Basic Lithops Care for New Lithops Guardians

Many gardeners who read this blog know far more about the mysteries of the Lithops than I do. They can ignore this post. But for those of you who have recently bought, or been given, some Lithops, I thought I'd post on some of the basics that I've learned over the last couple of years. Feel free to add useful advice in the comments section!

Your first question on bringing your Lithops (which has probably been labeled "Living Stone", "Living Rock" or something like that) home may be, "What do I do with this thing?" That's a reasonable question. First off, if your Lithops is growing in ordinary potting soil, and that soil is damp or wet, it's time to repot. Most Lithops do well in soil that is not very nutritious, and has amazing drainage. I use a mix of cactus soil, perlite, and pumice, with some granite gravel. This way if I give them too much water, or they get too much rain, the water drains quickly and the Lithops don't burst or rot.

Apart from the initial re-potting, Lithops don't like being repotted or moved around much. In fact, such things can lead to Lithops Mush Syndrome. They grow slowly, so repotting is seldom necessary anyway.

Now on to watering. They don't like it much. I water weekly during their growing season. I never let them sit in water for even a few minutes. I do water very lightly during their dormant season, just a few drops from a water dropper every 10 days or so. But many gardeners don't water their Lithops at all during the dormant season. So it's up to you. I have very hard water here, so I add 6 drops of rice vinegar to every liter of water. I also add one drop of cactus fertilizer to each liter of water.

You might ask how to know the growing from the dormant season. This is a complicated subject, and if you check out the link below, there is a website with a wonderful explanation, and it's illustrated!

As far as sun goes, Lithops growing in the ground like, and can handle, a whole lot of full sun and heat. But in pots, too much sun, and especially, too much heat will cook them into mush very quickly. Also, if Lithops don't get full sun normally, then are put out on a sunny, hot day for even an hour, they'll often fade (Lithops sunburn) and turn to mush a few days later. I speak from early, bitter experience on this one.

My indoors Lithops get bright, filtered sunlight for about 6 hours a day, and occasional outdoor sunbaths on cooler days.

I hope that this very basic info will help newcomers to the Land of Lithops enjoy their amazing new plants. For more in-depth info, there are several sites on the Web. The Lithops Forum is a great place for Q&A!
Here is a terrific German website with in-depth explanations and pictures:

http://www.lithops.info/en/index.html

Happy Gardening, everyone!

Growing Lithops: Indoors or Out??

I grow about five dozen Lithops both indoors and outside:

Lithops: An Indoor Herd

My outdoor succulent garden is only about 2 square meters, but has about 3 dozen specimens, including Lithops:

Lithops Living La Vida Loca, Outside

I enjoy both gardens. Indoors, Lithops can be highly decorative, in special pots, perched in strategic locations. My friends and family enjoy them. And I have somewhat more control over their environment.  Outdoors, the survival strategy of the Lithops becomes plain. They really blend in! When I'm standing up, I can barely see some of them. Makes it easy to understand how they have survived herbivorous creatures out in the African desert. And each species has evolved to camouflage itself among a different sort of rocky surface. Amazing!

Some species, like L. julii, and some of my karasmontanas, seem to do better outside. Other, more fragile species like being indoors better (L. dorotheae comes to mind). Since everyone's garden is different, experimentation, trial and error are necessary to figure out who should go where.

We get torrential downpours that can last for days here in the summertime, so I supplemented our sandy soil with lots of perlite and pumice. So far, no outdoor Lithops have burst or rotted from too much water. I also chose a location where they are shaded from the hottest afternoon sun. They seem to prefer morning sunlight.

Hurricane Sandy Brought a Lot of Rain!

The main limiting factors for indoor/outdoor cultivation are, of course, water (not too much), temperature (no freeze, please), and light (most places indoors are too dark).  Inside, many factors can be compensated for with artificial lights, special soil, and total control of watering. But it's really fun to see Lithops growing free and in the wild, at least as close as I can make it, this far from Africa.