Living Stones/Baby Toes

[sammijo4eva]

I love Living Stones/rocks and Baby toes and all of them. I get them, and they do wonderfully outside. In the winter, when I bring plants in, they do fine until about December or January then they all start dying off. In fact, I have lost probably about six plants in the past month or so. I have no idea what is wrong. We water them, but not as much (per research). They start rotting from the bottom up (almost looks water logged, but not sure how). I don't have any pictures, but was wondering what could be the cause of this? Its mostly just these succulents.

[Happy Days]

Succulent rot in winter is common and is usually caused by too much water. The plants you name are prone to that and the Living Stones (Lithops, etc.) are very susceptible. They don't generally need to be watered much through the winter months unless they are growing under lights. Winter (here) is when the new growth is being formed and is pulling moisture from the old leaves. Just a few "spritzes" of water to keep the root hairs alive is ample during the winter. The plants will look shriveled as the old leaves die and the new growth uses the moisture in them but should rebound just fine.

There could also be a problem with the growing medium in that it doesn't drain quickly enough and contains too much organic matter. For the Lithops in particular, a growing medium composed of part cactus/succulent mix and a majority % of either pumice, perlite, or sand along with some rocks makes a good growing medium. These plants need good air circulation around the roots as well as fast drainage. Root mealies could be another cause of the plants' demise.

I hope you are able to fix the problem. These unusual little plants have such personality. I particularly like how large the blooms of the Baby Toes are in comparison to the plant size.

[sammijo4eva]

Thank you! I don't have any left, but when I get more hopefully I can get them to stay through the winter.

[Happy Days]

You're welcome. I bet you'll succeed. Keep us posted when you do.

[sammijo4eva]

Will do. Meanwhile, I will share photos of my other ones

[Happy Days]

Oh good. Can't wait to see them!