Firstly, crassula are sun hardy, but you can't just slap them out in the blazing sun or they'll burn. You have to acclimate them by starting out with a shady spot, then slowly increasing the time they recieve direct sun over a few weeks. I do find that they will get a little TOO red with full sunup to sundown exposure. They perform better with direct sun minus the later afternoon sun. The acclimation thing applies to ALL succulents. None of them will tolerate being moved from your house or a plant shop, right out into the direct sun.

As for watering, if you have branches falling off, then you are definately overwatering. A big question here is what kind of soil are you using? If you are using a primarily peat based potting mix, you are asking for rot trouble. Judging by your description, that the soil never looks dry, I would suspect you are growing in a peat moss based mix, and in that lies your problem, plus your lack of restraint when it comes to watering.

Joe

crassula ovata:.... foliage tips with enough sun have red in color tips if the tip red coloring is to wide or getting to close to the bottom of the foliage then there might be to much sun. Your soil that doesn't look dry to you sounds like the wrong type of soil to me and to slow in drainage

re-potting into a more free draining, coarser, gritty soil sounds like the next step you would want to do.

1 part courser sifted sand or gravel 1 part perlite or the better choice of pumice and 1 part turface.
What is a fast draining soil.....
You should be able to water and the water going in would drain out the bottom as you add it and would allow some moisture to remain in the gritty mix.

cotyledon orbiculata: could also do well in the same re-potting mix in it's own container. Certainly someone who has a better growing knowledge can correct me on this plant however as both are a succulent plants both should grow better/healthier in the same free or faster draining soil.

Correct me if I'm wrong but Cotyledon is summer dormant,which means no watering. I killed a few myself when I wasn't aware of dormancy;(

Chuck,

Follow these great suggestions as you repot and you'll be fine - just don't water a few days after repotting.

E,

You could be right about that with some species, but I have two C. o. cuttings (the long, thin-leafed variety, so it may be another species) which are and have been in full growth. Like a number of plants, it's an opportunistic grower. And is it from the winter-rainfall area of South Africa? I didn't think so. Perhaps you're thinking of Tylecodon (an anagram of Cotyledon, which before its break from Cotyledon was often called Cotyledon often, such as Cotyledon paniculata)?

i also found out i might have a spider-mite infestation.
oddly enough my other succulents are doing much better and i have been alittle more careful about watering these past few days. gonna try to wait for the crassula to dry alittle more.

as for the E, the little care sticker i got when i bought it, suggests that it is fro africa. and i will definitely change out the soil soon. however, the soil for this one seems to dry at a different rate than the succulent soil. been nearly 3-4 days and the succulent is still lookin wet, while the soil for this one is starting to show signs of drying.