Looks like your succulent is overwatered and is starting to rot :( How often were you watering it? My mom had the same succulent and about two weeks ago the leaves started getting dark and mushy. It looked just like the pictures you posted. My advice would be to start picking off the leaves that have yet to be reached by the rot so you could propagate them into new plants. :D

If the stem was mushy, it could have been rotting. If you left the rot, it could have rotted rest of the plant. Cutting any rotted parts until there is only healthy flesh is what I would do. Just guessing based on what you said. (Btw, was it a bloom stem or stem of the plant? Even bloom stem should not rot, they usually just dry up).

Lucy,

I am unfamiliar with this particular plant, but if it were mine, here's what I would do:

Unpot NOW to see what is going on with the roots. Also, remove all the ugly bottom leaves ... They are not going to get nice again. If the roots are damaged by rot, cut off the rot (otherwise, it will just spread), allow to callous over, and pot up in dry mix to reroot. Keep out of direct sunlight while it roots.

IF it's rot, the soil is too heavy and needs amending. The easiest recommendation is to use 1/2 soil, 1/2 perlite. That will give you a faster draining mix that won't choke off the roots.

It's possible to reroot most succulents, just be patient. NO WATER until you see new growth. I would just leave it for 2 month in dry soil. You may lose a few more bottom leaves ... Just remove them, as well.

Please update to let us know how things went.

Maria Elena

thank you all for the advice! Rina, it was a stem on the plant that just had blooms on the top. I'm really hoping i dont have to cut anything off and it is just sun burned. ive never had to cut a plant before! Latin lady, i do have half perlite half soil in it currently, ive read about people using small stones would that help possibly? And chris, I pulled on the bottom leaves and they felt pretty strong, also i didnt see any spots starting at the base. But i went to tug on one of the leaves just a little higher from the very bottom ones and it came right off and was pretty mushy. im still thinking it may just be sunburned though because the rest of the leaves were fairly strong. thanks again for everyones input!

My vote would be for sunburn as well. Several of my echies got similar marks when I moved them too quickly into the sun this spring. Their appearance will not improve and they might form little "scabs".

If the general consensus is sunburn, then I would not uproot it at all, Lucy. You will have to cut off the ruined bottom leaves, though. If these grow roots all along the stem, which I suspect they do, you just might want to plant it a little deeper so the stem doesn't show. Or you can top dress it around the stem.

We all do this (at least) once. Acclimate all plants before placing into direct sun. They need about a week of inching towards and a week of resting just at the threshold before being placed in full sun. Even plants grown 24/7 under trees need to be acclimated to full sun. The exception is plants germinated or grown in full sun ... Those are born acclimated.

Good luck with this one. Please update us once it's looking healthier.

Maria Elena