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Cacti & Succulents

Lithops - Planting multiples in same pot?

16 years ago

Hi everyone -

I want to put together a grouping of Lithops in a single pot, and am wondering what types I should be getting. I know some of them require different water/lighting. Does anybody have any recommendations?

Also, I live in Orlando, FL, and it's around 70-75F during the day in the winter and 50F or so at night. Is that too cold for the Lithops to be outside?

Thanks for your help!!

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Comments (2)

shrubs_n_bulbs
16 years ago
They are always difficult to grow in a group planting. It can be done but the risks of overwatering, underwatering (unlikely but it happens!), and just plain watering at the wrong time all mean problems.

Lithops are fine at 50F. All are fine down to freezing for brief periods, some are OK quite a way below freezing if you keep them dry (which you will most of the time anyway!).

Choose plants of the same age and size. Preferably choose plants of the same species, although I appreciate you might want variety. Perhaps choose a species with much variation like L. lesliei, and perhaps throw in a green cultivar like 'Albinica'.
xerophyte NYC
16 years ago
Lithops will have a tough time dealing with the extended summer's high humidity and warm nights in Orlando. It is not to their liking, they will be dormant for a long time and you must be very cautious with watering because of that. It's quite tricky: you have to be able to balance the tendency to being dormant on hot nights with enough water to keep the roots from drying out while at the same time the high humidity calls for reduced watering. Use a soil mix that has a very high % of a non-water retaining substrate like perlite.

I suggest you try growing a few for several growing seasons so you can learn how to grow them properly before you start doing more "advanced" things like growing different species together.

It probably can be done successfully in the humid southeast. Any growers out there with experience growing Lithops in predominantly hot/ humid climates?

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