Your Lithops should be in the sun with no water at all untill they make new leaves and the old leaves are shriveled up. new leaves come from the inside and they use the waterfrom the old ones. greetz hablu

Hablu,

I can't get the Lithops to sprout from seed.

Sage

You are doing the correct thing by keeping them moist and away from direct sun. If they haven't germinated within two weeks (from my experience) then they may not be viable seeds.

Sorry, did not read good enough. steve is right. two or three weeks than you must see something. Either the seeds are not viable or the nights are to cold. it could be that you are to soon in the year. I only start these plants in summer. greetz hablu

Alright this is my first post in a year. Just feel that i need to share my experience.

I failed miserably sowing lithops last year. Mistake was to sow them too deeply. Infact the tiny seeds cannot be burried at all. I only got one germinated out of 20 seeds. It is still alive now, one and only.

Keep them moist, warm and in bright light. Should germinate in a week.

ok, I have to chalk this one up to experience, or lack thereof. As you know, Lithops seed are practically microscopic so I don't remember if they were 'buried' or not.

I'll have to get more seeds, are you saying wait till the heat of summer?

I sprinkle fine sand over the seeds so they are slightly covered. This also helps to prevent mosses growing in the pots until the plants can be pricked out (I don't sterilize the soil).
Springtime should be OK for sowing if it is warm (not knowing about US seasons or areas).

Hi all, I placed a picture in the gallery. I use old iceboxes. The soil is a little peat, lots of sharp sand and stone. I don,t cover the seeds with sand and I don't sterilize the soil (to lazy). I have them under the table. In the beginning I moist one time considerable and than leave the box for a week or two/three closed. The plants are now growing rather well and they are still in the same icebox. The results you see in the picture. greetz hablu

Lithops seed, surface sow, keep warm and moist, up in 1-2 weeks. No-brainer with good seed. Old seed may benefit from drying out and re-wetting. Extremely fresh seed, straight off the plant, may take several weeks to mature and germinate. I sow under lights in late winter for the most growth before winter but they will grow well in summer if you give them enough water.

Most cactus seedlings cannot handle full sun. Watch out for them going strong red or pink and provide afternoon shade. Some species will need full shade for the first few months.

Put Blue Spruce seedlings in full sun.

Thanks S&B about the Blue Spruce - having trouble tracking info.

Also have at least 2 sprouts of Dawn Redwood - should I do the same?

Love growing stuff from seed!

I will check with C&SS for Lithops seed. I am a member, might as well utilize the service. Will make sure seed is just surfaced covered. That's probably what happened, although I don't remember what I did after I sowed them.

Are they fast growers once sprouted?

Sage

Are they fast growers once sprouted?

The simple answer would be no :)

Expect the largest species to be half an inch across, at best, after one year. You may only achieve half that. Smaller species, and many cultivars, will probably not approach a quarter inch until their second year.

Hi guys! Im new here from Florida. I recently joined cause I need some real help. I bought 2 nice, healthy lithops (living stones) plants from a local garden center and brought them home. I repotted them in a dry mixture of 1 part course sand, 1 part sandy soil and 1 part perlite. They were plenty wet beforehand, so I decided to keep them dry for a while before watering them so that they would not rot from overwatering. I kept them in a fairly low light place for a few days till they had time to adjust to the shock of repotting then moved them slowly into greater light conditions. To my dismay, they shriveled within 2 days into nothing more then a desicated mass. I think it might have something to do with the humidity down here, but to tell the truth, Im new at this and I don't really know. I need some serious advice, anyone else have this happen to them? or live in similar conditions and can give me some advice as to how to counter this? I really would like to grow these fascinating plants, its killing me, cause they are just so freaking cool...

Thanks in advance!

:)

Blame it on the store. Lithops should never be "plenty wet", they were probably doomed before you bought them. Also, minor damage to new plants in transport or repotting does sometimes kill them very quickly, but probably not both. Your approach is correct, repot into dry soil, keep completely dry and out of the strongest sun for a week or two. Make sure the soil drains well, maybe use a clay pot, you are unlikely to ever underwater an adult Lithops. Give new ones time to establish good roots in your soil and they will need little water. Watch out for them becoming dormant in summer heat, that's a dangerous time to water.

Venus fly trap seed need a period of cold moisture prior to sprouting...place the seeds into a piece of moist paper towel, wrap in plastic or in a watertight baggie and put it in the fridge for 4 weeks, then plant the seeds into a warm, humid and moist mix of sand and peat. Good luck.

Lithops seeds sprout easily in 3-21 days, all they need is warmth during the day and fresh air after 2-3 days otherwise they may spoil. There is much to learn about growing lithops and other similar succulents, much more than can be written here in a message post. If and when you really get into it there is loads of info available on the internet and in books.

Cacti are also relatively easy, if you know what you're doing. The trick with all succulents is to get them past the 2-3 month old stage where they are most susceptible to failure, after that most succulents are straightforward.