In late winter or early spring a living stone will start to molt, shedding its old skin to produce a new pair of leaves, or two new pairs of leaves.
It’s important not to water at this time. The new growth will take the moisture it needs from the old growth, leaving the old leaves to turn into a thin, desiccated skin.
When the old leaves have completely dried up, begin to water again, approximately every two weeks, allowing the growing medium to dry between waterings.
During the heat of summer, the plant will go through another dormancy period, and during this time, water only if the plant is shriveling, and if it’s very hot, reduce direct sun exposure as well.
Begin watering again in late summer.
Overwatered living stones can develop diseases and sometimes even burst – but the first sign you’ll notice is elongation.
Some species are naturally elongated, so you need to know the typical characteristics of the type you’re growing.
Soil
Since their native habitats consist of rocky, gritty, sandy soils, you’ll want to try to mimic those conditions when choosing a growing medium for your lithops plant.
Avoid growing mediums that contain non-renewable peatwhich is not an appropriate ingredient.
To learn more about what professional lithops growers use in the way of growing mediums, I reached out to Jane Evans, co-owner of Living Stones Nursery in Tucson Arizona, a business which only sells to local customers.
Evans told me that their lithops potting mix is 50 percent cactus mix and 50 percent pumice.
So keep this 50:50 ratio in mind when creating your own succulent potting soil for your living stones.
A ready-to-use, commercial cactus and succulent soil in itself is not quite right for lithops. Additional grit is required.
Fertilizing
Fertilizing is not necessary as these succulents evolved to thrive in poor soils. Some professional growers fertilize frequently and others do so very rarely or not at all.
One option is to offer a gentle fertilizer when repotting, such as Dr. Earth’s Succulence Organic Pump and Grow Cactus and Succulent Plant Food.
Dr. Earth’s Succulence Pump & Grow
It’s available in a 16-ounce pump bottle via Arbico Organics.
Species and Varieties to Select
There are many species, subspecies, naturally occurring varieties, and cultivars of lithops.
You can learn more in our guide to 37 different types of lithops.
Here are a few of my favorites:
Karasmontana
L. karasmontana earned the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit in 2002.
With a lot of variability, the species can appear in shades of brick red, beige, yellow, brown, pink, grayish white, or grayish green.
This species usually produces two to six heads, but can sometimes be found in mature clumps of 12 or more.
Their faces have a bumpy texture.
‘Top Red’ is a cultivar that has a beige to gray body, and broad, furrowed, brick red channels.
Lithops Karasmontana ‘Top Red’ Seeds
You can find packets of 50 ‘Top Red’ seeds from the Micro Landscape Design Store via Amazon.
Otzeniana
L. otzeniana is usually olive green, but can also appear in muted shades of pink, cream, or blue.
This living stone has a deep fissure between its two leaves and lobes that are slightly divergent.
With distinct margins around the translucent windows, L. otzeniana has large rounded peninsulas and islands framing its windows.
L. otzeniana bears yellow flowers with white centers.
Rubra
A cultivar of L. optics‘Rubra’ is milky pink to reddish purple in color, with translucent windows and smooth faces.
There’s a very deep fissure between the two leaves, which gives this plant a different profile than many other lithops species.
The faces are smooth with broad, dark purple or reddish windows, and distinct margins. They usually lack islands.
The flowers are white, and often have pink tips.
You can find a three pack of one- to two-year-old ‘Rubra’ plants via the Micro Landscape Design Store via Amazon.
Maintenance
A mulch of gravel or coarse sand is typically added to the top of the growing medium. This keeps the living stone’s head dry and also helps to keep the plant upright.
You won’t have to repot very often – on average, only about once every two years if it needs extra room because it’s producing multiple heads.
