How To Grow and Care for Your Living Stones Plants

The ideal way to grow and care for a collection of your living stone (lithops) plants in your tropical garden or your home isn't that difficult. Let's dig into some details!

Watering Requirements

Your lithops need watering only twice a year to stay healthy. The right time to water them is in the fall when their growth restarts and the succulent starts to flower. Also, watering can be beneficial in spring when lithops grow new leaves. At other times, avoid watering your lithops. The right watering techniques are essential to keep your living stone plants healthy. To water a succulent, drench the soil until it seeps out of the container’s drainage holes. Water the lithops every two weeks, and before watering, make sure the soil is completely dried out.

Light

Your lithops will thrive when they receive direct light for four to five hours daily. The ideal location to grow your living stone plants indoors is a south-facing window or an east-facing windowsill. Inadequate sunlight can affect your lithop's growth and turn their leaves to yellow or make them stretch. It is among the major reasons your lithops could die of. It's great to remember that your lithops may require adjusting to bright light after the dark, cold months. So, instead of putting your lithops directly in full sunshine during early spring, increase full sunlight exposure gradually. That way, you can avoid stress and prevent sunburning your lithops' fleshy leaves.

Soil Requirements

The suitable growing medium for your living stones is a soil potting mix for cactus plants. To make a living stone plant soil mix, blend one part of standard houseplant soil with two parts of coarse sand, crushed gravel, and perlite. Correcting the soil with coarse, inorganic material will improve drainage for better growth. Excessive moisture retention can be damaging for your lithops growth. Wet soil leads to root rot and lets insects thrive. Living stone plants in their natural habitat grow in rocky ground and sandy deserts. When selecting a container for your lithops, choose larger than necessary. That's because living stone plants have large root systems and require room to thrive.

Temperature

Living stone plants grow in average household temperatures if they receive enough light. The right temperature range for your lithops is 65°F (18°C) to 80°F (26°C). The minimum temperature for your living stone plants is 55°F (12°C), but a temperature below freezing can kill your heat-loving succulents.

Fertiliser

Lithops can thrive in poor soil and don’t require additional fertilisation. Living stone plants grow well in sandy soil without organic matter in their natural habitat. However, you can feed them with strongly diluted cactus fertiliser during late summer to encourage blooming. Preferably, a high-potassium and low-nitrogen fertiliser are important.

Diseases Affecting Your Lithops

The only disease affecting your lithops is root rot that occurs due to overwatering. Too much humidity in the soil can cause their roots to decay and their leaves to crack. If you water your plants in line with their natural habits and only when their soil is dry, you shouldn’t have any plant disease problems.