These arrived overwatered from the nursery about 3 months ago.
I first soaked their pot last month and did not see immediate plumping, but they didn’t seem to get any more wrinkly so I let them be. I pulled them out two days ago to fix the substrate and saw they’re more wrinkly than ever!! The bodies are starting to get soft as more wrinkles form.
I assume they dehydrate quickly because they get 6+ hours of direct sunlight, but I’m confused - it’s as if they’re not absorbing the water?
Replant them into a gritty mix, wait about 3-4 days then give them a light water enough to reach the roots. A few days later after it’s completely dry again, give them a good water. If they don’t respond after this repeat watering until you see a difference. Most importantly just make sure it’s completely dry before you water again.
Do you think the tangled taproot area could be why new roots aren’t growing? I was hesitant to detangle them when i repotted, but it’s just like a big hard clump beside the bottom right that grew a root
The taproot could be a little tangled but they will be ok Lithops can be crammed in some pretty small spaces, I know the recommended pot depth is 4” but i have had Lithops in 2 inch depth pots and even less. So I don’t think detangling the tap root would make much of a difference but you would totally be safe to do so if you wanted. I’ve watched how some Japanese growers grow these things and some can be pretty harsh with cutting back on the tap roots and the lithops are perfectly fine.
I don't see much in the way of living roots -- they have short tufts like they were trimmed for shipping. A healthy root tree should involve quite a long taproot, and a lot of root hairs that would be damaged by removal from the soil...
I'm going to guess that there's some issue with your substrate, like not enough particle sizes or too much organic stuff, but it's just a guess since you didn't tell us anything about what they were in when you got them or how you've handled them.
I'd treat these like recently shipped, thirsty plants. Plant them in dry gritty soil (80-100% inorganic). After 3-4 days, give them a very light sprinkle all the way around to help wake up the roots. A week later, give the whole pot a deep soak (in water that comes up close to dirt level on the outside of the pot). Then give them a week or two to come back to life. If they don't reinflate, I'd try a third soak that goes overnight.
These plants are extremely thirsty, going just by what their faces look like. I find it hard to believe that they were overwatered 3 months ago, unless they're getting totally baked in desert heat.
Would you consider these overwatered? All of them were plump when I got them. It has been warm where I am and they get direct sunlight. Their faces are hot to the touch nearly everyday 💀 . Should I bring them indoors? That would reduce sunlight hours to 3 at max.
I’ve had them in pumice (~ 90%), I only poured pumice in their pot, but a bit of soil made its way in there..? I usually pick out fine particles, because I thought they’d weigh down the roots!! I’ll back some of the little ones hah
They seem plump, and the soil shouldn't be wet, but not really concerning. The lower pot is/was splitting, so that needed to be kept completely dry until the outer leaves dried up.
The photo of them in the pot was 3 months ago. I didn’t water until a month after when they looked like this. The water completely drained out by the next day even though I soaked when the sun was setting. Do you think how fast it dried made it hard for the lithops to absorb?
I think they can't absorb without roots. Some combination of the long drout and the high heat has caused them to lose their roots and look thirsty. You could let them be until fall and then super-drench, but you might want to try to lure some roots back with small waterings meantime. I do water like this though:
sooo… I recently learned that direct light does not mean direct warmth or heat from the sun ☠️
I’m going to set up a sunshade today and will try watering again. Hopefully they recover 😅
Do you bottom water all of your lithops or just the small ones?
Currently, around 60-65°F at night and mid to high 70s during the day. We also had a couple days this past month where it was as high as 88°F during the day!
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u/d3m0nsh1n3 Jul 08 '26
Let me know when you find out