What did you use for potting mix?

Dappled shade is OK to start acclimatizing plant, and eventually it could take more sunlight. 6" pot of water retaining soil (if that's what it was) isn't very good for succulents.

Could have been over or under-watered, maybe some other problems. How often & how much did you watered?

In general, there is no need for a huge pots for succulents; typical advice is about 1" or so bigger than a root ball. Some plants will grow faster and fill up the pot faster too (if happy), but too much soil may be a problem. What is your general location - climate?

- I used 50% regular potting mix + 50% perlite.

- I might have watered it 2 - 3 times when I felt the pot was light. I felt the pot used to dry out very quickly. I water just about when it runs-off from the bottom of the pot.

- I live in Bay Area, California. gardening zone 9b.

Eta: I typed this out a little bit ago and forgot to submit so I hadn't seen the other responses when I did actually submit :)

It's hard to say without photos. I'm wondering if dabbled shade was not enough light for it. How often were you watering? And when you did water was it a deep thorough watering? What kind of mix was it planted in? My black prince was my very first succulent, before I really understood their needs. I initially didn't water quite often enough and I definitely was not giving it enough light. Across the span of maybe 4 weeks, it changed from the dark purply color to bright green and then lighter green. The leaves started to droop downward and were floppy; the leaves also seemed further apart and it became slightly etiolated. With that said though, it definitely was no where near death and has made a comeback (makes me wonder if something else was going on with your plant like a pest or something). I put it in better soil (50% perlite/50% c&s mix) and provided much more light. Here are before and after photos.

May 15

June 11:

One other characteristic of my dying succulent is that the bottom most leaves (one or two) turn mushy first. But rest of the leaves are firm and in good color.

Mushy leaves are most often sign of overwatering. Could be a hard sunburn, but I would think in that was the case, most leaves would have same symptoms. So I am inclined to say it was overwatering. Water damage/water logged leaves are usually translucent yellowish color, soft and mushy, and they are very limp. If one acts fast, the rot may be hastened before it continues up the stem. Otherwise, all other leaves will keep turning mushy, stem too and plant just rots away.

Change of color of leaves is due to insufficient light. Leaves droop down also because of insufficient light - plant is 'spreading' out trying to get any light possible.

'Regular' potting mix could have too much peat in it, check the bag for ingredients. Peat isn't so easy to keep 'just right' - it easily stays very wet for too long, or if allowed to completely dry out, it becomes hydrophobic. If that happens, it will repel water and regardless how much you water, roots are no getting any.

Hi Grace - long time no see!!!:)