by Susan
Hi there,
I have a few of these marvelous little plants, Lithops, and they did fine during the winter with just a couple of drops of water a week.
I never thoroughly drench them.
Well, I’ve been doing the same thing as we approach the Spring but suddenly I’ve had a number of them turn to mush which there’s no recovering from.
When I give them the few drops of water the soil is already completely dry.
Should I not water them at all during this period of the year? They did start to split and give off new plants so is it not a good time to give them any water when this is happening?
Thanks so much,
Susan
Hi Susan, these are really touchy little plants.
Teasing them with a tiny bit of water every week is what’s causing the issue.
These are plants that originate in really hot and extremely dry climates – they can and happily will go months, even years between extreme rain events.
They dislike water during their dormancy, which occurs twice a year so they can avoid trying to grow during the very dry times.
Once it rains, sometimes torrentially, they grow, split and flower within a short period of time. The ones that are already rotted won’t recover, but the ones that are flowering might be okay.
See this page for more on
how to grow Lithops here.
Hope that helps with your living stones.
Jacki
Comments for Watering Living Stones
Apr 13, 2013
cactus
by: marie
Thank you for all your info. Would i be able to use some cactus plants in between the succulent plants? mm
Generally, it’s best to keep these two types of plants apart; cactus mostly only need one summer dormancy, but the Lithops (depending on the species) quite often need two. Having such different needs means that it’s impossible to grow either of them well.
Hope that helps,
Jacki
