I have some succulents such as Graptopetalum paraguayense 'ghosty',Graptoveria 'titubans',& other's.I'm wondering when the leaves on the bottom of the plants start to loose their plumpness & start turning soft eventually dying.If this is happening to the plants in the pot,starting from bottom up.Is this a sign of needing water.I almost never water my succulents in the winter!!

do they fall off with juice in them or shriveled up. i grow some sort of graptopetalum outside and every spring when you would think they would be doing better the under leaves turn yellow and mushy and rot on the stem. a few weeks later its covered in new shoots where the leaves where.

Long story short if the growing zone looks good and the stem isnt to long ie top heavy it probably doesnt matter.
try to use fast drying soil and only water when it is sunny. If they are inside the house and you heat it then water them a bit more. you want real fast draining soil so you can water them more AND let them dry more. they like lots of water when they are growing but still less then a normal houseplant. also dose the tray under it have standing water that is bad. and water it so the water drains through a bunch like a small stream of water draining not just drips.

good luck

i have a sun room with a stove in it and lots of plants in gravel soil in unglazed clay. I live in a humid city but my house is dry. I water my succulents 2 - 3 times a month in winter and 3-4 times a month in summer when most of them are outside under eaves. This is an example look at where you have the plant and go from there. also try taking cutting whenever you can so if you screw one up you can try again.

one more thing most grapto - anythings will grow in strait lava rock or slag like they sell at home depot. it is very hard to over water in that

Here's what all my succulents are planted in looks like.

I mix MG succulent mix with an orchid mix,it says it has fired ceramic granules,select conifer bark & charcoal.The potting medium is regionally formulated with aged (fir or pine bark) here in Ga. it has 45%-55% aged pine bark,arcilite or lava pebbles again depending on region and finally horticultural charcoal.A lot of people have said they didn't think it was a good mixture with the orchid mix.But i haven't lost any plants to root rot in this mixture.I have my desert roses,sans,leaf cactus, asparagus fern etc... planted in it and they are doing great.

Here one of the plants i'm talking about my lights aren't enough or not strong enough,a lot of my succulents have gotten leggy.The sun this season will fix that,they will bounce back from over wintering.I just wanted to find out how to tell when a succulent needs water,the leaves shriveling,seems to me could be a sign but i've been wrong before.Haven't been growing them long enough to know enough.

water it only when the soil is completely dry. at least for alot of them and in the winter more then the summer. that is the reason i dont use soil that holds moisture like bark and charcoal. Dont get me wrong the heavy soil works fine some times and if you can restrict your watering to like once a month. but it is a little easyr with really quick draining soil like one part drainage rock one part sharp sand and one part high quality potting soil.

if its not growing it is fairly safe to just not water them. cactus more so then succulents.

also plastic or glazed pots need more heat to dry like 80 f + or a week or so and the succulents dont like that

and judging from the leaves in the plastic tub behind the plant if anything it is to wet if it wanted water the leaves would wilt on the stem. then fall off hard and brown not yellowish

the blue plants look OK i would not water it until it is sunny for most of a week or its time to put it outside.

wet soil can and will do things to succulents that dont really make sense like the leaf droppage.

i hope i was of some help

that is a grapto something after it gets cut down. they like to get leggy so cutting them helps

Thank you for your opinion,I was wondering about cutting the succulent in the picture back.The plant in the background is a 5ft. long Philodendron,I forgot to move it out of the picture,the succulent in front that has gotten leggy was the plant i was talking about.

I use the mix the everyone says will hold to much water and maybe in other climates it would be a bad thing.The temp's here get into the 3 digits and i have to water a lot and even that mix is completely dry in a day and they like to be watered more in the scorching southern summers.

Like i say it may not be the right way or the only way,it's just my way!

Thank you so very much for taking the time to help me.I will probably be back with more questions when it's time to cut any of my succulents back.