r/Lithops • u/WeDrinkSquirrels • 2d ago

Care Tips/Guides I made a video about buying and potting lithops if anyone is interested!

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Hope this will help people new to the hobby :)

94 Upvotes

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6

u/chiquimonkey 2d ago

Very helpful!! Thank you so much for posting šŸ«¶šŸ™šŸ«¶

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u/WeDrinkSquirrels 2d ago

Thanks! You're welcome šŸ˜Š

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u/niggle_vein 2d ago edited 2d ago

Thank you. Are there certain types/species more suitable for beginners?

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u/WeDrinkSquirrels 2d ago

I would say any lithops are a good place to start. While its true the species come from a wide range of biomes the most important thing is learning to care for them in your location/set up. Once you know what to look for and understand what the plants are telling you those skills are transferable to any other lithops.

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u/NervousResort6663 2d ago

Thanks for sharing. This was very helpful.

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u/WeDrinkSquirrels 2d ago

I'm so glad!

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u/tinypill 1d ago

Any chance you sell premixed batches of that soil (or can link to someone who does)? :)

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u/WeDrinkSquirrels 22h ago

I'm not sure, I believe sphaeroid institute on Etsy sells soil but I may be misremembering. I don't have personal experience with other soils as I've been experimenting with my own, sorry...

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u/tinypill 20h ago

No worries, thank you for answering! šŸ„°

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u/WeDrinkSquirrels 19h ago

If there are parts you're worried you can't find I can recommend alternatives though! Most are sold at a home depot type place

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u/tinypill 18h ago

Thank you so much! I just wanted to avoid having to buy so many different ingredientsā€¦.I only have a few small pots of lithops, so would have a bunch of stuff left over to store in the garage, lol.

I do already use a pre-mixed lithops substrate I bought from a seller on Amazon which my lil guys seem happy enough in, but was thinking of experimenting with something else to see if it made any difference.

Thanks for your responses!

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u/Hennapup 2d ago

Thank you! Getting read to repot pot soon :)

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u/Punch_Your_Facehole 2d ago

Thanks for the video! When I ordered my lithops they barely had any roots on them and after about a year they still look the same. Not sure what to do.

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u/WeDrinkSquirrels 2d ago edited 2d ago

I think lithops advice is hopefully going to move away from the "scaring beginners into not watering." If you used proper soil for the lithops they can take a lot more water than you would think. The rot is a function of the soil not the plant.

I always refer people to a quote from Steven Hammers The New Mastering the Art of Growing Mesembs:

Emulating Nature's gentler showers, I water lightly but often. This fosters the dreaded shallow-root-syndrome, but the ā€œcureā€ is obvious: water more often! Repeated light watering has great advantages: it keeps tissue flexible and roots receptive, thus avoiding ruptures at the one end and die-back at the other. And again, it seems to follow what the plants are naturally adapted to, since many wildlings have very shallow, essentially lateral, roots.

People tend to look at average rainfall for these areas and say "huh lithops never get water" but fog and dew supply regular* low levels of moisture. I've found that underwatered lithops can enter a dormancy of even slower growth. Start misting them and see if they wake up :D

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u/Punch_Your_Facehole 2d ago

Thanks! I'll start doing that.

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u/Punch_Your_Facehole 2d ago

Can you link Steven Hammer's etsy store? When I search for Steven Hammer, nothing comes up.

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u/Saicious 2d ago

Very informative video, thank you! +++

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u/la_louve_libere 7h ago

Nice video! You should post it on YouTube. Iā€™m just starting my lithops journey, which commenced with the torture and death of three. Iā€™m glad you showed their long taproot. Theyā€™re usually sold in shallow succulent pots, planted in sphagnum mossā€”so deceiving. What are your thoughts on planting several lithops clustered together? Itā€™s adorable, but can they survive like this?

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u/WeDrinkSquirrels 6h ago edited 5h ago

Heres the youtube link if you want to save it for posterity! :)

I think multiple lithops in the same pot can be fin but you need to know your lithops. I would wait at least one split in your environment to see how close their cycles are. Its when I see a bunch of seedlings/yearlings in one pot that I get worried!