But you're given great advice! Did the "stretch mark" ones do better once you started giving them good long drinks instead of little sips of water?

I failed at succulents too. But I've gotten some really good advice from folks here like rina and Karen and many others. And it all adds up to be judicious about watering and leave them alone. That goes for cuttings as well. You'd be shocked at how well they can do without watering.

For me, it was about trusting the advice and practicing serious self restraint when it comes to watering. Also, putting succulents in gritty mix was tremendously helpful as well. I don't think any of my many succulents are in soil at this point.

Leslie - I know the advice is good, and I'm thankful for learning so much, I'm just really terrible at reading my plants. No, neither looks better by now; the "deflated" one is still deflated, growing aerial roots and new stems all over (though looking at old pictures reminded me it was doing that even when I bought it), even though it receives direct sunlight all day through (no burns though). The "stretch marks" one looks worse, with droppy leaves now, even after I inspected the roots for peat and started watering it almost every day.

Lauren - the ones I haven't killed are the ones that either like tons of water (a Kalanchoe and an IDless one) or are basically immortal (cacti, a pair of Haworthias, and the one Echeveria). They're also the majority of the plants I did NOT transfer from the original soil/planted in 100% soil. Apparently I kill plants by trying to help.

There are a lot of good advice on this forum. But sometimes if they don't work for you, you have to find something that's applicable for you in your climate by experimenting. I do a lot of wrong things for my succulents but they work for me, but I would never advice newbies with my methods. For example, I never repot immediately after I bought new succulents even in very peaty mix, I let them acclimatize to my balcony for at least a week, sometimes two weeks before I decide if they need repotting. However In saying that, I don't water them for that period, unless they showed stress from being thirsty. The reason is that if the new succulents are healthy and already have a good root system in place, I don't want to traumatize them by disturbing the root system when they are also trying to acclimatize to a new environment at the same time. The only exception is unhealthy plants or very overpotted plants, but then I seldom buy them, unless it is a variety I love to have but difficult to find...

And don't fuss too much over them, I water them when I remember, sometimes once a week, but often maybe once every 10 days to two weeks, unless the temperature are over 35C to 40C for a few days straight, then maybe I will water them after 3-4 days of heatwave. I also water a little at a time, rather than totally soaking them thoroughly. So experiment with your plants, it is a hobby, if you do kill a few succulents at the same time, they are all knowledge and skills you'll learn from them.

I have to say, R, I don't know that any of my succulents need a "ton of water." I have three Kalanchoes, all in gritty mix (or a variation of), and they can go a long time without water. In fact, they seem to do better that way. And that is in this dry desert climate with full sun on them.

IME, succulents are pretty foolproof if you can refrain from watering them frequently and give them a full watering when you do. I also found that no matter what kind of mix they are in, a pot with super good drainage is critical.

My Kalanchoes can withstand lots of watering because they are in a quick draining mix. But they do not need it to do well.

Also you said you "started watering" the plant "almost every day." I cannot see how this is a good thing. It seems like, based on what you've said here, that overwatering may be a problem. I could be wrong; I am just trying to help.

Crenda: I just finally managed to get a Black Prince to root, after killing about 3 of them! I put it in perlite, left it alone to sulk and look really bad for a while. Then one day, I checked it and it had grown a ton of roots! But it still looked crappy.

About two more weeks, one full watering, and out of nowhere it just started looking good. I have watered it once more since (two times in about 6 weeks) and it is thriving.

I don't know what it is with this darn plant. It seems to thrive on complete and utter neglect and almost no water and bright light (though I've moved it into the southern window).

This is just my anecdotal experience, but I hope it helps you a bit if you decide to try again.

Lauren - I've posted the mentioned Kalanchoe in another thread once, I thought it was a daigremontiana but can't remember the corrected ID. Other posters expressed the same concerns, but then someone talked about a variation of this plant that likes humidity and shade. You can't actually see the size of it in this picture but it's been growing and healthy for 3 years or so!

Lauren + Frank - Watering every other day is an experiment. Like Frank said, sometimes things work differently for the plant you've got in the place you live in (I have a Haworthia that only started to grow healthy after I transferred it to my much darker bathroom for example), and I've tested both infrequent and weekly watering patterns already.

(I really feel like I've gone through the subject of watering in old threads so many times, with advices to stop watering so often and advices to water more. I have tried both... Sorry if I come off as impatient.)

Crenda - thank you :)

We all kill plants! You're not alone. Even when you grow a lot or have tons of experience, it still happens.

I used to keep extremely detailed growing notes to figure out what I'm doing well and failing at.

Taking tons of photos regularly helps track plant progress too, which is what I do now.

It's a pretty plant, no doubt.

it is kind of hard to know how to help when you say you keep killing succulents and then go on to say you water the succulents so frequently. The two seem interlinked to me. As you said, perhaps you hover too much. But the only kind of hovering that is bad for a succulent is hovering that involves overwatering.

I don't know. Just confusing...

Lauren - No no, I say I water *this* succulent this often, as an experiment. I -slowly- increased the frequency after the stretch marks appeared as a sign of thirst, as advised in one of my linked old threads:

I've lost plants due to thirst, I've lost plants that were overwatered before I bought them, and I have 3 hardy/desert plants doing fine with pretty infrequent watering. And I found the old thread about my Kalanchoe http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/4197765/kalanchoe-daigremontiana-i-dont-know-but-shes-gorgeous?n=16

Mayo - (why eww? Haha) I keep a photo diary of my plants on my phone!! It's how I keep track of what's working, what's not, and in the vast majority, what's having no effect. Collages are helpful too.

I agree with Crenda. Grow the plants that work for you. You can be a specialist on those. Crenda, I also put semps in the garden. They sulked, got bugs. I decided they were not for me and walked them to the trash. There are many other succulents that will be happy in my garden.

Oh, okay, I think I get it now!

R - It's ewwmayo because I really don't like mayo!

awww :O( honestly i jokingly say i have a purple thumb..i love them too much..end up half killing them then try to revive them...some make it..some dont..i've gotten quite a little collection now..I'm really addicted now..plus this was something i've gotten into to cope with a situation i've been dealing with for almost two years now..I have the same issue as you.."reading plants". I'm usually like that in every situation..and it frustrates me when "I dont know" or cant figure it out..I have an aristata aloe (assuming it is) and for a long time lately i've noticed its leaves are paper thin..and couldnt remember if when i bought it was fat or not...so for the last few days i've watered everyday (for the last 3 days)...the leaves are plumped up now..and i was kicking myself for depriving it of water..but at the same time quite proud that its hung around for that long..I have one succulent that i wanted for a while..it was suppose to be an easy to care for type..and its giving me the most trouble...so we are all different..what works for me..may not for you...trial and error..(okay maybe a lot of errors) but i sympathize with how you are feeling

Heather - "it was suppose to be an easy to care for type..and its giving me the most trouble..."

I know exactly the feeling.

My plants help me cope with chronic anxiety ^^ it's good for me to check them out whenever I'm getting too tense.

Heather

You have Aloe aristata that you say is watered every day - IMO, that is not very good (unless you are somewhere very hot & dry?). Maybe you under-watered before, but going 360° may not be best...I don't think any succulent would benefit from being watered every day. Do you have a photo?

rino..you misunderstood what i was saying..it was VERY underwatered..i had watered it for a few days in a row and the leaves have filled up..plump...not everyday

I would have thought that one thorough soaking would have done the job.

yeah i thought so to..but the leaves were empty..and i mean nothing inside them..i was actually thinking of posting on the forum if its suppose to be plump cause i couldnt remember if it was when i first bought them..but something told me they were..and so i tried to water a few days in a row..and they just fattened right up..i wish i had taken a before picture..cause it looks tons better now

Heather,

Don't mean to bust your chops, but, " for a few days in a row". Isn't that the same as every day? Either way, not good for succulent plants, sorry.

i didnt say/mean everyday... "so for the last few days i've watered everyday"...i went back and edited it to put how many days to be more specific...sorry i'm sure its my grammer

It's great that you plumped it back up!

Just to give this thread a closure:

The echie I started to water every day is healthy again. I think it's growing one or two new rosettes. I'm slowing down her watering again and keeping an eye on plumpness and color.

The other echie's stems weren't due to poor soil or lack of water, it just turned out to be an echeveria with runners. I stopped trimming them and moved the plant to the balcony. out in the sun and rain now, and not only it didn't burn but is looking really nice again.

I had to throw away a mealy bug infested cacti but saved some big free cuttings and they're all rooting. I started to water one of the haworthias more and it's now thanking me with blossoms. I only have one plant right now that I can't quite figure out, a topsy turvy, but I think I got the hang of the rest.

:D

I just want to go on record as saying I can't think of one succulent that I could water daily with good results. Even those in gritty mix. I have done it for plants in pure gravel when they were just getting started in that medium. But I don't know that it was necessary to do so.

if this is working for you, great. Would you post back later and let us know how it's going ??

Sure thing.

I've gone through a lot of plants myself. I also feel bad about the ones I try and do right by, but end up hurting. - but that is virtually every plant owner. My friends and relatives and I swap plants that aren't doing so well, to see if it is better in the other one's care. Sometimes it's just the change of atmosphere that helps the plant. Sometimes, nothing helps it. It's all trial and error. Just don't give up on them entirely. Having plants in your life is therapeutic and I find make a space incredibly calming.