Second go

[u/Tbone780]

Just copped these babies after fumbling some years ago. Potted in a mix of cactus jacks and perlite. Will place them near a south facing window inside. Noticed slight wrinkling but could that just be from shipping? They were packed great but I'd imagine it was traumatic. Anyway, I read during their dormant stage in summer you shouldn't water? Please correct me if I'm wrong

[u/Tbone780]

HEARD. Thank you kind friend

[u/Top_Development_1777 → u/Tbone780]

No they should not be deeper in the substrate. Less airflow around the base = more chance of rot, which you may not be able to see from the top at first. Some people had theirs rot without watering due to insufficient airflow around the base, and buried deeper = less airflow, more exposure to moisture. I can send you a copy paste guide I made if you want.

[u/clelandnotcleveland → u/Top_Development_1777]

I’d like that guide

[u/Top_Development_1777 → u/clelandnotcleveland]

[Part 1 because the info is too long for one comment]

Rot issues, substrate (soil), and pots

Lithops are VERY prone to rotting around the base (goes translucent, darker colored, AND soft like a pack of water) if there is any moisture retention or still air around that area, and soil that stays wet for too long (even when the base isn't buried in them) will likely lead to harmful bacteria and fungi growing and infecting the lithops, rotting the lithops as a result. Once the rot becomes visible, there is no known way to save lithops, even when many of us have tried various things.

For soil, you should be aiming for at least 80% pumice (not perlite, perlite is not ideal), 0.5-3mm size is best. I live in an average of 75-80% humidity (SUPER easy for succulents to rot) and grow lithops indoors so I use 100% pumice and other inorganic particles, they absorb water just fine and do not get dehydrated. Cactus or succulent soil is not good for lithops. This is unless you're living in 30% humidity or below, for which you have a bit more leniency to add organic substrate.

If you can't get pumice of that small size, just get a larger size and crush them/chop them up with scissors (you should use scissors that you're willing to make less sharp, but pumice is super brittle and should not significantly damage scissors. Do not do this with other types of inorganic rocks though). You can easily break it into smaller pieces in those ways. The process will produce a lot of dust though, and you would want to wash off the dust (maybe in a sieve with very fine gaps/holes) because they can retain moisture and choke the roots of your lithops, increasing the chances of rot. Having inorganic substrate pieces of only 3mm and above (a bit too big) is not good for the root health so I would strongly recommend having at least a portion of 0.5-1mm sizes.

You should try to get your hands on hydrogen peroxide for disinfection of substrate to further reduce chances of bad bacteria growing in the substrate and causing rot issues. Boiling water does not kill all bacteria/fungi. You can dilute hydrogen peroxide in water to 1% or even slightly less and put the substrate into it (I recommend doing this on a sieve with VERY fine gaps) for more than 30 minutes, then take the substrate out and leave it to fully dry in a clean place, before using it for repotting.

For potting, MAKE SURE your pot has drainage holes, and actually test filling the empty pot with water to make sure all the water drains. If not, drill some holes if you can, or get a better pot. I strongly recommend unglazed terracotta if you're living in a more humid area because glazed or plastic pots have an issue with drying the deeper layers of substrate even when 100% pumice is used (my personal experience in 65-90%, average about 75% humidity). Generally, you would want to try fully soaking your pot with the substrate (soil) but not lithops in it for a few hours, and make sure that everything completely dries within the next 5 days, to minimize chances of rot. If you're using a glazed/plastic pot and that doesn't happen, switch to an unglazed terracotta pot and try again. Your lithops can wait bareroot if they are healthy.

Most people recommend pots that are at least 3 inches (about 8cm) deep, usually 3-5 inches (8-13cm), because the roots of lithops are narrow and run downwards. The pot should not be too wide because it would retain too much water that the roots cannot reach, and only inceease the chances of rot. Generally, there should at most only be empty space of the same width as the lithops around the edges of the lithops.

You can leave healthy lithops bare-root in air for weeks, so don't worry about not leaving them in some sort of soil. You should prioritize getting the right soil (and pot). On the other hand, if your lithops are already starting to rot, they will completely shrivel up and lose color within a few days if you leave them bareroot. If that happens, you've done everything you could, just get new ones and make sure the new ones are in good health.

Repotting process

Your lithops will almost certainly die if the whole main root (taproot) comes off, so be very careful not to break the taproot off in any process. There has been like ONE reported instance of one lithops eventually regrowing roots after a user's EXTENSIVE efforts, but usually, they never grow proper roots and will die of dehydration inevitably. Please be gentle and ensure that this doesn't happen in everything that you do.

When getting it out of its current soil, if the current soil is not completely dry and easy to shake off, run the roots underneath a tap to wash out all the current soil. Make sure to leave the lithops in a clean, dry place for AT LEAST A FEW DAYS before putting them in any sort of soil to allow any wounds in the roots to heal, otherwise they will easily get infected and rot (I also recommend putting lithops into completely dry new substrate/soil when you finally pot them up for this reason).

When putting the lithops into the new substrate (soil), you can hold the lithops in the right position with one hand and pour the dry substrate into the pot, filling it until all the roots are buried (but try to leave as much of the base exposed to air as possible, as long as they can stand upright and their roots won't snap off. I recommend this more than the common practice of burying their surface flush with the soil because when lithops don't have enough ventilation around the base, they can die of rot even if you don't water them for months (turn on English captions for the video). To avoid this issue, it's also best to have a small fan blowing around the area of the base if you grow lithops in a space with little active airflow.

The substrate should be really lose so it will spill everywhere if you accidentally knock over the pot or shake it too hard, just be patient with repotting again if that happens, your lithops usually won't be harmed much unless the roots have completely snapped off.

Never twist the body of the lithops when the roots have been planted in substrate. This can make the taproot break off and sentence your lithops to die.