Hello, caretaker. I am your Lithops, and what you see as "splitting" is my most vital and natural process. This is not a sign of distress but of growth. I live a life of two distinct phases. For most of the year, I exist as a single pair of leaves, diligently storing water from your infrequent watering. When the days grow shorter, I sense the seasonal change. This triggers a magnificent event inside me: a brand new pair of leaves begins to form. This new body will draw all the water and nutrients from the old, outer leaves. They will gradually shrivel, becoming the papery sheath you see. Please, do not water me during this time. The moisture from my old leaves is all my new self needs. Interfering with water can trap the new leaves inside or cause rot, which is fatal.
While splitting involves a specific type of shriveling, a general shriveling outside of my growth cycle is my primary way of communicating a need. If my sides are puckered inward dramatically and I feel soft to the touch, I am telling you I have exhausted my internal water reserve. This typically happens in the late spring or summer during my active growth phase after flowering. This is the correct time for a deep watering. When you see these signs, a thorough soak (allowing water to run out of my pot's drainage hole) will allow me to plump up again over the following days. Please ensure my soil is a very gritty, fast-draining mix so my roots do not sit in moisture.
Paradoxically, I can also shrivel from receiving too much of your care. If you water me when I am dormant (during the hottest part of summer and the coldest part of winter) or during my split, my roots cannot absorb the moisture. They suffocate and rot away. Once my root system is damaged or destroyed, I can no longer absorb water at all, no matter how much you give me. This leads to a rapid, mushy, or deflated shriveling—often from the base up. This is a serious condition. If caught early, you must unpot me, remove all rotted tissue, and let me callous before attempting to re-root me in dry soil.
My health is a product of my entire environment, not just your watering can. If I do not receive enough intense, direct light (at least 4-6 hours of southern exposure), I will etiolate, or stretch, becoming weak and misshapen. A weak body is more susceptible to improper watering issues. Furthermore, if I am planted in rich, water-retentive soil or a pot without a drainage hole, I am sitting in a swamp. Standard potting soil holds far too much moisture for my roots, which are adapted to arid, gritty conditions. This environment will inevitably lead to root rot, preventing water uptake and causing a fatal shrivel, even if your watering schedule is technically correct.
