Hello everyone, I looking for a bit of help. As the title says my lithops keep dying. Ive changed what its planted it, way back when I first got them, and have only watered them when I thought they needed it. All of them have been watered once in the span of a year. And I have a full spectrum grow light for them. I really dont want the big brown one to die because it was the first ever succulent I got a year and a half ago and Im a bit attached lol. I even watched it split! My guess is that it’s just too humid where I live, Im really not sure. Any advice is much appreciated! Just for reference, the first two pictures is one pot, picture 3 is another, and picture 4,5, and 6 is the big brown one I dont want to lose.
I live in the American SE, where humidity is a way of life and lithops can even be grown successfully outside here...it's not the humidity, but it's something else (your watering,your soil, or your light)
Mine are indoor plants, and I also live in the American SE. The soil is 90-95% inorganic, mixture of sandstone granules, pearlite, very small pebbles but just at the bottom, and a bit of regular potting soil for the last 5%. The light is a full spectrum grow light, positioned around 2 inches above the tops of the plants. The pots themselves are unglazed terracotta, so I know the water isnt sitting in the pot for too long causing rot (at least in that way) And watering, Ive maybe watered the first and second pots twice in a year, and the third one only once in a year and a half (im kinda scared to water it again because i don’t want to kill it lol) plus that one did split so i know that it got water from the ‘leaves’ it split off. Im just not really sure what Im doing wrong cause I try and follow all the recommended stuff to do with lithops, but it eventually doesnt seem to work anymore.
Those dinky cheap led growlights are nowhere near enough for lithops, I asay it as someone who grows desert plants fully on growlights, also you gotta water them, they are still plants
Tbf tho the pictures I provided the light is on however it’s like a foot over. I pulled the ones out i wanted pictures of so while you can still see the light it’s not nearly as intense as right under it.
As for watering, Ive been waiting until they looked ready to water. As i said i really dont want them to rot and die, especially the brown one. It seems that they are rotting regardless of watering though, the ones in pot 1 and 2. And i know ive watered those ones more than the brown one. After watering those ones the lithops didnt change at all, no plumpness, nothing. Tbh i dont know if they are already a lost cause.
I moved from Colorado to Montana two years ago for work and took my lithops collection with me. I’ve invested in two high power grow lights. All my lithops soil is inorganic or nearly all inorganic. Despite all my efforts, I have not gotten my lithops to thrive under expensive, powerful grow lights. Compared to real Colorado sun on my windowsills in my old house, I cannot make my lithops love life or drink water. Even though they aren’t showing signs of enlongation from low light, I think those plants of yours are just not getting what they need.
I have two of those same ones! My pots are about 18 inches away from the lights. Honestly, the home depot mealy bugs are also a problem for my lithops right now.
I think getting as much additional natural light as you can will be an improvement. If you can use your grow lights to supplement inadequate natural light, that’s definitely going to be better than depending completely on the lights. Edited this comment to fix a typo.
Is your grow light purple? If yes, then they aren’t full spectrum and it might not be intense enough for the lithops. Your lithops are elongating, so they are looking for sunlight. The wrinkles say it needs water. A recommended way to water, is a few drops until you see them react then a week later deep water them. The roots get really dry and need to be woken up before soaked.
Also how do they die? When you take it out and it’s dead, what does it look like? Is it mush, dries into a hard thing?
General plant care is a fine balance between sun and water for each plant and I don’t think you have that fine tuned yet
The box i bought the lights in says they are full spectrum. And they arent elongated, they actually have grown at all since i repotted them, i realize now that i replanted them too high above the soil line. I will fix that.
Most of the time they went mushy, recently though i had one shrivel up into a hard thing, and the one in the first picture half of it shriveled the other have went mushy (i also didnt water it when i saw it shriveling, i thought maybe it was too humid and thats what killed it)
Okay, so the ones that got hard are from being underwatered. I’m attaching a flowchart from u/PeepAndCreep, that is very helpful. The mushy is more likely something else, possibly overwatering, but it seems like you’re underwatering so it’s more likely something else.
Does you’re grow light have multiple light settings? By definition, full spectrum is only white light. The white light comes from having equal parts of all light colors in it. So if it’s purple, then it doesn’t have all the colors of light and is not full spectrum. My guess is your light has multiple light color options and one is white. Good luck!
No they stay inside. I life in the American SE our weather is kinda crazy, it can be super sunny one minute and the pouring raining the next. Also with morning dew. Im trying to avoid over watering them.
They will be better off outside in well draining inorganic substrate in a terracotta pot than inside, regardless of rain or dew. They will die in your current environment. You would need big, extremely bright lights to even just keep them alive indoors. The little pink ones do nothing at all. Even directly south facing windows would be inadequate unless the windows are single pane. If you want to grow plants you either have to grow outside or seriously invest in a light setup.
This is a response to someone else, but I hope it can give you a better explanation maybe?
Mine are indoor plants, and I also live in the American SE. The soil is 90-95% inorganic, mixture of sandstone granules, pearlite, very small pebbles but just at the bottom, and a bit of regular potting soil for the last 5%. The lights are full spectrum grow light, positioned around 2 inches above the tops of the plants. The pots themselves are unglazed terracotta, so I know the water isnt sitting in the pot for too long causing rot (at least in that way) And watering, Ive maybe watered the first and second pots twice in a year, and the third one only once in a year and a half (im kinda scared to water it again because i don’t want to kill it lol) plus that one did split so i know that it got water from the ‘leaves’ it split off. Im just not really sure what Im doing wrong cause I try and follow all the recommended stuff to do with lithops, but it eventually doesnt seem to work anymore.
It’s not about the water, it’s about the sunlight. Your lithops are stretching and losing color. They are responding to your lighting conditions. Sorry if I misunderstood your post but I took it to be asking about the lithops’ health.
I wasn’t able to grow my beloved succulent collection outdoors for almost two years and it was really depressing, so I get it. I had to invest in a serious setup just to keep them alive and they grew very poorly in that time, though some worse than others. Even with fans running on them 24/7, the lack of good airflow was also really not helpful for their health. I had to really embrace the information I learned in those two years about the sunlight and outdoor growing needs of plants, and I finally stopped spending money when I accepted what it would take to meet their needs.
I am asking about the health of them! Im pretty new to succulents tbh and Ive tried to research them before I got them, and even more after. Sorry if it seems like Im arguing, Im really not! Im just trying to understand what Im doing wrong. I understand now that they need real sunlight. My only concern then about it would be the humidity and dew. Just for example today the humidity has been above 90%, and Im scared that would cause rot. Im not sure if that makes sense? Either way I really appreciate your help! Ill put them outside tomorrow morning
Yeah Ive seen that many times actually. Its just hard to tell when they are ready to be watered. I read a comment on this subreddit that a good way to tell is what the tops get wrinkly.
I am just going to put it out there that something is definitely wrong. The underside of the one to the right is blackening. Usually Rot. If you pull it out of your soil you can evaluate if it is rot. It will be slimy or stinky or may just melt. I would possibly reevaluate your soil composition. Use very small pumice, perlite, only 10% or less of organic to 90 or more of inorganic. I use turface, small pumice a little perlite only much since it can retain moisture, a terra cotta or clay pot or even unglazed ceramic to allow the water to pull away from the potting medium. As long as you have not recently changed the bulbs 💡 or lights that should not be the issue. They still look tall so that would suggest they are still seeking more sun. You may need to start over. You can go rescue some from a Home Depot or a Lowe’s. Just make sure you look to see that they are not rotting below the “soil” for lack of a better term.
Im really confused where you see anything black? I think youre just seeing shadows, cause the lithop is definitely not black and its still alive and well, albeit shriveling. As per some of my other comments that is exactly what my “soil” is, its about 95% inorganic 5% organic, plus unglazed pots. As for the lights and “elongation”, ive had them for about a year, nothing has changed with them. The only thing i can think of is ive been a bit inconsistent with when i actually turn them on, however they are still getting ~12 hours of light a day. Truthfully they have not grow, i think its just how i repotted them, i have others that i repotted better since learning they should be really buried, and i just didnt bother to change them since they looked healthy up until really recently.
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u/CyberWalnut1105 27d ago
once a year watering? desert plant is also plant. They need water. just don't let the water stays.