I pot immediately in soil that drains very well. I do not water and usually let nature take its course. Any semp that arrives looking translucent anywhere on the plant or its leaves is given special treatment. Translucent parts are removed (usually that is an indicator of rot beginning with semps) and the plant dried for several days, then planted in dry medium. Gentle misting follows after a few days and the plants are kept on the dry side for a couple of weeks to recover.
You can actually plant semps in pure gravel or chicken grit (I just did this myself and have trialed this several times over the past few years. They do quite well that way here. It's not the best treatment for the smaller ones, however, as they can dry out too much during the hot season.
You don't see much discussion about it, but I believe semps act as dew collectors and will water themselves that way to some extent. One does not want to encourage development of large, thick roots. That is the precursor to flowering and rosette death.
