Lithops question

[fruit]

I have, or perhaps had, a couple of Lithops, labelled as salicola and aucampiae bought recently from a local garden centre.
I placed them in a sunny position but I think I may have cooked them as within a few days they showed some wrinkling.
I gave them the smallest amount of water in case they were simply thirsty but they went on to disppear into their pots - presumably for the Winter now.

Assuming they may still be OK I am quite happy to wait until Spring except that they are still in garden center compost - which looks quite gritty/sandy compared with usual garden center stuff and I would really prefer to repot in known compost.

Is this going to be possible or should I just wait?

[iann]

If they disappeared rapidly then they are dead. It takes many weeks, months even, for a healthy Lithops to shrink down and disappear below soil level. Boiled Lithops will lose their colour and look really unhappy when it first happens. They may seem top get no worse for a while but they are already dead.

[fruit]

One disappeared over a week or so, the other still shrinking but almost gone after a couple of weeks. I guess I will leave as they are until Spring and worry about repotting if they do reappear.

Luckily I have a spare of each - they won't be seeing too much sun! They were all a bit leggy so that probably didn't help.

Thanks.

[iann]

They'll only get leggier if you don't get them used to the sun. Just make sure they have good ventilation.

[fruit]

Understood but we seem to be getting just the odd sunny day here now with too many cloudy days in between, Autumn is on the way early I think, quite chilly as well at times. At least we had some rain this week.

I suppose they are not in an ideal position, in a South facing porch. They get no overhead sun but do get it morning and moreso afternoon - shining right onto the leggy sides not the tops.

[rodsmith]

I suppose they are not in an ideal position, in a South facing porch. They get no overhead sun but do get it morning and moreso afternoon - shining right onto the leggy sides not the tops.

Is it possible to provide ventilation, for example are there any opening windows that could enable some movement of air? Direct sun is fine so long as the air is moving over the plants. That way they don't overheat.

[iann]

I suppose they are not in an ideal position, in a South facing porch. They get no overhead sun but do get it morning and moreso afternoon - shining right onto the leggy sides not the tops.

Bury them up to their necks. They are Lithops, not trees The sides, at least of the species you have, are not designed to withstand strong sun. Not that your sun will be that intense, but a lot more than your plants will have been used to. Next year they will be much tougher.

[fruit]

There is always a window open and the door too most of the day unless I am out.

Burying the stems really hadn't occurred to me even though most images show them like that, I assumed best left as they are and next year they may come back up as thay are supposed to.

Also I believe that many plants can be upset by altering ground levels and the comparative change in level burying a lithops would be considerable,.but then C&S and Lithops in particular are not ordinary plants.

I will now go and bury the healthy ones, thanks.

[rodsmith]

Bury them with grit or gravel (ideally 5-10mm), not soil. You don't want to risk them rotting.

[fruit]

That was I was planning to use, although my present mixture looks much more like plain grit than the typical garden centre stuff they came in.