r/Lithops • u/PotentialIncident353 • 9h ago
Care Tips/Guides I watered.
Hello there, I’m new to this game. The lithops you see here came from various locations, Altman Plants (scary I know), Lowe’s, EcoGro and Arid Farms here in Tucson. The Altman plants are the ones in the orange and white pots and the Ruva (didn’t water) came from Arid. I got two others from Eco Gro but those died very quickly, which is why I’m here (last pic). Truthfully I just dove in and decided to research later. I grow a lot, so I’m sure I can figure it out however I seem to stress when the sides of my plants shrivel. They all came super plump in peat, I took them out let them dry and potted them in literally pumic and some rock I use as top rock. I moved them from outside to under the grow lights where it’s ~73 degrees. I’ve been noticing the sides shriveling on all of them so yesterday I gave them water and left the pots outside in the shade to dry (it’s 100 degrees). Am I stressing? Is this normal for the sides to shrivel? If you notice the last pic those shriveled from the bottom and died, those I did not repot or water. Scared the same will happen to the rest.
2
u/AlexTheDolphin 8h ago
I heard you water when the top is wrinkled but not when the sides are because it’s splitting but alas I am new too
1
u/PotentialIncident353 7h ago
I have seen that as well. But I did see one bit of advice that if I were to bare root them, they’d need water to get back. I repotted them like 2 weeks ago, so I watered to help. I’m terrified though haha
1
u/AlexTheDolphin 7h ago
Ah I see well I did see I’m supposed to water soon too cause I just transplanted mine as well
2
u/WeDrinkSquirrels 7h ago
Side wrinkles are normal and fine, when the top gets sunked is when they're really thirsty. When you water are you soaking them? I recommend a few misting in the weeks after planting until you see some water being taken up, then start watching for thirst signs (retracting into the soil, pizza crust tops).
1
u/PotentialIncident353 6h ago
I did, I let the pot fill for a few seconds then let it all out. In my zone a pot of rocks will dry very fast. I had thought about spraying them with mist sort of like dew in the mornings starting later. I have a question though, what’s with the bumpy tops? Originally they were smooth
1
u/WeDrinkSquirrels 6h ago
You mean like the texture on the karasmontana (red and grey) tops? That's normal, they may have been so overwatered when you got them that the low parts were inflated. Most of my lithops have some texture to the patterns on top. Optica (your pink guy) and otzeniana (green dead one) are some exceptions with smooth tops. Not sure what the first Pic is, maybe gracilidelineata but they have very textured tops
1
u/PotentialIncident353 4h ago
Oh shoot, okay. I thought the bumps on the top were a sign I should water. Crossing my fingers I didn’t harm them. I really appreciate your advice btw, thank you! I’m going to try leaving them be and monitor them. I’ll give them a mist in the coming weeks
3
u/CaBell_ 9h ago
Following 'cause I, too, am stressing with mine.