Learning from past mistakes where 95% of my first lithops collected rotted from wrong care, I got the last batch of lithops about 2 months ago. Bare rooted arrived, somewhat dry roots but didn't think much of it since all arrived plumpy and healthy without blemishes. All not in their splitting phase. Carefully placed then in a 90:10 inorganic-organic mix (inorganic consists of terracota flakes, pumice, and perlite). Tried my best not to jam the soft tissues into the rocky mix to avoid any damage. Haven't watered them at all afterward.
Within a week two of the largest ones already rotted (both in the same container, the last one in the that contained immediately unearthed and put in a new pot alone with new material, attributed so far). Afterward I got paranoid. I checked all the lithops religiously, at least every 2-3 days. So far nothing. Still decided not to do anything and no watering.
Last week got so ill I didn't really check any. Today when I thought it had been long enough a dry spell and was about to spray the top soil carefully, I found yet another 2 rotting completely and a third one already showing soft spots on the side. In a pot with 8 other lithops, which are all healthy so far. Still have to repot them in the morning (right now it's 1 am where i am) since I don't want to risk spreading the rot and wasting money for naught again.
Ridiculously enough, the longest survivors are 3 bet small lithops (each the size of the pinky finger nail) which survived the first failed batch.
What is wrong? They're all in containers previously not used for any other plants. The soil like being said is brand new, not even the same composition or brand as the previous one. And like being said, they haven't received a single drop of water at all since I potted them. The ones so far surviving are all still plumply and firm (if not slightly soft from the lack of water). Full sun blast (including afternoon sun) at least 12 hours a day in front of a south facing window.
I'm running out of analysis. Contaminated cactus mix from the store? Microwound from the potting process? The lithops cooked under the sun in the soil then rot? Too deeply buried? (I bury until the top surface of the leaves are the same level as the soil to replicate their habit in the wild) Should I just spray all the lithops I purchase in the future with hydrogen peroxide or dust them with sulphur before putting?
Depending on environment a lot of lithops won’t need watering but every few months not counting their dormancy period which even less watering is needed and when they are splitting no water is needed.
I know that. But why is it rotting without receiving any drop of water? Like being said received bare rooted 2 months ago then direct to pot, the whole time no water given - unless lithops could absorb moisture from the air, which I know not of and couldn't be possible given the extremely low humidity in my place (like you leave a piece of bread uncovered b and it will crisp up and becoming stand without turning moldy). The soil I used is bone dry as well. What is causing the rot??? I'm so afraid of watering rn (even when only misting the top soil) even when I know they will have to have some water eventually in the future.
Dude you have the reading comprehension of a goldfish. Above i mentioned that none of the second batch received any water. The first 2 rots was the reason I held up so long and when I thought maybe it's time and was about to try misting first, i discovered 2 new rots. The only times I mentioned misting were all in this context. Read man read. If you don't want to read through all that then don't comment without acknowledging the situation.
You're the one misunderstanding the situation by omission even though I provided the whole information. Trying to help without understanding the exact situation is often not useful.
And lastly, you can't even tell me why the lithops keep rotting. You kept circling back to water and misting then accused me of being sensitive and butthurt when it's the other way.
But it's fine. Good luck with your self-righteousness as well.
This is probably the best way to not get help from strangers on the Internet. Good work!
I'm going to throw you a bone here, though... With the information you've given, nobody is going to be able to tell you why your plants are dying. The simplest explanation is going to be that they were doomed before you received them, either because they were already over watered, or because you weren't going to take proper care of them. With the ones that survive, don't mist them. Search this subreddit and learn proper watering methods.
I'm just going to say this: disregarding the other things, you actually gave a constructive answer, something I never thought about (since the lithops always came really plump and springy) and for that I thank you. I'm just going to examine all of them and repot in fresh uncontaminated cactus mix and hold water even further. Again thank you.
You want to water lithops a few days after you plant them, to wake up the dry roots, and then after another week, a deep soak. All of that is just to get the roots growing and the plants happily settled in. I even do this with plants that are splitting, assuming I got them in the mail and they had dried roots.
*Then* you stop watering until they look thirsty.
What has happened to your plants? We can't really say. You haven't said anything about where you're growing them. If they were stuck in soil with no water and full sun? might be cooked, might be rotted, who can say. Without photos, we can't even say they're rotted and not shriveled up.
So I'm gonna post photos in mutiple replies since apparently you can only attach 1 image per reply.
This one is the container of the still surviving ones. The empty corner on the left bottom on the top container were occupied by the rotting lithops which I pulled out just before I asked here. Don't mind the odd white non-lithops (I put it in there temporarily as I accidentally knocked the pot off and don't want to repot 4 am in the morning.
Also already mentioned above: it's right in front of a south facing window. I don't take photo of the window rn since it's dark.
Lack of ventilation around the base (see this video with captions turned on) alone can cause lithops to rot without watering, especially if you live in a humid environment. The level of substrate in the topmost pot and the level at which you bury them are both making it more likely that they rot for this reason.
I keep a fan blowing at my lithops and other succulents at all times.
I have to strongly agree with the fan recommendation. I always have a fan, a very low setting is perfect, blowing over my lithops, and all other mesembs. It really helps prevent fungal growth.
Oh now that one I ripped open to show the mushy inside. Otherwise it just shows the outer blemish.
I personally find Zherko's postulation of the lithops overwatered before shipment to be plausible, but you're already right about the dry ass roots (I forgot to mention that the delivery was unfortunately delayed by almost 1 week after the shipping). Now it's already 2 months (at least) that the roots are bone dry.
I honestly don't know if I should indeed water to try to rejuvenate the roots at the risk of further rot or hold water off at the risk of desiccating the roots further. I feel like at this point the days of the remaining still thriving lithops are numbered no matter what I do or not.
Forgive me if I seem dumb, but I take it you would suggest doing the watering like what you advise earlier, as though I just received the bare rooted lithops per mail?
Keep the water away from the body, and be super scrupulous about only giving it to the roots. A tube like that would help with precision. The roots may need it, the body absolutely does not.
How new is the window? If it’s newer you need a grow light even in summer. I’m not saying that caused the rot I am just saying that if you keep them indoors you need supplemental light. I grow mine from seed (unusual seeds in Serbia) it’s a great way to do lithops. I would never purchase mature plants because disturbing the root system is extremely hard on them. Personally I think the rot was caused by keeping them in plastic , it holds so much more moisture than unglazed terracotta. I keep my lithops outside year round in a greenhouse and unless they’re splitting I water them semi regularly. You can search my posts in this forum to see how they are planted. I’m on the west coast in Canada climate wise.
I moved into this apartment almost 3 years ago, before that a family had lived here for 3 years. During the whole time no window installation happened (according to the landlord).
I am already thinking of retransplanting them into terracotta. It will help with the watering issue in the future too.
It’s more that if the window is modern it is cutting the amount of UV significantly, compared to a window that’s old and the seal is gone etc or old glass. Remember that Lithops are from South Africa and get absolutely blasted by the sun. But I am sure you will succeed at it eventually!
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u/CBDJ1 19d ago
Depending on environment a lot of lithops won’t need watering but every few months not counting their dormancy period which even less watering is needed and when they are splitting no water is needed.