Unfortunately none of the lithrops seeds I bought sprouted, so I thought I’d try again with small plants I bought off of Etsy from angelSucculents. They came quickly and nicely wrapped, and the young lithrops are firm with a nice variety of colors.

Lithops (stone face, living stone) is a south African native of the Aizoaceae (ice plant) family. They resemble pebbles and can be easy to miss if not actively looked for.

Lithops have particular watering requirements, and are prone to dying from overwatering. According to a variety of gardeners with more experience with them than I do (this is my first attempt) they have a growth period in the spring (water), may go into a summer dormancy (don’t water), flower in the fall (water) and then use the reserves in their oldest leaves to make it through the winter (don’t water).

I’ve been wanting to try lithops for a while now, I think they are an unusual and interesting plant. I’m not sure the window I have them in gets enough light to keep them happy, but time will tell.

While I didn’t have fantastic luck with the succulent seeds I planted about a half a year ago, at least some of the sempervivum sprouted. Not sure if the others didn’t sprout due to the seeds or due to user error, but the sempervivums are the only ones that have made it this far.