I don't see any specific question, but in general terms it seems your doing the right things. It wasn't clear to me from your comment on acclimating to sun- did you acclimate to the afternoon sun with dappled shade, or did you acclimate to full sun? I ask b/c they can take and prefer lots of sun.

ez

Oh sorry for the lack of clarity! I acclimated from indoors to as much sun as I can get with a giant tree in front. They get about two or three good hours of full afternoon sun and then it's dappled.

Question being: are they shriveled and thin and soft due to too much water? Or too much heat and not enough water?

Currently I'm trying not watering for like 11 days to see if it gets better. Unless someone says they need more water. I'm conflicted because I feel like this all started when they were definitely getting too much water from compacted peat that never dried out, but it's also just been so freaking hot here lately, and they look thirsty like they would plump up with more water.

Are the leaves just soft, or mushy? If the roots are OK, could be they just need water. Wrinkled leaves on a Jade are caused by either two much water, or not enough. If the root are fine, it is most likely not enough.

Christopher

Ahhhhh that is my issue with succulents. I guess everyone's issue. I'm like 90% sure the roots are okay. I probably seriously damaged them when I was taking the peat off though. I would describe the leaves as malleable. They bend and aren't firm. Most of the new leaves are good though.

On the other unidentified one, the older leaves have been getting thinner and more malleable, losing color, and pointing up. The new leaves are firm and have nice color but aren't growing much.

If recently repotted, your gollums will need several weeks to re-establish its fine roots for absorbing water. In the meantime, it may not be able to quite keep up with the heat. A slightly cooler or shadier spot may help until the roots can keep up.

Cactus mix has a lot of peat in it and may be difficult to re-wet. If you wet the top first, wait a while, then water again, that gives the peat some time to absorb the water. Otherwise, the water may just flow around the sides and not get to the thirsty roots.

Best way to tell is if overnight the leaves get a bit firmer, then the plant needs more water. Of course, if the roots can't keep up and absorb enough water for the day, then extra water will not help. Good luck!

Okay thanks. I gave them water. I'll let you know what happens in a day or two...

If the peat around root ball was very hard/compacted, even if watered - roots didn't get water, probably any. Dry peat is very difficult to re-wet, and water just slides over the peat rather than penetrating it. So it is possible that your plants were thirsty for a while.

I would add lots more perlite into your mix, and/or some grit too. If you can get only perlite, add a lot, you don't need to take plants out, just work perlite and/or grit in with chopstick. Try not to disturb roots, you can work gently around each plant. You want to avoid peat in cactus mix getting hydrophobic again. Before you add perlite, watch when you water to see if it is actually getting wet, or just 'sitting' on top of the mix. If not soaking into mix immediately, there is lot of peat. Watering with tepid (lukewarm) water will help to wet peat - don't pour it over the plants...

Your second plant is one of the frilly echeverias (maybe Blue curls?) - there is so many of them. Older leaves dry and fall off naturally, after repotting you may loose few more. Not sure what you mean by 'pointing up' ?

Btw, if spraying with anything to get rid of mealies, try to do it out of direct sun - just to make sure the leaves don't burn.

Give plants some time to recuperate from mealies and repotting.

Thanks Rina! Yeah the water sits on top for a moment before sinking in. It's REALLY hard to get to the soil under the leaves so water usually ends up getting on them but I blow it off.

By pointing up I mean the larger leaves used to be more flat and thick. Now they are thinning and curling on the sides. Here's a photo from when it was healthier but needing to be repotted.

The one next to it is still doing pretty well after being repotted in the basket but it has lost a lot of its color probably because I can't give it enough sun.

Hopefully all it needs is to get used to new pot & mix. Make sure you don't over-water, and best light you can - it may get almost green or even all green, but what can you do except cut down the tree...:)