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To water or not to water?
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To water or not to water?


I got this guy a month ago and watered him when I potted him. About 2 weeks in he was looking wrinkly on the sides so I gave him a few drops of water. The string of pearls sharing his pot seem fine and hes planted in bonsai jack succulent mix. I just pulled him out and noticed the spots. For reference hes from MCG and came with a few other Lithops and they all seem to be thriving with the same setup and water schedule. This little guy just doesn’t seem to be taking. Any advice??

by Sugliscious

3 Comments

  1. posts_plants

    Have you watched the MCG video about lithops?

    Generally you don’t water these until they start to sink in a little bit. They only get watered a few times a year. I also wouldn’t pot them with other kinds of succulents. String of pearls require a little more water than some succulents, while lithops require far far less than your normal succulents

  2. writergal75

    I’d pot him by himself in some gritty mix – mostly pumice, lava rock, perlite, or pebbles, etc. Can throw in a tiny bit of soil and small bark. Then give him a good soak. Let the water run through a few times, drain any excess. If it doesn’t perk up in a day or so – water again, this time via bottom watering, allowing the plant to soak up water from a bowl. Then leave it alone and see what happens.

  3. scipty

    get it a separate pot, lithops and string of pearls have very different needs

    also, you need this plant to root. so use clean scissors to trim the roots until you see a white middle. these woody roots will stand in the way of your lithops growing. here’s a video showing how this cutting is done: https://youtu.be/gKosJA69ze0

    during this period, I like to give the plant frequent, light waterings to encourage root growth. your mix is very well draining, so assuming you have enough light and ventilation, watering a couple of times a week until the top soil is wet won’t be a problem.

    do that until the plant firms in the pot and the side wrinkles are either gone or the plant perks up. this means there’s new root growth. after that, you can resume normal watering (less often, more deeply)

    you really don’t want to unpot this plant so often. taking it out of the pot once a month is a bad idea. it won’t root, and it will die if you keep doing that

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