How long are the roots, the pot must be deep enough to accomodate them. I have seem them sold in a 4" x 4" pot l6 per pot. By the way they love rocks around them, I don't know if that would give them some room to offset however. Norma

Hi Norma,
Thanks!

I'm not sure about the roots, I haven't had them out of their pots.

Some are in a 2" pot and some are in a 4" pot.

I would like to spread them out a little and put some rocks to decorate.

Mainly, would like them grouped for easier care.

Shallow pots are fine, it will keep the plants slightly smaller though. You also have to be much more careful of root dessication in a small pot. In my experience, Lithops are more likely to die of sunburn or cooked roots than from over-watering.

If you are sticking with small pots, try and use a very dense soil mix. I incorporate some soil from my garden which has lots of clay. A dense mix does a better job of maintaining the fragile and thin root network of Lithops, especially in a shallow pot where temperatures fluctuate more readily. A high clay content means the mix is less likely to completely dry out.

I prefer to use pots that are at least 4" deep, 5" is even better. You can fit many plants into a 4x4 pot, but select the species carefully because they will not all conform to the same growing, and hence watering, schedule.

x

Hi X,
Thank you!

Well 4 to 5" deep would work, but I had more in mind of 6-10" wide, like a round container. I have about 10 plants.
Would that work?

I could add soil from my yard, it's not clay, but fairly heavy.

As far as who will get along or not, I have no clue! LOL!

One set from Arid Lands, and it only has one named out of several. My others from there are named.
The ohters came from Home Depot and only say Lithops.

I have done hours of search on the net but they all start to look alike. LOL!

It will probably be a huge learning....

I will try and get some pics here shortly, but I don't know how to use the camera for close ups..:)

JoJo

JoJo

A 6-10" round X 4-5" deep pot will hold a lot of soil and the center will not dry out at the same rate as the edges. As tempting as it is to make a nice bowl of Lithops, I would not recommend this until you have reached the point of really understanding your plants tendencies and how they respond in your particular conditions. You are asking for trouble. Let's see your plants survive 2 full growing cycles and have them all bloom before you can declare some growing success. Please understand, I am in no way trying to be condescending - I'm just trying to give you a realistic perspective to avoid disappointment. Don't let any level of failure stop you. There is a learning curve no matter how smart you are or how well you grow other plants. We all have made mistakes. I have made many, but I corrected them, so far :-)

If a group planting is what you desire, you will be much better off placing 2 or 3 plants into several 3-inch pots, then burying those pots into a bowl. You will have MUCH better control over moisture and watering that way.

Also, don't use garden soil until you have figured out when and how much water your plants need. Again, after a few successful growing seasons you can start to tinker with the soil. Use something safe with lots of inert, aerating ingredients like perlite, pumice, Turface, etc. Avoid peat and keep organic components minimal (compost, humus, decomposed bark, etc.)

The nice thing about Lithops is they are readily available and easy from seed so you should not feel too badly if/ when some of your plants perish.

x

Hi X,
I don't take any of what you posted as condescending. :) I'm here to learn.

You are starting to make it sound like work though.. LOL!

I dont dissapoint easily. I love a challenge and can be stuborn and determined. And when all else fails, I turn strawberry pots into succulent pots..:)

Thank you for all your help. I may look for a smaller pot.

I do want to try and raise some from seed too.

JoJo

Here's a few pics.

I wish I had a better camera.

{{gwi:701080}}

{{gwi:701082}}

Sorry about the bigger ones.. having problems with photobucket today.. or my puter. who knows!

JoJo, what X is trying to tell you, put bluntly, is that Lithops are suicidal. Their state of mental health is fragile. If you do or say the slightest wrong thing in their presence, they promptly commit seppuku.

Make sure to always speak softly in their presence, and apologize for keeping them in captivity far their their homeland. Half the year they won't eat or drink, and if you force them, they will intentionally choke to death. If it gets too hot, or too cold, they melt into nothingness quicker than you can say "What did I do?".

I love the way they look, especially those wild looking tattoos. If you can keep them happy long enough, they will make big, bright, beautiful flowers. But they are just too fickle and finicky for me to live with, so I don't keep them anymore. I'll leave that to those with more compassion for their weaknesses, a firm understanding of their fragile will to live, and a willingness to adapt to their lifestyle.

~B

Hi ~B
Thanks...

I get what X is saying.

I've had them years ago and threw them out thinking the papery sheath, was them being dead. LOL!

I realize they will be a challange. I read ton's here before buying them.

I spent 6 seasons trying to grow a darn strawberry... I don't mind working with these. I'm patient..:) and pursistant.

In my hands, Lithops and other mesembs are just about the easiest group of plants to grow and flower. I don't think I am doing anything magical. The only bad experiences I have had in recent memory were a result of a poorly ventilated hot sunny situation, where some plants perished. I have never lost one to rot, I swear. And I am not shy with watering.

Here are my conditions for Lithops flourishing:
-a greenhouse to protect from unwanted rain
-constant air circulation with a fan
-unobstructed sunshine spring to fall
-as long as temps are above 28F in my unheated greenhouse, they are in there
-during the cold months they rest in my garage under regular fluorescent lights
-i only use 4 or 5 inch square and deep plastic pots
-soil mix: heavy clay garden soil mixed with pumice and gravel
-i provide some moisture basically every week. In July, August and December to March it is a light spray. April to June a light watering. Sept and Oct, I drench. November back to light watering. This is a generalization, some species vary: lesliei or pseudotruncatella get more summer water, optica gets more winter water. A warm spell in the fall may warrant additional watering.

Many of the white flowered species are blooming for me now.

This is what works for me, your mileage may vary.

I believe the key is the dense soil. Let me explain. Lithops have very fine rootlets. Only a dense mix will support fine rootlets during periods of drought and heat. Rootlets become dessicated in a typical light and airy cactus soil mix. Unbeknownst to the grower, the plants' rootlets are dying. Now, when you water, the plant cannot take in the moisture, it is physiologically stressed and prone to fungus, and it dies. Not because you overwatered, but because the roots are unhealthy.

Keep the rootzone healthy and your plants will not rot from an accidental overwatering or high humidity.

Make yourself a dense mix using some clayey soil. Dig below the rich topsoil in your garden until you hit some clay. Of course depending on where you live you may not have it, but try. Pot up some Lithops using dense soil mixed with gravel. Get a second pot with a different mix, and compare the results for yourself. What do you have to lose?

X

Hi X,
Thank you! This is very helpful. I have tons of info printed from the net, but it helps to hear how someone is growing them.

I will try and mix up a dense soil. Were not really clay here, but it is a heavy soil, with some sand. I'll get a few more "cheap" lithops to play with.

Both my white flowers were in bloom yesterday. That looked so pretty! and had a very happy bee playing in them. :)

My large blue one is spliting. So hoping to see blooms soon! I got that one from Arid Lands.

Thanks!
JoJo

Jojo:

the photo with all 4 pots:

bottom right: Lithops salicola
bottom middle as labeled, Dinteranthus vanzylii (care same as Lithops but less water)
bottom right: Lithops lesliei (one of the green ssp, maybe luteoviridis?)

In the mixed pot, the big white one looks like L. verruculosa, the next larger twins are L. lesliei, the smaller ones are too fuzzy to tell

x

I was reading this thread over at my work, and what to my suprise? The pictures you posted here actually came up!

Jojo...Those are the cutest plants! It is nice to know what they are called...

What a wealth of info here, to care for them for anyone who is thinking of buying one..

I hope you have great sucess with them!
Funny story with your hubby by the way..Murphies law,ha..Lol

Hi X,
Thanks for the help with the names! I've been browsing, but they all start to look alike after awhile.

I was waiting for the lg.(looks white)one to bloom to try and name it. It came with a label "lithops fulviceps var. ? " from arid lands.
It actually looks light blue, so NICE!

I know I need a better camera! I just can't get a good pic of anything small. I'll play around and see if I can get a better pic of the blury one.

"Dinteranthus vanzylii" was told is from Africa and has what I guess is a field collection code. (Sauer and then a #)

Hi Mike!
Thanks, yes, they are so cute! That's why I had to try them! I love the look and feel of these too. Hard to belive they are a plant!
The flowers are SOFT! and dainty! Had a bee just as happy as can be playing in them yesterday.
To my surprise, they close and re open for several days!

This thread has been extremely helpful to me and will be to others! I have read and printed tons from the net, but nothing talks of pot size!

I used to raise birds, and no book in the world could compare to learning from other breeders.

Murphies Law is rignt!! LOL!!! I was really surprised he noticed them. lol! I'm not taking him to Arid Lands again! That got expesive... :) His name happens to be Mike too... :)

Thanks again for all the help, this has been a great learning expierence!
JoJo

L. fulviceps, hmmm...I think the v. lactinea has a bluish cast. The photo looks like L.verruculosa - but there is an easy way to rule it out: verruculosa has tiny red pimples along the dark crack markings

D. vanzylii comes from the same neighborhood as some other Lithops, in Bushmanland. They are very similar, only minor floral and seed characteristics distinguish them from Lithops. If you grew from seed you would clearly see the difference.

x

Hi X,
It is so kind of you to help like you are and try and narrow down the name!

I did a little more searching last night based on you last post.

My plant has bluish/grey pimples/dots/freckles.. what ever they are..LOL! Just a little darker than the plant.

As best I can tell/find it is closest to "Lithops fulviceps var. lactinea.

It is spliting.. so hoping to see a bloom soon. The lady I got it from at Arid Lands said it should start blooming soon.

JoJo

As you can see in my last post, I was excited and thinking my Lithop/ pale blue one was going to bloom. It had started to split, and my others were blooming at the time.

Boy was I wrong! LOL! It now has 2 sets of leaves forming! Twins! LOL! I am so excited and a little surprised because it isn't shrinking much. Is this normal?

I need to go back and read up on these, it gets a littl confusing.

anyway,wanted to share new pictures. I just got this camera for christmas, and I LOVE the pictures I am taking now. Big difference from the ones in the start of this post!

{{gwi:701084}}

{{gwi:701086}}

{{gwi:701088}}

The one with two pairs have just started to shrink, seems normal to me. The time when shrinking starts varies between different species.

Thanks tj~

This is the first i've had these for this long. :) got them in Nov.

I think it is so neat to see the new leaves forming inside.

We have a place here in town that sells mainly this type of plant, I'm going next month to get a few more.

Have a great day!
Thank you for your help!
JoJo

Okay so I too am new with succulents and would also like to combine my lithops into one large pot vs. the tons that are on top of my poor iguanaÂs tank. So I understand that they all have their own schedules and a few other blog/forums have said they can be some what of a diva to keep happy. So I was thinking of using a long shallow rectangular clay pot approximately 12L x 8H x 6W. This pot sits on a tray and it has 4 draining holes. I plan to use a mix of 2 parts pea gravel to one part clay soil? I am looking for overall advice for fear of killing off the whole collection I am considering doing some and not all. Any advice is good advice and when I say new to succulents lets say these are my first ;). I also feel the need to say being a zone 6 these African native plants are a far ways away from home.
Thanks,
Vero
{{gwi:701091}}

this pot is 1.5" deep
{{gwi:701094}}

Caudex,
This is amazing! I love it!

But can this be done if they already have long tap roots? or were these started from seed here.?

The ones in my picture just above are in a 6"(i belive) deep pot, and the others are in a 3".

JoJo

Excellant lithop planting!