Low light or a decrease in photo-duration or intensity, over/under-watering, tight roots, chill, and a high level of salts in the soil can all contribute individually or collectively to the plant's shedding of foliage. I would: A) flush the soil thoroughly, now B) make sure the plant is warm and in a bright place, now C) fertilize with a 3:1:2 ratio fertilizer (the next time the plant needs water, but after flushing the soil), now D) make sure that when you water, the entire soil mass is getting wet, and you're flushing accumulating salts out of the soil, now E) take steps to ensure the soil isn't remaining soggy for extended periods after watering, now F) learn how to plan for a full repotting (now) and carry out that exercise next June, using an appropriate soil, which would be a soil you can water w/o going to extraordinary lengths to ensure root health/function doesn't suffer. Al

Consider that some of those plants (succulents) may be species that come from So of the Equator, or on the Equator and may require different watering times. Crassula, Aeonium, do not like hot summer time waterings. Cactus get lots less water all times of the year, Agave and Cactus go together, so study each one that you are using making sure where they grow in Situ. I would group them as little winter water, and the other group little summer water, I would make a group if need be of Tropical Plants, and Desert plants, all can be killed with too much water the wrong time of the year. I had a plant from Israel that we wanted to get fruit on, I gave them to my son, he lives in Las Vegas, it get more sun than I could provide, and this Spring it as put on growth for the first time. I also can't grow peach trees here, not enough cold. So must/should consider what can grow where and when to water what species. Some plants need to grow at high elevations, other low. Many need very rocky soil on a hillside to live well. Many need no water for approx. six months. So much to learn and so little time to do so. Now do so and have a lovely garden and send us pictures. Norma

What tj is saying is that some sedum, NOT ALL SEDUM, are winter hardy and may be grown outside. This is an example of a sedum growing on my rock wall. A picture of your plants would be helpful to provide the correct information. While Echeveria don't do a tremendous amount to 'growing' during our winter months in the more northern climates, without enough strong light, they will become etiolated as tj has mentioned. The reason for turning plants is because they respond to external stimulus, like light. This is called phototropism and your plants will grow toward the light. So to keep them on "the straight and narrow", you must turn them every few days. This light response is most noticeably seen with inflorescences.

I assume one of my first steps is to get it into different soil. Yes? No? It doesn't necessarily need to be the first step, but it is an important step if you want your plant to thrive instead of just survive. If you think about it for a moment, you'll realize you get a sense of satisfaction from nurturing things. The better you become at nurturing, the greater the level of satisfaction. Very often, the soil your plants are in is the source of serious limitations. If your soil compacts and/or holds too much water, root function and health are impaired, which means your plant is limited in its ability to realize its potential. Root congestion (being root-bound) also limits plants' ability to grow and to function normally; it limits growth and saps a plant's vitality. We see living proof of this when we free a PT from its pot, remove the soil from its roots (I've seen them so rootbound a chisel was required to remove the calcified soil), and repot them into a larger pot and an appropriate soil. Something like this: As soon as the plant has recovered from the repot, it exhibits what most growers would consider to be a growth spurt; but it's not a growth spurt at all. What you see after repotting a root-bound plant or one suffering the limitations associated with a poor soil is the plant returning to a level of vitality (health) it might have been enjoying all along had the grower not neglected the root maintenance required for this plant to 'thrive' in a container. The effects of root congestion start to take a toll on growth rate and the plant's o/a level of vitality at the approximate point in time when the root/soil mass can be lifted from the soil intact, and progresses in a direct relationship with how congested the roots are allowed to become. So, you might think about moving toward a soil you won't have to fight for control of your plant's health in early summer - as in somewhere near the summer solstice (or Father's Day, in the N hemisphere). The one it's in now appears to be extremely water retentive and compacted, so you'll need to be extremely careful not to over-water - especially during the winter; whereas, if the plant was in the soil pictured above, the likelihood you would get into over-watering trouble would be only a tiny fraction of what it appears it would be in the soil your plant is presently in. And is the mossy substance growing on the caudex a bad omen? Any help is greatly appreciated! What happens when you dip a paper towel into a source of water? You can see the water rise up through the paper towel. That's capillary action. The surface of the soil your plant is in is remaining wet for longer than it should. This allows water in the soil to move upward on your plant's caudex and supply a water source that supports the algae or moss that's evident in the picture. While it can't be said with certainty that this evidence is a messenger of ill to come, it is hard evidence you need to be very careful about watering. There are many cases where someone will tell you to avoid watering all winter, because it's better to have your plant suffer the limitations associated with a water deficit than it is to chance over-watering, which can cause root rot. The better advice is to use a soil that eliminates the potential for root rot and allows you to water, so you're also avoiding drought stress. We find the same type of advice when it comes to fertilizing indoor plants in the winter, but that's a topic for another day. You might find this to be of value. Al