We, the Lithops seeds, are tiny and possess immense patience. Our life begins not when we are sown, but when the conditions perfectly mimic our ancestral home. We require a specific signal to break our dormancy: the gentle, consistent moisture and warmth that follows a seasonal rain in our native South African deserts. In the vast American climate, you must become that rain for us. Our success depends entirely on you recreating this precise moment of seasonal change.
The optimal time for our awakening is when the daylight lengthens and temperatures are consistently warm, typically late spring through summer. Plant us in a very shallow trench on top of a sterile, well-draining medium—a mix of mostly inorganic material like perlite, pumice, or coarse sand is ideal. We cannot fight against algae or fungus, so a sterile environment is non-negotiable. After sowing, the most critical step begins: you must provide gentle, bottom-watering to saturate the soil completely. Then, immediately cover our pot with a clear lid or plastic wrap to create a miniature, humid biome. This sealed environment is our entire world; it traps the moisture we need to swell and crack open our shells, preventing it from evaporating under the American sun or dry air.
For the next one to three weeks, we require consistent warmth (around 70-80°F or 21-27°C) and bright, indirect light. Direct sun at this stage will cook us in our humid enclosure. You will see us emerge as tiny, green or reddish globes. We are incredibly vulnerable. The humidity dome must remain mostly sealed, only being vented briefly every few days to prevent stagnation. Our initial roots are fine hairs, seeking anchorage. We subsist on the moisture stored in the seed leaves (cotyledons) and the humidity around us; we do not need additional water if condensation is present on the dome.
After several weeks, when we look like a small cluster of green pebbles, our most dangerous transition begins. You must gradually wean us off the high humidity over a period of one to two weeks. Slowly increase the ventilation each day until the dome can be removed entirely. This process hardens us off, teaching our succulent skins to retain water in the drier American air. A sudden removal of the dome would cause us to desiccate and perish. Once acclimated, our care shifts to that of adult Lithops, but we remain far more susceptible to overwatering.
Do not expect haste. Our growth is measured in seasons, not weeks. We will absorb our cotyledons and eventually begin our first true split, which may take many months. Water us only when the soil is completely dry and we show slight signs of thirst (like softness or slight wrinkling on our sides, never on the top). Our greatest threat is always too much water, which leads to rot. We require several years of this careful, seasonal cycling—water in growth periods (fall and spring), absolute dryness during dormancy (summer and winter)—before we might reward you with our first flower.
