Growing Lithops help
Growing Lithops help
Hi, this is my second attempt to growing Lithops. My Lithops are about one years old seedings. I bought them two weeks ago. The soil consist of 80% pumice, 10% siliceous sand and 10% garden loam. The last days was very dry weather but yesterday started to rain and I decided to watering them because Lithops started look shrunken. But nothing has changed today. Lithops are still shrunken and some of them look dry. I have place them on terrace where is morning sunlight until to 3pm but this Lithops are often under the polycarbonate board to prevent sunburnt. Have someone idea what I doing wrong ? Thanks
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greenknight
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- Location: SW Washington State zone 8b
Re: Growing Lithops help
It sounds like you're doing fine. Did you water them thoroughly, until water came out the drain holes? If you did, there's nothing else you need to do - just wait. It can take a few days for them to plump up, have patience.
Spence 
Re: Growing Lithops help
Hi, yes, water come out through drain holes.. but today look worse..Lithops are absolutely shrunken and wrinkled.. I’m afraid they will die.. I would like to save them..
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greenknight
- Posts: 4821
- Joined: Tue Apr 30, 2013 4:18 am
- Location: SW Washington State zone 8b
Re: Growing Lithops help
It might help to give them less hot sun, mine do well where they get sun only until about 11:00 AM. Don't give any more water now, it could only rot them.
Spence
Re: Growing Lithops help
I have place them under the polycarbonate board so they don't have too much sun.. But when I checked them today Karasmontana (red) was faded and other are dry.. Temperature is about 35°C..When I first tried growing Lithops all of them died from the same reason.. So I really don't know what I should do now.. I want too much they survive..
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greenknight
- Posts: 4821
- Joined: Tue Apr 30, 2013 4:18 am
- Location: SW Washington State zone 8b
Re: Growing Lithops help
If the karasmontana or any other is losing color, move it into the shade immediately.
That's pretty hot, Lithops will wrinkle when it's very hot even if they don't need water. They are adapted to shrinking down into the ground in extremely hot weather, they can shrink a lot without harm. If it cools off at night they will plump up overnight, but if the nights are too warm they just shut down, watering them then is likely to kill them. What is the temperature at night?
Don't even think about watering them deeply again until at least a month has gone by or even longer. if the nights are too warm for them to resume growth you might just mist them or just let them shrink. Read some words of wisdom from a Lithops expert: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=35057&p=309292&hil ... ot#p309292
Search iann's post if you want to learn more about growing Lithops. The main things to remember are that Lithops can stand a lot of drought and a lot of heat, what usually kills them in cultivation is too much water or watering at the wrong time. They can also cook in hot sun, mainly if they don't have good ventilation, seedlings are more at risk of this than adult plants. When that happens they just turn pale and die - if any start losing color get them into the shade immediately, you might be able to save them.
Don't worry about the pots drying out a few days after they were watered, that's exactly what should happen - worry if they don't dry out. Lithops need very little water - repeat this to yourself any time you get the urge to water them.
That's pretty hot, Lithops will wrinkle when it's very hot even if they don't need water. They are adapted to shrinking down into the ground in extremely hot weather, they can shrink a lot without harm. If it cools off at night they will plump up overnight, but if the nights are too warm they just shut down, watering them then is likely to kill them. What is the temperature at night?
Don't even think about watering them deeply again until at least a month has gone by or even longer. if the nights are too warm for them to resume growth you might just mist them or just let them shrink. Read some words of wisdom from a Lithops expert: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=35057&p=309292&hil ... ot#p309292
Search iann's post if you want to learn more about growing Lithops. The main things to remember are that Lithops can stand a lot of drought and a lot of heat, what usually kills them in cultivation is too much water or watering at the wrong time. They can also cook in hot sun, mainly if they don't have good ventilation, seedlings are more at risk of this than adult plants. When that happens they just turn pale and die - if any start losing color get them into the shade immediately, you might be able to save them.
Don't worry about the pots drying out a few days after they were watered, that's exactly what should happen - worry if they don't dry out. Lithops need very little water - repeat this to yourself any time you get the urge to water them.
Spence
Re: Growing Lithops help
Hi All
I am new to this forum so I hope I conduct myself properly.
I have grown Lithops for a few years. Some of my population were grown from seed by me.
I found that small bonsai pots were great for starting seeds and they look nice while the babes are small. I recently decided to repot some of my brood because the pots are only 2.5 inches deep.
Everyone looked pretty good except one 3 headed clump. This clump had a large, very hard root mass. I cannot tell if it is root or soil so I am afraid to start reducing it. I can see that it is encrusted with soil. I have wiped much of the loose soil and now I have this hard ball. I suspect it is a symptom of not enough room for the tap root to grow.
Here are my questions:
1. Should I run it under water to see what it looks like cleaned up or should I just treat it as a root ball and repot it that way? Or should I try to separate the bodies?
2. This particular clump also has some little bumps (the size of a pin head) on the body of the plant. There is also some scarring ... not rot ... just areas that look like scabbed over injuries.
3. I recently acquired a group of Lithops that are in great shape ... all except for two of them. They look as if they did not get enough light. They are tallish and leaning a bit. Should I repot them so the the bodies are lower in the soil or just wait and hope they normalize. They look to be one or two years old.
Thank you soooo much in advance!!
I am new to this forum so I hope I conduct myself properly.
I have grown Lithops for a few years. Some of my population were grown from seed by me.
I found that small bonsai pots were great for starting seeds and they look nice while the babes are small. I recently decided to repot some of my brood because the pots are only 2.5 inches deep.
Everyone looked pretty good except one 3 headed clump. This clump had a large, very hard root mass. I cannot tell if it is root or soil so I am afraid to start reducing it. I can see that it is encrusted with soil. I have wiped much of the loose soil and now I have this hard ball. I suspect it is a symptom of not enough room for the tap root to grow.
Here are my questions:
1. Should I run it under water to see what it looks like cleaned up or should I just treat it as a root ball and repot it that way? Or should I try to separate the bodies?
2. This particular clump also has some little bumps (the size of a pin head) on the body of the plant. There is also some scarring ... not rot ... just areas that look like scabbed over injuries.
3. I recently acquired a group of Lithops that are in great shape ... all except for two of them. They look as if they did not get enough light. They are tallish and leaning a bit. Should I repot them so the the bodies are lower in the soil or just wait and hope they normalize. They look to be one or two years old.
Thank you soooo much in advance!!