Chumasande MatiwaneThese strange succulents are known for their interesting shapes, hence the name Living Stone Plants. Their tiny brains depend on which variety you are dealing with. Many gardeners find these plants confusing or difficult to care for. But once you understand their environment and needs, they add an interesting beauty to your plant collection.
Lithops plants grow best in conditions that mimic their natural habitat, especially when it comes to providing light and water. Decide on the variety and watch them flourish well in your garden.
How to grow living stones
To produce seeds for harvesting, living stone plants must be hand-pollinated while their flowers are in bloom and fully open. Your existing lithops plants will naturally produce flowers. Once these flowers fade, they will develop into seed pods that can be harvested to grow new living stone plants after the flowers have died.. Use these seeds to cultivate new living stone plants. Plant these seeds in the spring before they enter their dormant state during the hot summer months. Your living stone succulent will need lots of light so it can reach down into its subterranean leaves.
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Taking care of your living stone succulents
Since these plants are part of the succulent family, they prefer full sunlight at times, but will do okay with at least six hours of sunlight. When grown indoors, these succulents will need to be placed at your brightest window. Insufficient light can cause elongated leaves and poor leaf colouring. The plants like sandy soil with plenty of drainage. A good potting mix formulated for most cacti is also ideal for living stones.
When cultivated the right way, you’ll need to water your succulents. Water on a seasonal schedule that mimics the rainfall they would get in their natural habitat. This means not watering in summer when the plant is dormant. Once you see new leaves forming around spring, water the soil when it dries out just enough to make it slightly moist. As long as the soil of your lithops plants remains moist enough, humidity isn’t an issue. With the succulents’ natural habitat growing needs matched, taking care of the plant becomes low maintenance.
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Common problems with lithops plants
The living stones are typically easy plants to tend, but they can also develop a few problems. These are the few problems to look out for:
- Mushy leaves
- Discoloured leaves
- Wrinkled leaves
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ALSO SEE: OUTDOOR PLANT GUIDE: WHAT NOT TO GROW NEAR YOUR HOUSE
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