Wrinkled Lithop w/ Picture

[Zucculent]

Howdy,

I am very new to the Lithop cultivation. I recently got my first lithop plant 3 weeks ago and after about a week it started to wrinkle. I watered it once since I got the plant. I am posting a photograph for reference. Is this simply from the summer sun? It is on a windowsill facing East.

lithop2.jpg (14.06 KiB) Viewed 6367 times

Thank you for your help!

[baileysup]

What type of soil is it in? I would stop watering for awhile. Also , it could be sun (if it's not used to it). Lessen direct sun, or what's best is to keep it in bright light. It looks like it has enough moisture. These lithops can go a long time without any water. They like sun though, so I would just stop watering it, and get rid of those rocks on the top. This way, you can see what's going on with the soil. Make sure the soil is not too moist.

[baileysup]

I think it's too much water. These plants don't need much water. I water mine with a spray bottle (little). Don't water it, and get rid of those top dressing rocks. This will help you. This is my lithops, and this picture was taken soon after I bought it. One thing I've noticed, is that I've had the soil bone dry on mine for months, and it looks like in the pictures. I've since done some research, and discovered some things about this plant. There is a thread right under this one that says "Living Rock". This may be some additional information for you. If you have any other questions, please ask.

[baileysup]

Find out what it's planted in. I waited on mine, and just recently took all the junk out of the roots, and planted ind cacti soil. I should have done it when I first got the plant, but if your plant is hurting, wait to do this and get the plant healthy first.

[baileysup]

I think way to much water, and the roots rot, leaving the plant wrinkled. If it's just a bit too much water, they can get so plump, their skin will split (not the split yours have. Yours is supposed to be split that way.) I mean an actual tear in the skin. I'm still in the learning process with these myself. I hope you have good luck with yours.

[Sweyn]

It is on a windowsill facing East.

That could be part of your problem. In general, plants like this don't do well when facing north or east. The ideal position is south. The next best position is west. You could try putting it on a window in one of those directions and wait for a while to see if improves. Whatever happens, please reply to say if that helps.

[BillyThkid]

Lithops are one of my favorite cacti/succulent and were one of the first ones I bought.

Lithops require no water during summer months because this is when they are dormant and do not grow. They start growing a little bit in the fall months and then really take off in the winter months, slowing down in the spring and then back to summer.

The only time I truly water mine is a lite misting in the end of September and then water once in November.

Because they are winter growers they require a decent amount of light to really be kept looking natural and healthy.

I am personally having to bring some 100 cacti and other tropical plants inside this winter because of the zone I live in. they will go in my front window that gets a good amount of sunlight, they will also have two hanging fluorescent light hoods that each hold 4 of the large bulbs. but I'm keeping a huge collection.

If you really want to help your little guy go, give him a lamp, the more light the better normally when it comes to artificial lights. I like the CFL(compact fluorescent light) bulbs because of their low power consumption and broad range of UV light they produce.

[wysteriangnome]

Such an odd, unique succulent. If I was on here last summer, I could have saved mine. I planted mine in an area I needed to water quite regular.

After viewing your photos, I may get another and try keeping it indoors with much less water. I imagine they are slow growers? So I won't have to keep repotting it.