I touched the leaves and they all pulled away, the center was really wet but I hardly watered it. All the leaves literally pulled away and all that's left is a stem and I don know if I can save it or anything

It looks like it rotted :-( I think that your growing medium/potting soil is overly moisture retentive and even if you water very infrequently, it just stays too wet.

Succulents and cacti prefer a very fast draining medium that has minimal (if any) peat or coir included in the mix - even most prepared bagged cactus mixes tend to be unfavorable and should be well amended with pumice, turface or grit to ramp up drainage and reduce moisture retention. The Gritty Mix recipes referred to on various GW forums are pretty much ideal for this purpose but you can alter or amend other cactus potting soil to suit your needs.

Thank you, I knew about soil mixtures and it just seems strange to me because it's been months since I watered it. I guess I didn't get enough perlite in there. It does have a drainage hole too.

The pot looked way too big for the size of the plant it contained. With large amounts of rootless compost, it can stay wet and cold for a lot longer than you think.....especially so if it's a peat based mix. What's in the soil mix please, it looks sandy?? Can we safely assume the top of a radiator wasn't its normal position?

Gill

Could you please clarify what you mean by "it's been months since I watered it"?

Succulents don't need a lot of water, but I don't think they can go months between waterings :( Mine go to about 10 days at most, I can usually tell when they need water because they start softening.

I actually don't remember what the soil mixture is because I've changed what I've done a few times. Yes of course, it does not usually sit on my radiator, I moved it for the picture. It's not on right now. I do not water them often because I am forgetful honestly and busy with school and work. They seem to do just fine though, except for the one that's rotted of course.

Succulents can survive well for months without water - if in colder temps. hablu (Harry) keeps most of his succulents in colder sunroom (?) where the temps are quite low. Plants are not watered much, if at all, during winter. I hope he will see this thread and posts directly - I am just repeating parts of his posts from before, and hope I didn't mix it up!.

In photos 2 & 3 I can see a clump surrounding the plants root ball - I suspect that when repotting, old soil was left on the roots. Is that correct or am I just seeing things?

I agree with the above. I seldom water my succulents in winter and often no more frequently than every couple of weeks in summer.

If you do repot the small one, be sure to use a very small pot with a hole. Does the pot sit near the radiator (I realize it doesn't sit ON it).

Yes, that was one of my first succulents so at the time I didn't know to loosen the dirt. And no the pot does not sit near the radiator, it sits above on the book shelf. I have a hard time finding small pots with drainage holes, I'm also on a tight budget because I'm in high school and hardly make any money. Any suggestions for good pots for cheap?

If you are going for cheap, clay terracotta probably isn't feasible. Plastic pots definitely work, but a lot less decorative.

I've used a Starbucks cups, styrofoam cups, small milk cartons often sold in school cafeterias. Think "recycling" items which people toss. You can punch holes in the bottoms, but you'll have to water less than clay. Don't use clear plastic cups.

Yes, styrofoam can work, but that is pretty much temporary. It will eventually start falling apart, and then you will have a mess. But temporarily, while you are working out a better solution, it will do nicely.

Yes, I was thinking of a small plastic pot too. You can place it inside a more decorative pot if you wish and use something on top to hide the plastic (something that won't affect the potting mix, just hide the plastic).

It's impossible (maybe) to water correctly a plant that is in too big a pot. Plants in the ground are in a different situation entirely, as there is no 'perched water table' effect.

There are plastic ones that are pretty cheap, at least where I live. Nothing fancy, but it does the job. I think you can find them pretty much everywhere.

I also use plastic cups (the disposable kind, for drinks) for very small plants. Not pretty, but I don't use them for that long either.

I guess it's different in a warmer environment. I keep mine indoors, at about 25 degrees celsius, and if I don't water at least every 10 days, they start getting soft. It's true, they're very little, so that's probably a reason as well.

Plastic pots could be found for free - next time you visit garden center, ask if they have any empty pots they don't need. May not be much available in winter, but spring to fall there is plenty that go to recycling. I have more than 200 plastic pots, of different sizes & shapes, that I didn't pay a penny for :) Another excellent source of inexpensive stuff are Salvation Army, Good will and similar stores where ppl donate stuff they don't need/want anymore.

Problem with using cache pots (decorative pots or outer pots) is that many ppl do not think of emptying them of excess water after watering the plant (cache pots do not have drainage holes). Another problem could be when inner pot fits very snuggly into outer pot and that creates additional humidity - sweating - on inner pot, not good for plant. Beginers especially should make things as simple as possible and add "fancy", or decorative stuff as they learn more about plants. Poorly grown plant will still look bad regardless of fancy pot it is in :)

I feel really bad for you..I really do...but you can't put succulents into dirt...you have to learn where the plant comes from to get that medium that it grows in, or very close to it...succulents hate wet feet and as such will rot...you should never touch soil while trying to grow succulents...so grow on trees..some grow in rocks..pretty much fast draining soil. you can't save this one...but you can start over with gravel type mixes and only watering every 3-4 weeks.