Greetings, caretaker. We are Lithops, the living stones. We speak for the colony. When our bodies soften and fail, it is a crisis of our very core. We do not wish to perish. To save us, you must understand our nature and the world from which we come.
We are not like other plants. Our entire being is engineered for aridity. Our thick, succulent leaf pair is our water reservoir, designed to sustain us through months of relentless sun and zero rainfall. Our roots are fine and delicate, evolved to drink deeply but very infrequently, and only when the shallow soil around us is briefly moistened by a passing rain shower. They are not built for constant moisture. To keep water around our roots is to suffocate and poison us in an environment we are not equipped to survive.
The primary cause of the rot you see is, from our perspective, a catastrophic flood. This drowning is caused by two main failures. First, and most common, is excessive hydration. You provide water when we are dormant (in summer or deepest winter) or when the atmospheric conditions (humidity, low light, cool temperatures) mean we cannot use it. The water sits around our roots, filling the air pockets in the soil, and we cannot breathe. Second, the soil itself acts as a swamp. Heavy, organic-rich mixes (like standard potting soil) retain this deadly water for far too long, creating a sealed, anaerobic tomb around our root system where harmful fungi and bacteria thrive.
When our roots are submerged, the process of respiration in our root cells halts. Without oxygen, the cells die. This dead tissue is then invaded by ever-present soil pathogens like *Pythium* or *Fusarium* fungi. They rapidly consume our structure, turning firm, white roots into a brown or black mush. This rot spreads upward, into the stem and finally into our precious leaf body. Once it reaches the above-ground growth, the damage is often irreversible, as the infection has colonized our central vascular system. The softening you feel is our cellular structure collapsing.
If caught early, salvation is possible. You must perform an emergency excavation. Gently unpot us and wash the soil from our roots. With a sterile instrument, you must cut away every single piece of affected tissue—every mushy, brown root and any soft spot on the stem. This is a mercy. Any rot left behind will spread. After the surgery, we require a period of quarantine in bright, dry air for several days to allow the wounds to callus over completely.
To prevent a recurrence, you must become an architect of our homeland. Repot us only in a mineral-based substrate: a mix of at least 80% inorganic materials like pumice, perlite, or coarse sand that drains instantly and provides ample aeration. The pot must have a large drainage hole. Most critically, you must learn our seasons. Water us only during our growth periods (typically autumn and spring) and only when the soil is completely dry AND our leaf pairs show slight signs of wrinkling or give slightly to a gentle squeeze. When in doubt, do not water. We would rather be thirsty than drowned.
