Lithops generally are easy to germinate. Most seeds, if not to fresh, will sprout in a few days, and there will be germinations many weeks later, too.
The embryo quickly forms a body, consisting of the two cotyledons or seed leaves and a tiny tap root.
At this stage, all you see is very green and extremely frail. Two green tips and a fissure in the middle – one millimeter all in all.

The fine gravel looks like big boulders but soon the young plant will be able to push its way up to more light and sun. The tiny plant changes quickly into the caracteristic shape of its species – a flat cotyledon like e.g. in L. lesliei or L. aucampiae, or barrel-shaped as for instance in L. bromfieldii. One other characteristic is the length of the tiny fissure, where the two fused cotyledons leave a gap for the next pair of leaves to emerge – the first true pair of leaves of the young Lithops plant.



left: 39 days old; right: 85 days old; bottom: 108 days old
Lithops terricolor ‘peersii’ C131 has an apple-shaped cotyledon with short fissure. The hatchling changes into a loaf-of-bread-like shape with a short fissure.
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left: 39 days old; right: 51 days old, bottom: 170 days old
Lithops verruculosa var. verruculosa C129 has little, reddish-grey, barrel-shaped cotyledons with long fissure and a distinct pair of first leaves . The fissure extends over the whole face, bordered with ruby-red verruculae.
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left: 36days old; right: 47days old; bottom:176 days old
Lithops pseudotruncatella ‘alpina’ C068 quickly forms ruby red, tiny barrel-shaped bodies. The colour fades to a dull greenish brown just until the first true leaves appear. The little plant is 2 – 4 mm wide. Very short fissure, hardly visible.
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left: 39days old; right: 86 days old; bottom: 170days old
Lithops otzeniana C280 does not germinate as readily. The young cotyledon-bodies are green with a red hue and apple-shaped. The fissure runs through 3/4 of the surface. While the first pair of leaves appear, the cotyedons persist and split deeply. The fissure of the newly formed body runs from side to side.
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left: 14days old; right: 86 days old; bottom: 103 days old
The cotyledons of Lithops lesliei ‘Maraisii’ C 153 form a flat elliptic body, shiny, grey with a lilac hue, and a small central fissure. The first true pair of leaves resemble the adult Lithops and have a short, reddish fissure.
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left: 39days old; right: 98 days old; bottom: 138 days old
Lithops julii brunnea C179 has green or dull coloured, barrel-shaped bodies, with a long fissure that nearly runs from side to side. The emerging Lithops looks like the adult and has a complete fissure.
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left: 126 days old; right: 175 days old
Lithops hookeri var. subfenestrata ‘brunneoviolacea’ C019 makes fairly big, flat-topped, barrel-shaped cotyledons, reddish and dark, with short fissures. Just before hatching the cotyledons fade to a dull beige. The emerging colourful body is flat, with a short fissure that sometimes runs over half or more of the surface.
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left: 86 days old; right: 138 days old
Medium dark grey cotyledons are characteristic of Lithops hallii C119, shiny and flat, with a strong and long fissure over rhe whole face of the body. The first true leaves display a new colour, and a complete fissure.
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left: 39 days old; right: 170 days old
A very distinct first pair of leaves emerge from small and inconspicuous cotyledons. The cotyledons of Lithops julii var. fulleri C162A are round and dull coloured, the fissure is long. The new body formed by the two true leaves rises high above the slowly drying cotyledon, with a complete fissure and the fully visible grey conus of the typical Lithops. These plants have recieved the same amount of light and sun as all those previously shown!
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both plants are 175 days old!
Lithops aucampiae C333 do their own thing. While some hatch and grow, others still await looking at the outside world. Flat, shiny cotyledons, barrel-shaped with a distinct concave face with a rim, grey or reddish, always dark, short fissure. The new pair of leaves form a nearly round, textured body, with a short fissure.
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left: 86days old; right: 173 days old
Lithops lesliei lesliei ‘luteoviridis’ has flat, elliptic, rimmed cotyledons. The fissure is half the length of the smaller diameter. The first leaves look like a small Lithops luteoviridis; with a short fissure, as in all lesliei- seedlings I’ve seen.