The look like E. 'Ebony' and E. 'Lipstick' to me - but who knows, maybe just because they are so young. You'll be sure once they grow up :) They are very nice plants, either way.

I would think you did OK - but wait for more responses.

That's what I thought too when I saw how different they looked even though it came from the same seller in the same order.

I'm worried that I should have just potted them without watering for a few days because the outer leaves are soft feeling.

Keep them out of direct sun. Just bright filtered light or even shade for now:). Water once a week. As soon as you see them perking up leave them be for a couple weeks. Then you can start introducing to a couple hours of morning sun. I normally would say full morning sun, but you're in Hawaii and that sun is close.

They're just really stressed right now so that's why they look like that.

If they have roots, and were dry, I believe watering was OK - as long as you didn't over-do it. What is your mix made of - looks quite good? It would be a problem with water retaining mix and no roots. They will need a bi of time to recuperate from being in the box - depends how long they travelled IMO.

ETA: I just wanted to add about the light - Kara said it already :)

@Kara: That sounds like a safe route to follow! Thanks!

@rina: I usually water until it comes out the bottom of the pot, but I was unsure of what to do with these tiny guys so I didn't give them a thorough watering. I'm using 2 parts turface and 1 part soil. I've tried Al's gritty mix years ago and found it was way to fast draining for Hawaii's heat. Turface seems to hold more water than perlite/pumice, but I didn't think it'd be too bad? The little agavoides were in transit for about 3 days. They were warm when I took them out of the box.

Thanks for that link, rina! If my mix isn't dry enough in a few days, I'll add in a part of grit since that holds really little water according to Kevin's testing and is easy for me to get.

Sounds good to me! You need to taylor it to your conditions...I use grit+sifted perlite and very little turface (maybe 10-20%). Pls. post progress of the plants.

Nice plants. I buy a lot of echies this way and have never lost one, even though they do look scary when they come that way:-) I agree with what you've done....personally I don't water the whole mix, just like you did a little near the root zone every 5-7 days for the first few weeks, in warm weather. And like Kara said, super slow going into the sun AFTER they perk up, open up, and put out new roots. In cooler weather I water only once, near the root zone and leave them much longer in low light.

If your mix is not soil-less, I'd put a 1/2 inch layer of pumice, or similar on the top, make a little indentation for the root to sit in, so the new roots get plenty of air and don't touch organic soil until they'r more mature. Of course this is just my little hyper attentive routine:-)

I checked moisture today with a chopstick and it came out clean. They haven't changed much in looks. Still as closed up as they were when I recieved them. I'd say the one that looks like the Lipstick variety is fairing better than the other right now. Should I water them tomorrow or wait a bit longer?

My camera wants to focus on the mix than the pups.

I was wondering how good were the roots when you potted up?

I feel like they look a tad bit better:). It's only been 3 days;).

@Kara: The roots on the left looked dried up and the left one seemed to have roots that were still alive.

I personally find Agavoides tough when it comes to dehydration. So don't worry about that:).

I would think in your climate rot could happen quickly. So it's best to be safe. Plus it's only been 3-4 days since you started this post:). I would give it a couple more days with no water. Just keep in the shade and they will be fine. On friday you can give them a little drink. No need to drench they don't have the roots to take up a bunch of water.

Remember this can be a slow process. Most of the time when it comes to succulents things do not happen overnight. I am growing some Cucuzza squash and that plant grows overnight. I've read the vine can grow 2 feet in a single day and the squash can grow 10 inches in a day:). That's crazy! You're new babies unfortunately don't have that speedy growing capability.

There's no need to check on it everyday. A watched pot never boils.

Just keep protected from the sun and humidity. Be patient growth will happen:).

Thanks, Kara! I sort of wish I splurged a bit and got a slightly bigger one so I don't have to worry so much about it shriveling to nothing.

Getting bigger offsets is so much less stressful than tiny ones with only a couple of leaves. I always wish mail order plants root faster but they like to take their time.

We're getting new roots! I feel like my mix is drying out too fast, even in the shade. I checked 2 days after watering and it was dry. Each one has a leaf drying out.

Yay! That's ok about the leaf. Totally normal:). Dry crispy leaf on the bottom is good. Yellow soggy leaf is bad. The plant absorbed the moisture and whatever from that leaf:). As they grow they absorb the bottom leaves. This is just showing your plants are doing what they're supposed to do:).

Now just put them back in the mix and leave alone. I would definitely still keep in the shade. They're still very small:). Everything looks good:).

Plsl know that every time you pick it up to check the roots, you break tiny root hairs you're trying to grow, disrupting the rooting process & the plant has to restart a bit every single time. Pls. do as suggested above & just leave it alone for a while (a few weeks).

As we often say here:

the best indicator that a succulent has rooted is the appearance of new growth

& this can be determined w.out even touching the plant.

I agree with all the advice you've gotten an your plants look great. One reason I justify picking up (to check the roots) is not so much to look for growing roots, but to check for rot or any precursor. Signs of rot are dark brown/grey/black flesh, furry or powdery look, moldy or sooty look. If I find rot or signs it's starting I will re-cut and apply rooting hormone. While it's true that looking for roots can damage tiny root hairs, I have issues with rot, in my climate (more in wet wintertime), and due to the fact that I have a lot of plants. Some varieties are more prone than others, so those I will pick up and check, esp. in winter. Even though they are in a dry house or indoors, wet weather/short days/slow growth, all increase the potential for problems. If you never ever/rarely have rot then I'd say don't pick up your rooting plants to check. And it may be, that as a newby who's learning the ways, it's useful for you to watch closely, to see those crispy bottom leaves and learn that that's healthy progress too. Or maybe once you've done this a few times you'll feel more confident to just wait.

Hi Lisa,

While I disagree about picking up to check, I don't have a rotting problem. But if you do, may I suggest you skip the rooting hormone (RH) & switch to household Cinnamon. When using RH, it's really the anti-fungal one wants, so in that case, ordinary Cinnamon will do the same.

I learned of this years ago at the Orchid Forum & have helped spread the word among C&S fans. Worthwhile difference to me in cost, $8-12 for small bottle of RH, vs. $2-3 for large bottle of Cinnamon.

I keep it in a salt shaker, sprinkle it on dry, then shake off any excess for any newly rooting areas which maybe were questionable (cleaned up from rot, lost roots, etc.). I've even read where some folks at GW make a Cinnamon paste to apply to spots of fungal issues.

I'm not really newbie in keeping succulents. Just new at keeping super tiny cuttings alive. I'm not concerned about damaging roots as they are just sitting on top of the mix they're in. If a root or two breaks, which I doubt will happen at this point, more will grow easily. This was part of my balcony back when I still lived in an apartment.

I had over a 150 different types of succulents when I was in that "gotta catch'em all" phase. Now I want to focus on favorites/wishlist succulents and try growing out and grooming (I forgot the actual term for this) them from tiny cuttings or seeds.

Thanks for all the advice! I'm learning how hardy E. Agavoides is compared to other echeverias I've had.