It looks like it could use a good drink at least.

That's what I thought Ash, I realised I should have mentioned that I did water it about 2 or 3 days ago, so do you think it will just take a bit of time for the leaves to load up on water again, or should I give it a bit more water again soon?

Thanks for taking the time! I've only gotten into succulents this year, so still learning the signs as to when to water and when to back off...

Hi Rina, thanks for taking the time to help me! It's in half succulent/cacti soil (from my local nursery) and half perlite, mixed together, with those pebbles you can see just on top. At the moment temperatures have been between about 15 and 25ºC, and humidity is pretty consistently around 60-70%, which is to say pretty dry for Sydney! We've had a lot of sun for the last few weeks, but before that we had a month of solid rain and cloudy weather. I move the plant outside every day if I know it's sunny, so it's in my front garden- East facing. It gets direct sunlight from about 6.30am to 1pm. I don't have any North facing windows in my house (North gets the most sun in the Southern Hemisphere, not South), so it's pretty much in the sunniest place I can get it. On days like today though, where rain is predicted, I keep it and my other succulents inside. As I said, it was incredibly spread out and in need of sun when I first got it, and now I think it's improved, but yeh I'm sure it would like more sun if I could give it! We're heading into winter now, so days are a bit shorter.

Those temps are fine, and semps should survive outdoors year round. Humidity is still OK. These are hardy, alpine plants and may not care much for very high temps and humidity, but will grow in partial shade during those hottest days (how hot does it get in summer?) Some shade from bigger plant would probably be enough, if positioned right. Your front garden location sound just fine.

Lots of rain isn't greatest for any succulents, but IMO semps should survive if they are in very well draining mix - in ground or in containers. Using lots of grit helps with drainage. If my plant, I would use only small amount of soil and rest would be similar amounts of perlite (sifted) and grit.

Your plant seems to be thirsty, maybe roots are dead since you watered recently?

Hi Rina,

So perhaps I should take the plant outside and leave it outside then, and see what happens? It definitely hasn't been thriving moving between outside and inside, so I'm willing to try anything!

In summer temperatures are mostly around 30ºC, so hot, but not crazy hot. We do get really hot periods in summer, but we also get a bit of rain in summer, so weather is a bit unpredictable!

I'm not sure I want to change the mix its in, as I only repotted it about 2 months ago, and I don't want to disturb its roots, which are pretty new. It is possible the roots could be dead, unfortunately. I know the plant wasn't in great shape when I got it (completely rootless, and even more stretched out than it is now!!) but I had hopes it could revive given it did grow roots within a few weeks!

I guess I'll take it outside, and if it gets extra water today from the rain that's predicted, hopefully the mix it's in is well-draining enough to let the extra water run out.

Thanks again for your help and advice!

Caitlin

I would keep it outside whole year round. We get cold winter, but in August temps get close to 30*C too.

Semps are quite resilient plants and you may not need to worry about repotting if that would give plant better growing conditions. I move my potted ones at whim, sometimes because they get crowded, sometimes because I don't like the way I potted them :)

Potted:

Thanks Rina! Yours are gorgeous!! I don't have anywhere I could plant it in the ground unfortunately, but I will take your advice and keep it outside and hope that helps it revive! And good to know they're not fussy about being repotted too often! Do you know if that's also the case with most other succulents?