Plant care
Olive Living Stonestemperature & humidity
Lithops olivacea
More about olive living stones
Ideal temperature for olive living stones
Aim for 8–40°C (46–104°F) on the thermostat and you've handled the easy part. The hard part is the half-metre around the plant: window glass that drops to near-freezing on a January night, a radiator pumping out hot dry air, a draught from an opened front door. Move the plant 30 cm and you've usually fixed the problem. Below roughly 8°C the damage starts — soft blackened patches, translucent leaves, sometimes overnight.
Cold tolerance & winter care
Olive Living Stones is frost-tender (USDA 10-11, RHS H1b). It cannot survive a frost, so in most of the US and UK it lives indoors year-round or summers outside and comes back in well before the first autumn frost — once nights drop toward 10-12°C is the cue, not the first frost warning. Acclimate it over a week when moving between indoors and out so the leaves do not shock.
Humidity for olive living stones
Olive Living Stones sits happiest at around 10–30% relative humidity. Low ambient humidity is preferred. Standard indoor conditions are acceptable in temperate climates. During summer avoid any additional humidity from misting, humidifiers, or nearby water features. Good ventilation around the plant is important. The usual low-humidity tell is crisp brown leaf tips and edges while the soil moisture is fine — a sign the air, not the watering, is the problem. If you need to raise it, the reliable methods are grouping plants together, standing the pot on a tray of damp pebbles (the pot above the waterline, never in it), or running a small humidifier in winter when indoor heating dries the air most. Misting is the least effective — it raises humidity for minutes, not hours.
Olive Living Stones temperature & humidity — frequently asked questions
What temperature is best for olive living stones?
Olive Living Stones grows best between 8–40°C (46–104°F). Keep it out of cold draughts, off freezing windowsills in winter, and away from the hot dry air directly above radiators — the extremes matter far more than the average room temperature.
How cold can olive living stones tolerate?
Olive Living Stones starts to suffer below roughly 8°C. It is frost-tender and will be damaged or killed by a frost, so bring it indoors once nights fall toward 10-12°C.
What humidity does olive living stones need?
Olive Living Stones prefers about 10–30% relative humidity. Low ambient humidity is preferred. Standard indoor conditions are acceptable in temperate climates. During summer avoid any additional humidity from misting, humidifiers, or nearby water features. Good ventilation around the plant is important.
How do I raise humidity for olive living stones?
Group it with other plants, stand the pot on a tray of damp pebbles (kept above the waterline), or run a small humidifier in winter. Misting only helps for a few minutes, so it is the weakest option for a plant that genuinely needs more humidity.
Can olive living stones live outside?
Olive Living Stones is rated for USDA zone 10-11 and RHS hardiness H1b. Outside that range it must come indoors before the first frost — treat any outdoor stint as a summer holiday, not a permanent home.
More olive living stones care
In the UK? Keeping olive living stones warm in a UK home covers the radiator, single-glazing and heating-season humidity angle. Temperature and humidity are one piece. See the full olive living stones care guide, its cold-hardiness guide, and watering schedule — humidity and watering problems are easy to confuse.