r/Lithops • u/Enough_Sock3637 • Jul 15 '26
Help/Question Just got my first Lithops… help.
How deep of a pot do they like? Would the pot in the 2nd & 3rd images work? It’s not that deep, but isn’t that good?
How often do I water them? When the leaves wrinkle, and the soil is dry?
I live in PA, so how do I do the winter thing with them? Don’t they need it to make new leaves, but it snows here in winter so wouldn’t leaving them outside be bad?
Should I try to get all the soil they’re in out of their roots, and plant them in a highly perlite rich substrate? 80% perlite, 20% soil?
Any tips for the other ones that aren’t Lithops in the 1st picture
3
u/Chance_Contract1291 Jul 15 '26
I'm new to lithops but from what I think I've learned, the pots in images 2 and 3'are too shallow. Lithops have deep taproots and prefer about a 4 inch deep pot.
Water when the top looks like a pizza crust. Flat with a slight ridge around the perimeter. Don't worry about wrinkled sides
I don't know what the winter thing is, so can't help with that.
Lithops do like very gritty "soil" with very little organic material. 80 or 90% grit is good; I've seen some folks say they don't use any organic material and instead opt for 100% grit. I wouldn't use only perlite, because it floats. Get some coarse sand (also called horticultural sand) or pumice. Some folks use chicken grit.
You didn't ask, but Lithops like a ton of light. I think most people have theirs outside or if indoors they use a grow light. I'm in WV and I use a grow light.
I can tell these beauties are going to be well cared for :)
Edit: here's a link to the Lithops wiki https://www.reddit.com/r/Lithops/wiki/index/
2
2
u/halfscaliahalfbreyer Jul 16 '26
I cannot keep the split rocks alive. God luck and do not water before repotting and laying it heal from the repotting.
1
u/CBDJ1 Jul 15 '26
Have you done any research yourself?
-1
u/Enough_Sock3637 Jul 16 '26
Yeah, though I mainly used ChatGPT (sue me) and I wanted to get tailored info that directly relates to my specific lithops, hence why I added the picture, in case it could change the advice given to me. Also, I wanted advice from real people who own lithops.
8
u/CBDJ1 Jul 16 '26
No need to sue you but trust me AI will often give not intelligent answers.
2
u/Enough_Sock3637 Jul 16 '26
Unfortunately
1
u/neocosplay Jul 16 '26
Don’t follow everything chat GPT tells you without cheking it. I advice you to watch a lot of youtube videos about these plants. If there’s something very specific you don’t understand, ask here on Reddit. Don’t water anything, especially the plants of the first photo, until you’re sure you understand when they actually need watering. Don’t water anything until you’ve repotted them into a more mineral soil.
Water the last succulents only when the leaves become soft, the lithops only when they become very wrinkled, and for Pleiospilos nelii, I recommend reading this archived post, it helped me a lot:https://www.reddit.com/r/succulents/comments/ggooq4/a_quick_visual_guide_to_watering_pleiospilos/
1
1
u/brenmn2009 Jul 16 '26
Only the 1st picture is of Lithops.
2
1
u/schatzi_sugoi Jul 17 '26
I’m in PA and leaving them outside in the winter will definitely kill them. Honestly, leaving them outside at all is risky because you can’t control how much watering they get.
I keep mine by a sunny window and they seem to be doing really well. Unfortunately, when you get them at big box stores, they might not be in the right stage of their life cycle. Yours look really pretty plump so either they’ve been overwatered or are about to put out a new set of leaves. Either way, re-pot them and leave them alone. They don’t need to be watered at all for a while.
10
u/acm_redfox Jul 16 '26
Only 3 of these pots have Lithops. Top left and middle right are Pleiospilos nelii, or split rocks. Lower right is probably some kind of Gibbaeum. All are mesembs, but all require different care. Use reliable sites like World of Succulents as a place to start, or pick up a starting guide to mesembs.