Every year, lithops grow a fresh pair of leaves. The old leaves must wither in order for the new ones to develop because they only have one pair of leaves at a time. New leaf growth typically begins following the blooming season. Lithops will go into dormancy for a period after they flower in order to be ready for fresh growth. Old leaves will continue to provide the plants with nutrition, and ultimately, new pairs of leaves will push through the crack left by the old ones.
Your Lithops may occasionally produce new leaves without blooming. Most of the time, it is difficult to determine the precise cause, but the Lithops may be in the early stages of their growth cycle.  
Checking the leaves of your Lithops is one technique to see whether it is producing new leaves. The outer leaves are likely in the process of shredding if they feel mushy and spongy to the touch. You will quickly notice new leaves growing after a few days. If not, it can simply be underwatering. Do not water your Lithops during this time until the old leaves have fully withered.
Size
Usually growing no more than an inch above the dirt, these plants are on the smaller side. Nevertheless, they will extend outward, frequently forming patterns that resemble clusters of stones. Each plant can range in width from 1-3.
They make the perfect house plants because they are so little. They have a long lifespan of up to 50 years. The plant can potentially live for 10 to 20 years in a single pot, making them incredibly low maintenance.
Flowers
Most Lithops start to bloom in the late fall and early winter. Flowers have numerous petals and are daisy-like in hues of orange, yellow, and white. On bright days, the blooms will open up before closing down later in the day, just like a shamrock. (This characteristic is known as nyctinasty.)
In the gap between the leaves, flowers sprout. Some have a faint fragrance. The flowers are between 1/2 and 1 1/2 in height.
As seen by this Lithops Dorotheae in blossom, if you have a group of living stones, the flower creation can cover the entire plant and conceal the little living stone beneath it.
Colors
Lithops are available in soft hues. There are varying tones of pink, rust, green, gray, and rust. Additionally, they differ in terms of leaf design and texture. Lines, spots, and dots may be present on the leaves.
This enables them to imitate their environment. Lithops Optica Rubra is the name of this pink cultivar with smooth skin. Just now, it has completed blossoming.
How are Lithops reproduced?
A south- or east-facing windowsill is the best location for lithops, as they require a sunny place with at least five hours of direct sunlight each day. Keep in mind that if winter temperatures drop drastically, you might need to remove your lithops from your windowsill.
How to plant lithops
Online purchases of lithops could arrive bare-root, requiring you to plant them yourself. Lithops require a compost that is extremely free-draining, like a cactus compost. To ensure that the compost dries out fast, choose a terracotta container because it is more porous than a plastic or glazed one. You can plant them alone or in groupings.
Propagating lithops
Lithops can be multiplied by seed or division, albeit both methods need a lot of work. Lithops must mature into a cluster over a number of years before being divided. Make sure each component of the plant still has a functional taproot before carefully removing it from the pot and cutting through the roots. Each division should be repotted into a pot that is deep enough to allow the taproot to expand without being compressed.
Prepare a pot with free-draining cactus compost and extra grit to grow lithops from seed. Give the compost some water and let it drain. Cover the area with a thin layer of sand or vermiculite after scattering lithops seeds over it. Until germination takes place, keep somewhat wet; after that, gradually cut down on watering.
How to water lithops
Lithops have a very specific growth cycle, hence they require extremely specific watering. At first, this might appear difficult, but once you get the feel of it, it’s simple.
The development of the new leaves should be taken into account when watering lithops. Each year, Lithops produce new leaves that appear between the two elder leaves before progressively shriveling up (pictured). The watering schedule is determined by the development of these new leaves. The old leaves may not shrivel up properly if you water too soon after the new ones have appeared.
In contrast to most succulents, lithops begin to grow in the fall. Give your lithops a good watering during this time since it coincides with seasonal rains in the wild (early September). Around this time, flowers begin to bloom; keep an eye out for the fissure to open and the bud to emerge. For lithops to flower, they must be at least three years old.
With the new pair of leaves growing inside the old, lithops continue to grow throughout the winter and into the next spring. However, it’s crucial to avoid watering in the winter. The soil should be extremely dry since the new pair of leaves actually grows by taking water from the old pair.
The new leaves emerge in the spring as the old leaves begin to shrink. When the old pair of leaves has fully withered, begin watering once more. Water sparingly, letting the compost dry up in between applications.
Summertime, often the hottest time of year in their native southern African climate, is when lithops go dormant. Then, in early September, when growth resumes, give them a big drink. Avoid watering them during this period.
Growing lithops: problem solving
The primary issue with growing lithops is overwatering or watering at the incorrect time of year. The plants’ markings may also fade in the absence of light. The red spider mite can be a nuisance in greenhouses and conservatories.
Grow lithops on puppies?
The plants frequently produce young offsets (sometimes known as “pups”) as they get older. These young plants grow naturally adjacent to their parent plant and eventually group together to form a small colony. Because the pups are always exact clones of their parents, it’s quicker to develop lithops by dividing and separating these offsets, but it’s a little less enjoyable than growing from seed. You can get a lot of unexpected variations by starting with seeds.
Use a razor blade, scalpel, or a clean, sharp knife to separate the puppies from their parents after gently digging up the plants and lifting the entire tap root. Repot the parent plant into its original container and place the pups in their own pots (or a new one, if you choose).
How can I enlarge my lithops?
Lithops are adorable miniature succulents. Although it can live for decades, the living stone plant is extremely sensitive to the seasons of the year. A wonderful burst of bright color among the season’s oranges and reds can be found when numerous species flower in the fall.
After going through some of the most popular types, let’s take a closer look at the lithops succulent plant’s life cycle.
Lithops Lifecycle
A pair of fleshy, succulent leaves that resemble stones and have a crack between them are typically all that can be seen while looking at a lithops above the ground. Most of the plant is located below the soil’s surface.
The leaf surfaces of these succulents include cells that resemble windows that let light penetrate deeply into the plant to support photosynthesis. The main taproot is crucial for the plant’s survival, but a network of smaller roots also aids in absorbing more nutrients as necessary.
Although some species flower in the spring or early summer, lithops typically flower in late autumn or early winter. Pushing up from the space between the two leaves will be a single blossom. Only plants older than 3 years (and occasionally even 5 years) will, however, bear flowers.
Lithops flowers resemble daisies and range in size from half an inch to an inch and a half, depending on the species. It can be white, pale yellow, or orange. Some are said to have a spicy-sweet fragrance.
The early afternoon is when these blooms open to let in sunshine and allow for pollination. The late afternoon, just before dusk, is when they close. Lithops are dependent on human or insect pollinators to produce seed because they are not self-pollinating.
The core of the lithops flower transforms into a seed capsule as it ages. Raindrops can cause seeds to bounce out of the capsule and land up to a foot distant from the parent plant after it opens. This capsule does not open until it has been moistened.
The lithops seed capsule will spontaneously seal when it dries up once more to save any leftover seeds. To simulate rain when trying to collect lithops seeds, drip water onto the seed capsule with a dropper until it reopens, then scoop out the tiny seeds.
The plant will become dormant after flowering is finished. It begins to develop a new body at this period. The new leaf pair will appear from the space between the old leaves as it starts to grow once more.
The plant will eventually move its nutrients and moisture from the old leaves to the new pair. Older leaves will become thinner. They can be removed to reveal the new plant body once they have dried to the point of becoming paper-thin and devoid of moisture.
By producing two leaf pairs rather than just one, lithops can increase in size and eventually grow into a clump of miniature plants.
Types of Lithops
At least 37 species and over 145 variants of lithops are thought to exist. Through hybridization, new varieties are frequently developed or bred.
Here are some of the most popular houseplant variations, however we won’t go over every potential lithops species today.
Lithops aucampiae, which bears Juanita Aucamp’s name, is a species that is native to South Africa. It can be grown in most sandy, incredibly well-draining soils, but it grows naturally in chert, quartzite, ironstone, and sandstone-based soils.
The majority of this type of living stone leans toward the red to red-brown color spectrum, and its flowers range in color from vivid to pale yellow. It is one of the species that can bear occasional wrong watering the best, which makes it very well-liked by gardeners.
Dorothea Huyssteen’s discovery of this species, also from South Africa, led to its name. It is capable of thriving in other grit-filled soils in addition to feldspar, sheared quartz, and quartzite, where it naturally grows.
The leaves of this species are speckled with cream-colored speckles and have a brown or deeper green surface. Every year, it produces a yellow blossom.
Lithops fulviceps, which is native to Namibia, favors rocky terrain and chilly desert settings. Although it may survive on limestone slopes as well, it naturally prefers settings rich in quartzite.
The upper surfaces of the leaves are mottled in shades of orange, brown, green, and occasionally cream, with the sides of the leaves having a greyish-green or yellowish hue. When the leaves are not flowering, they make a tidy oval but when they divide to flower, they resemble kidney beans very much.
A different South African stone plant is lithops hookeri, which prefers quartzite and lava rock along with some limestone to grow on. With leaves that are about two inches broad at its widest point, it can get very big for a living stone plant. It often grows alone, but it can group into clusters of up to 10 leaf pairs.
Its leaves’ upper surfaces can have brownish, red, or pink tones, with hints of orange on occasion. The sides of the leaves frequently have an almost terracotta tone and are dull grey or greyish-brown. Typically, it has vivid yellow flowers.
Lithops karasmontana can mimic the grey and brown tones of nearby quartzite stones, or, in some variants, like var. laricheana, it can grow a vivid red-orange upper leaf. The sides are consistently a shade of brown with a hint of grey.
Although it is native to Namibia, its name refers to the Karas Mountains, which are also present in South Africa. It blossoms into a bloom that is bright white with a yellow center.
The lesliei living stone is the only lithops-type plant that can be found in its natural habitat, which can be found in Botswana and parts of South Africa. The species’ colour varies greatly, with the leaves having hues as diverse as rust or coffee to pale green.
It frequently blends with the color of the soil around it, making it hard to spot, and rarely rises more than a few millimeters above the soil’s surface, furthering its camouflaging abilities. In South Africa, the yellow-flowered plants are frequently gathered for their therapeutic properties.
Lithops localis is a species that can endure insufficient watering practices. The majority of its surface usually has a consistent shade of grey or green-grey. The flat tops of the leaves are speckled with a deeper grey color.
It grows frequently among rocks and shady bushes in the southern Karoo region of South Africa where it is native to hide from predatory animals. It often blooms in the fall because its native location experiences the majority of its rainfall in the summer.
One of the few species that is adapted to winter irrigation is the Namibian species Lithops optica, which lives in a location that receives winter rainfall. Lithops optica var. rubra, which is purplish-pink all over, is the most common variation of this plant.
The blooms with very thin petals are often white or yellow in color. The majority of the plants of the optica species tend to be grey to grey-brown in color and have a highly spherical form, with the exception of the vividly colorful Rubra variant.
The truncate living stone, which originates in southwest Africa, is particularly recognizable. Although the upper leaf surfaces are speckled with cream, olive green, and rust tones, the outside leaf walls have a tendency to be uniformly grey in color.
The truncate living stone is a robust and durable species of lithops, one of the few that is frequently attacked by mealybugs. It frequently survives for months in its natural habitat with no water at all, just absorbing moisture from the air around it.
This specific living stone plant has a colour that closely resembles off-white, grey, or tan rock. While some kinds are a solid cream tint, others are brown or grey with darker streaks that resemble stones.
This specific living stone is also found in Namibia, where it typically dwells in rocky or chilly desert environments.
The habitat that is rich in minerals is where the salt-dwelling living stone naturally occurs, hence its name. It can be found in both Namibia and South Africa, and it is tolerant of improper watering techniques to a certain extent.
The grey to grey-green leaves are more tolerant of dry, cool conditions than some, however they cannot withstand freezes. It blooms in the late summer to early fall with a vivid white or yellow blossom. The Royal Horticultural Society awarded this species the Award of Garden Merit.
This living stone, one of the more recognizable species, frequently develops noticeable red warts on its surface. The colorations of various cultivars can vary, ranging from a reddish to a gray-green tone with the red warting.
Other verruculosa species produce white or yellow blooms, while the “Rose of Texas variant” has flowers with a pink tint. It comes from South Africa.
The green-rock plant is remarkably homogeneous in color and has its origins in a very restricted area of South Africa’s Northern Cape. The main surface has a dark grey-green tone, and the sides are either pure grey, greyish-pink, or grey.
Lithops viridis, which produces yellow blooms with yellow or white centers, is frequently only found in culture in botanical gardens. The greener specimens are some of the most sought-after because of the way they appear to rise from the arid earth as pale green-gray nubs.