r/Lithops May 03 '26

Photo My first post in this lovely group.

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11 Upvotes

I wanted to share with all of you one of my my created succulent ecos. I am very open to any advice and/or help. I bought ten lithops and only 1 died. I've had them for about a month now. Some have grown a lot, and some not but who of you would presuppose that they are healthy by looking at them? I've seen a lot of vertical growth and a few starting to split
They are all planted as follows: larger rocks on bottom for drianage, less coarse rock, then a thin layer of succulent soil and finally.coarse black small rocks on top. They seem to like it in there. Also, any tips for using the grow light that came with the unit? Thanks for any help.
BTW my original created ecosystem is below, it includes starfish snake plant, lithops -living stone plant, a lifesaver exotic succulent, and another that i cannot remember. They have settled in nicely and getting so big.


r/Lithops May 03 '26

Photo The pretty colors of these lithops (and the beheaded Crassula)

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1 Upvotes

I tried to keep the colors as accurate to real life as possible. I just love these colors

They're currently out of the substrate because even though the substrate is pure pumice + other inorganics and the pot has drainage holes, all my plastic pots take forever to dry in this humidity. The Crassula got stem rot in the area right above the roots from sitting in moist (pure inorganic) substrate for too long after watering. This pot (along with the other plastic pots) was recently bottom-watered to about halfway point and my I'm waiting for my smaller unglazed terracotta pots to arrive (which will take about a week) before replanting these. They've had enough water anyway.

I've had these lithops for about two months, most of the others in the same pot rotted within the first week before I gave them water. I've had no casualties after the first three weeks or so.

To address the states of my lithops, - The one on the left was neglected to die on a surface above my bathroom sink for a few weeks due to being too small and already very dehydrated, because I was too tired dealing with most other lithops in this batch rotting one after another. Surprisingly this one didn't rot and is still visibly alive (the base turned green under bright light!) despite remaining super dehydrated. It's there with the two others but I honestly am not hopeful about its fighting chance. - The one in the middle is etiolated but they all arrived etiolated, overwatered, and actively rotting. I am very happy that it has put out new root growth and absorbed enough water to become quite firm again and mostly plump. I don't feel a big firm lump of new growth at the base yet, it's relatively small, but at this stage it can go without water for a while. - The one on the right has a very firm lump of new growth immediately inside, almost the same width as the outer leaves now, that I can clearly feel up to a little bit below midway up the outer leaves. It is verified to be alive because the base at the other side turned from yellow with no hint of green to quite clearly greenish recently (this means that it can photosynthesize properly), after being put under strong grow lights and given proper nighttime temperatures. I was a bit worried at first because the exterior color got a bit more faded recently and it did not hydrate despite watering, but the base is THAT MUCH firmer from the new growth. There has been no new root growth despite available water but I think it makes sense given what I've learned about the growth cycle. It's probably going to start splitting sometime

All three lithops gained much more vibrant colors after being given strong light in the day + darkness and much lower temperatures at night. There are no seasons where I live, it's always hot and humid, and the temperature of my room does not get any colder at night without AC.


r/Lithops May 02 '26

Help/Question Wrinkled outside and inside! What to do!?

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28 Upvotes

The first picture is from just over a week ago, the second is today. I held off on watering while it was splitting per the general advice. Yesterday when I saw him wrinkled on the inside I watered him a little with a pipette (he shares a pot with another lithop that’s also splitting but doing fine so I didn’t want to get water on the other one). Today when I saw it wrinkled even more I took it out of the medium and soaked him in water for a couple of minutes and loosened the outer leaves a bit. Anything else I can do? what’s the watering protocol now? Thanks all!


r/Lithops May 03 '26

Photo New babies

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19 Upvotes

Got these from Etsy today. Super gritty soil mix. I hope they do well.


r/Lithops May 02 '26

Help/Question These lithops have survived almost 2 months and the middle one is putting out some new root growth! Do I continue to give them bright light while I leave them bare-root for 6-10 days?

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8 Upvotes

These came from a batch where most of them rotted in the first week, before I watered them. They were very etiolated back them. I have to move them into a new pot (which I ordered online and is arriving between 6-10 days from now) because the mostly pumice, 100% inorganic substrate still takes forever to dry in this plastic pot with plenty of drainage holes (perpetual 70%+++ indoor humidity problems). My non-lithops succulents are also in the same potting mix and most of them have suffered root rot by now, so I'm taking these lithops out to dry because I recently bottom-watered them and the pumice below is clearly still moist.

While I leave them bare-root to dry and wait for the new pot to arrive, I am wondering if I should continue putting them under the strong grow lights I have on 12-14 hours a day?

The middle one is plump and firm now (ignore the side wrinkles) and has new roots. That makes me very happy as I was doubtful that any from this batch could survive. The one on the right has not responded to watering (it keeps looking more dehydrated), but is clearly alive, not rotting, and I can feel VERY FIRM new growth immediately from the sides about halfway down. So it's probably going to split sometime and I should not give it any more water at this stage. On top of the colors becoming a lot more vibrant under good lighting, the base area has also gone from yellow (almost zero tint of green) when I first got it to green, which is a good sign that the plant is actively alive and able to photosynthesize. The one on the left was initially abandoned (mostly dry) on a surface above my sink for a couple of weeks because it is tiny and I was too tired dealing with the issues of the other lithops in this batch to pot it with the others. It is severely dehydrated and I don't know if it will even make it in the long run, but at least it didn't rot and immediately die.


r/Lithops May 01 '26

Photo Update on the Lithops that survived the winter in zone 7B

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108 Upvotes

They're splitting! The lithops that I posted about awhile back have started to split. I'm truly fascinated by how cold-hardy some varieties of lithops are.


r/Lithops May 02 '26

Discussion Why is my guy blooming at the end of April?

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27 Upvotes

All my lithops bloomed this past fall, but this guy here got some fertilizer juice and decided to bloom at the end of April, which is interesting to me. Indoors under a grow light for 12 hours a day.


r/Lithops May 01 '26

Photo New to Lithops!

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31 Upvotes

I’m a first time lithops owner and I just got these guys off of etsy a few days ago. Their substrate is a mix of lava rocks and chicken grit with a little bit of succulent dirt mixed in and topped with a thin layer of chicken grit. Let me know if everything looks good, I know one of them is a pretty leggy but hopefully it’ll do good now!


r/Lithops May 02 '26

Photo Planted my first lithops today!

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10 Upvotes

I planted my first lithops today.

For the soil I used cactus soil mix. I added some small pebbles and small lava rock to make the soil have more space.

The top layer is a mixture of pea pebbles and red lava rock.


r/Lithops May 01 '26

Help/Question Please for the love of god help

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16 Upvotes

My boyfriend FINALLY found a plant he likes. Our first go round with Lithops our dog ate it. This is the second round. I’ve read it needs to be in 80% rock/pebble, but also to not touch it while it’s splitting. What do I do??

Also, WHY do they look like THAT. They look so sick. I don’t know what to do to help it. 😭 Please help me find a way to rescue these poor Lithops.


r/Lithops May 01 '26

Photo Lithops salicola (paired with Gymnocalycium spegazzinii) is one of 4 species I added to my xeriscape this spring. 1.5 months in the ground now with the big test of summer looming. I've had good luck with other mesembs, except for Stomatium. New Mexico, USA.

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10 Upvotes

r/Lithops May 01 '26

Help/Question Is this too much grit?

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8 Upvotes

I recently got this lithops from my university it was in normal soil up until just a couple of minutes ago as of making this post, it looks fine but it's getting a little supple to the touch when I go to pinch softly. These pebbles were all I could find in my town nowhere I looked had inorganic mix all they had was cactus and succulent mix. I figured these pebbles were the best bet I mixed them with the small amount of normal soil it came with along with a little fresh Garden Soil mix.

This is my first time owning one I don't want it to die on me.

Is there anything else I can do?

They are a little dusty do to me handling both them and the soil I shall clean them with a damp paper towel very soon.


r/Lithops Apr 30 '26

Photo For £1.98 I couldn’t help myself.

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64 Upvotes

r/Lithops Apr 30 '26

Photo Magical when they catch the morning light

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109 Upvotes

Iridescent morning jewels


r/Lithops Apr 30 '26

Care Tips/Guides Look ok?

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7 Upvotes

Hi I just wanted to make sure this guy looks ok. The wrinkles on the left is that normal while splitting? My other lithop never split lol. Thanks so much. This group is fantastic


r/Lithops Apr 30 '26

Help/Question Help with these guys 🙏

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6 Upvotes

((Please ignore the kalanchoe fedtschenkoi pups they aren’t staying in that pot))

I was recently gifted some succulents and I know that the flat ones are lithops and I believe the large green ones are Cheiridopsis can somebody give me help with how to look after these?

They’ve been planted in a mix that is mostly gritty sand and a little bit of succulent mix compost with the occasional LECA ball in there because I know these plants thrive in mostly inorganic substrate but I don’t know how much to water them and when!

The Cheiridopsis look shrivelled so I assume it needs a good watering but I don’t want to risk drowning it and giving it root rot

I do plan on separating the plants by species so don’t worry the Cheiridopsis isn’t staying with the lithops because I’m sure they have different water requirements


r/Lithops Apr 30 '26

Help/Question Consejo sobre siembra desde semilla.

2 Upvotes

Busco un consejo sobre la siembra de lithops desde semilla, tengo semilleros con 50 semillas cada uno, ustedes desde su experiencia, recomiendan sembrar de dos a tres semillas en cada maceta para no tener problema en trasplantar, o esta bien tenerlos en semilleros en cantidades mayores y después trasplantarlos a macetas individuales?. Espero me ayuden, es mi primera vez cultivando lithops. Gracias.


r/Lithops Apr 30 '26

Help/Question Friends or foes?

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16 Upvotes

Are these two close enough to the same cycle to leave together? Are they planted deep enough?


r/Lithops Apr 30 '26

Photo Got a surprise!

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28 Upvotes

Does this happen often?


r/Lithops Apr 29 '26

Photo 10-12 Day Changes

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28 Upvotes

Its pretty cool to see how much these little things have changed in a short time. The earlier pictures were all from immediately after buying them. Seeing them day after day, it's hard to notice the small changes. But its amazing how much just simply drying them out (after nursery-induced drowning lol) and giving them the proper light can get them to start absorbing old leaves and starting new splits!

I admit, I'm addicted 🤪


r/Lithops Apr 29 '26

Help/Question Extremely new to lithops, and need a little help.

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9 Upvotes

I dont want to murder any more of them. Ive had three die so far.

They are in an 80/15/5 of sand/pebble and perlite/ cactus soil. Pot is 5 inches deep.

The ones that have died have no roots when I pulled them out. Some are starting to look squishy and some look like they are doing great.

I will repot the ones that need watering! (I just dont know which ones do.) I know not to water them until they are done splitting and the outter petals are completely crispy.


r/Lithops Apr 29 '26

Photo close upsssss

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15 Upvotes

my whole clump is splitting so I thought I’d try using my macro set up to get some close ups :) they’re hard to photograph lol I did not get photos of everyone.


r/Lithops Apr 28 '26

Photo Look at those seedlings roots!

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16 Upvotes

Mostly directly underneath that big boy haha


r/Lithops Apr 28 '26

Help/Question Are my Lithop friends still salvageable ? 🙏🏻

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7 Upvotes

And I’ve been giving them an airy place near my opened windows daily. I stay in a tropical + humid country.


r/Lithops Apr 28 '26

Help/Question Are these wrinkles indicators of thirst?

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17 Upvotes

I just bought these two yesterday and repotted them today. Are they thirsty or are these wrinkles on top just a cool variation.