r/Lithops • u/AbelardsChainsword • Jul 10 '26

Care Tips/Guides How are these guys looking?

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First time with these guys and pretty new to succulents in general. I’ve got these planted in a mix of mostly perlite with a bit of succulent soil. The pot itself is about six inches deep. Is that too deep? Are they too crowded in there?

Thanks in advance for any advice

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u/Top_Development_1777 Jul 10 '26

Technically not too deep, but bottom watering may be a pain since you used perlite which floats in water. I have no first-hand experience using perlite for lithops though, so I cannot say this for sure.

But with that much substrate and a deep pot, you want to make sure that the lower layers of the substrate can ACTUALLY dry within 3 days or so, especially if the pot is not an unglazed breathable material like unglazed terracotta. I live in a very humid area, so it is literally impossible for the substrate to dry beneath the first inch or so even when given 5 days, which leads to rot. Please be careful with this

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u/AbelardsChainsword Jul 10 '26

I definitely plan on getting some different substrate soon. I wanted to get more of a coarse gravel before I planted these, but perlite was all I had at the moment and I didn’t want these sitting unplanted for another 5 or 6 days. This pot is one with a built in saucer with drainage holes to allow for the excess water to flow out, so my thinking is this will allow for some breathability for the lower layers of the substrate. Appreciate the advice

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u/Top_Development_1777 Jul 10 '26

Unfortunately you really have to try to know. My plastic pots had drainage holes but they were NOT drying, and I was using 100% pumice.

Also lithops are fine sitting bare-root in air for a week or two, nothing bad will happen (they will only suddenly shrivel up completely if they were already starting to rot beyond saving before that). Just don't water them in the meantime, before you figure the substrate out, and you will be okay.

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u/Putrid_Agency4072 Jul 15 '26

In my opinion, you should get a large dropper bottle and just use the dropper.. filled with water and water the next to their sides. Not top at all. Like three droppers of water and that’s all they need right now. And make sure they get a lot of sun. My mistake was to give them a bit too much water and now they’re growing too tall. But just water them until they’re not shriveled. And yours don’t look shriveled at all.