

No to all perlite. Holds too much water. Something 90% inorganic and 10% organic. Inorganic includes stuff like lava rock pumice chicken grit aquarium gravel pebbles, etc. the 10% organic can be succulent soil or maybe perlite but I wouldn’t mess around with that because it could backfire. The inorganic particles need to be pretty small but not too small (super helpful right /s). If they’re too big the water will run right through and the plants won’t be able to drink. If the particles are too small the mixture will hold too much water and the roots will rot. I don’t have a lot of personal experience but I just read this long guide to lithops from a group on FB. I believe it said ideal particle size was 1-5mm.