ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LITHOPS

So you think you know how to Lithops?! (I'm sure you do, but just in case...)

Let's begin with these little guy's background and history - With their resemblance of a little butt, they've earned their nickname "butt plant". That said, on a more serious note, Lithops is a genus of succulent plants native to Southern Africa. "Lithos" means "stone" and "-ops" means "face" in Ancient Greek; therefore "Lithops" means "stone-like".
Lithops are commonly called Living Stones because of their remarkable resemblance to rocks on the ground. In a rock covered landscape, they are nearly indistinguishable from actual stones. In fact, the plant’s ability to blend in using its color and shape is the most startling adaptation of Living Stones. The leaves are not green as with many foliage plants, but various shades of cream, grey, brown, reddish browns, purplish browns, and grass-greens with a myriad of patterns such as darker windowed areas and designs, dots, red lines and areas known as "islands".

No two butt plants are going to look exactly alike which makes them a highly popular novelty house plant succulent growers can't get enough of!

Each individual consist of one or more pairs of bulbous (what a catchy word, bulbous, bulbous. I could say that all day, bulbous), nearly fused leaves opposite to each other and hardly any stem. The slit between the leaves contains the meristem and are where new leaves and flowers grow. Lithops are extremely succulent bilobes (up to 90% water). A single body can be to 1.5" in diameter, and is split by a central "cleft", creating the "bi-lobed" body.

Before we dive into the do's and don't in part 2 of this series, let's take a deep dive into how to care for these little guys!

Climate Lithops Thrive In

Lithops occur naturally across wide areas of Namibia and South Africa, as well as small bordering areas in Botswana. They're not picky when it comes to altitude, and thrive from sea level to high mountains. 

Lithops often survive many years of drought with nothing more than scant fogs. As our climate is much more humid than that of Africa (I mean it's Singapore amirite) , Lithops can absorb much of its required moisture from the air (at least one of us's benefiting from the humidity...yes I'm looking at you my fizzy hair). With that, there's really no need to water these little guys too often.

Growth Habit Of Lithops

When the plant grows, two new leaves will start to form from the middle (aka central cleft). They will take all the moisture and nutrients from the old leaves, which is why it is important not to water/fertilize during this time as it will disrupt the process (give the girl/ guy some space to breathe man geez). When the time comes, the old leaves will shrivel and die and out goes the old and in comes the new! After that point in time it is safe to resume watering/fertilizing (go crazy with it! p.s.s but not that crazy)!

Best Soil Types For Lithops

Lithops thrive best in a coarse, well-drained substrate. Any soil that retains too much water will cause the plant's skin to burst as they over-expand (ouchies!). Strong light will develop hard strongly colored skins which are resistant to damage and rot, although persistent overwatering will still be fatal (Let's lay off that shall we.. you get the idea). Excessive heat will kill potted plants as they cannot cool themselves by transpiration and rely on staying buried in cool soil below the surface.

Lithops requires a porous soil; note that very excellent drainage can be attained by the addition of extra pumice or other coarse material (Psst, we've added that in your pot for you here at miniLove, so no worries!). That said, if you're diy-ing, it'll be  preferable that the soil does not contain much organic material, nor fertilized with heavy nitrogen as this can cause an explosion of soft, flabby growth that can make the plant prone to bacterial rots (Now that's not a pretty sight...trust us, been there, done that). A good rule of thumb is 40% peat moss and 60% perlite to allow even faster drainage. Now that's a good glass 😉

Light, Camera, Action... Lithops

Lithops requires full to very bright sun (either direct or indirect). Translation, this baby is an outdoor kid, let him out! Shade will kill this plant. It can take full strength sun, but be mindful of sun burning the leaves. That said, if your plant is in full sun, be sure to water every week (instead of every two). 

If the plant appears to be 'reaching' for the window or light source, it needs more light! Stretching will cause the Living Stones to lose their rock like appearance and grow taller (Now unless that's a look you want to go for, simply find another place with more light for these little guys). But hey, to each his own right!

Watering Your Lithops

Keep these babies barely moist! One Lithops expert (aka me) once wisely commented in regard to watering Lithops: "When in doubt, don't" (but in all honesty though, horticulturist sing in unison on this one). Overwatering is the most common problem people have with butt plant. Overwatering often result in the death of this plant 9 times out of 10. Please! If there's one thing you took away from this fabulous article, please let it be this one. 

Generally, Lithops strive when watered about once every two or three weeks. Tap water or distilled water are both fine. Treat it as a cactus. If you're feeling generous, the plant can take a little 'misting' every other day if desired, but this is not compulsory. And... I sound like a broken recorder, but please be sure not to overwater!

What Happens If You Overwater Your Lithops

Huh! So you've NOT listened to me 🙄

But that's fine, let's try to make the best out of it. If you have consistently overwatered your butt plant, it will likely die. If you’ve only overwatered once or twice, it's fine, the plant will fill itself with water and ‘bulge’ out. Now stop! Anymore water at this point can burst the leaves (Think the finale of Kingsman: The Secret Service... you know what I'm referring to don't you!).

If you're already at this point, your best option is to withhold watering again until the leaves have once more reduced to normal size. Water thoroughly when soil is dry to the touch. If the plant is shriveled during the non-growing periods, water a very little bit, just so the leaves perk up.

I repeat, if too much water is given at ANY time, the plant will swell and then burst. If this happens, you cannot go back!! Take care when watering, and water sparingly!

And with that, you're well on your way to becoming a Lithops expert! And now that you've all that knowledge, it's time to put them into action. Oh look! How convenient that you can get one here at miniLove 🤭