Could also be a mutation due to insects, injury, or pathogen, but I'd put my money on a nutrient issue - probably a deficiency, and certainly one of the immobile nutrients. This sort of limits you to the micro-nutrients or one of the 2 rather immobile macro-nutrients - S or Ca. I would find a fertilizer that contains the minor elements or scratch in a teaspoon of gypsum per gallon of soil & see what happens (slow acting). Dolomitic lime is another possibility as a corrective measure & will also supply Mg. It will raise soil pH though, where the gypsum will not. I have another good solution if you contact me off forum. Al

Thanks for all the input folks, it's nice to know that other people have had to deal with the same issues as me. I excised all the brown/black mushy areas and dusted the wounds with cinnamon powder. The plants have been sitting indoors in the sunroom with a fan on them for a couple days now, and seem to be holding steady. No imminent deaths yet, so that's good. I'll give them another day or two and then water them a little with peroxide solution, and then put them back outside so they can start their recovery. Howard_a, I appreciate your perspective about the direct sun and sudden change in environment. I did wonder about that myself, although I've seen sunburn before and the leaf damage on my plants looked different than that. I've left plants on the porch or even the bare sidewalk and they've still been slow to sunburn, so I don't think two days of morning sun in and of itself was enough to cause this problem. The combination of high heat and light might have stressed the plants' tissues and made the existing water problem worse...but based upon the anectdotes of other commenters here, I'm betting the main problem was the still the excess water. Orchidflowerchild, I'm glad you've got a setup that works well for you. This is only my second season of growing orchids outdoors so I'm still trying things out. I've had problems in the past getting mounted or bare root plants enough water during the non-rainy season...even when I try to remember to water them daily, they end up shriveled. I am a pretty lazy gardener;) I guess the issue with outdoor plants in Florida is that due to the vastly shifting seasonal climate, you're going to have to make some sort of compromise w.r.t. potting medium/setup. It'll end up either too dry or too wet! I think now that I learned this hard lesson, I'll know well enough to bring my plants in during super wet periods. Tuezday1, I haven't been growing Catts for very long so I'll keep your advice in mind. Thus far they haven't been very fussy, and seem to like it well enough under the grapefruit tree. They've got a lot of open space around them so they get quite a lot of bright morning and late afternoon/evening sun, in addition to the dappled midday shade provided by the tree.

I "stumbled" upon this thread as I'm reading quite a bit on snakes lately. I moved into an area in Alabama that is known to have Copperheads, (unknowingly until AFTER we closed on the home) and there are other snakes (Cottonmouths, rat snakes...) as well. I haven't seen Cottonmouths but I have seen other snakes. I have eliminated quite a bit of the things that provide food and shelter for them. I plan to expand quite a bit of hardscape (concrete, crushed aggregate, river rock, pavers/patio) and ALL monkey grass, jasmine, pine straw, and other ground cover including shrubbery will be history. The goal is to keep everything clean and green and incredibly unpleasant for snakes. I have also found rodent holes and filled them with crushed aggregate, and rocks. I make certain to use long garden tool handles to push the rock into the holes and pack them to the point where no further material can be packed. We have killed two Copperheads to this point. one was under my vehicle as I headed out one morning. We have younger children, visitors, dogs and cats... that may not be aware of the dangers. The Copperheads are particularly dangerous as they can be aggressive and may not be easily seen by an unsuspecting visitor... We want to decrease the likelihood of an encounter but we also don't allow the snakes to live once we discover them on the premises.

Lilbit- I agree with you, Rina is Awesome! Luna- Take heed to what chefmomster told you: "No Roots, No Water." Use that as a rule of thumb with most succulents. Why? because the stem or rosette would have nothing to take in water. It would sit in wet soil and rot. Becci6 is telling us that we should try as closely as possible to provide our succulents with the same growing conditions they would get in their natural environment. That is something we should all strive to do. Knowing the weather conditions in your local area will help decide where you place your plants. For example, Sempervivums in my area of southern California can be grown outdoors all year long. there are others such as Lilbit and Rina that live in a much colder climate than me that would not be able to do that (unless of course you have your own private greenhouse like Lilbit (congrats!)). Most likely they bring their plants indoors or at least cover them to shield them from intense cold. Even where I am..i usually see them thrive outside when they're planted under or beside a larger plant or tree to shield them from intense sun. I have seen many that have gotten fried by they sun. If they're getting intense sunlight for too many hours each day, I would give them some shade. We are now entering the middle of July and I have watered mine only 3 times so far this year. I stop watering in November and continue again in April. You may not be able to use my watering regimen so again, get to know your local area weather and what would work best for your plants.