How to make Lithops spend the summer

Watering

Watering has always been the most concerned issue for everyone. Let’s talk about home watering first. Experts will say that watering must be done thoroughly when the soil is completely dry. What does it mean to be completely dry? Is the soil dry as seen by the naked eye? Or stick a toothpick into the soil to see if it's wet? This is not easy to judge, and it depends on the growth of the plant. When the root system of the plant grows normally, the leaves become full and wrinkles gradually appear, which means that the Lithops is beginning to lack water and needs to be replenished with water in time.

As for the amount of watering, most families water thoroughly and it is difficult for the plants to dry out completely, which ultimately results in either death or excessive growth. Therefore, watering less will mean slower growth, but it will not have a life or death impact.

illumination

What Lithops needs is long-term uniform light, and the stronger the light is not necessarily better. The ultraviolet rays from the sun are very strong in the summer, which can often burn and kill Lithops, so they need proper shade. If you grow them indoors, there is no need to provide shade, as the glass will block some of the ultraviolet rays, and the angle of the sunlight will not allow any corner of the home to be exposed to light for a long time!

Hibernation

Summer dormancy is the living habit of Lithops in its place of origin, but in ordinary families, where the cultivation temperature is suitable and the water supply is sufficient, there is no such thing as dormancy. It’s just that the temperature is too high in the summer, and everyone is afraid that it will rot, so they give it very little water or even cut off the water supply, which causes Lithops to grow slowly. And hibernation is just a self-protection behavior of Lithops. Under normal watering in summer, Lithops can not only grow to a size of nearly 1 mm in one summer, but the mortality rate can also be at a relatively low level.

Root rot

Root rot is the most troublesome problem. Root rot of Lithops refers to the decay of the growth point where the rhizome is connected. The reason is very simple: too much watering. The surface of Lithops is its outer skin, which is as elastic as a balloon. When Lithops is kept in a plump state for a long time, this outer skin will become very thin. When watering, the outer skin may expand and touch some sharp objects in the soil. Under high temperature and high humidity conditions, it will be a paradise for bacteria to multiply, and the erosion will slowly expand until it spreads to the growth point.

If signs of bacterial erosion are found above the soil surface, you can clean the affected area, apply fungicide powder, dry the wound and then plant.