If you ..."suspect it may have been a case of underwatering"... then water it more. Only you can say for sure if you keep it too dry...how do you decide when to water any succulents? What type of mix are they in?

I use the toothpick method, and gauge by the fullness of the leaves. That means I'm watering about once every 4 days. I'm using a mix of gravel, peat, regular potting soil and sand/husk

Wow! That's good insight, I didnt know that the Mix could also be a fault. Will check it out, thanks!

I wonder about water holding capacity of rice husks. Is there any info on that? You are using peat and sand in your mix - neither of them are recommended for succulents (sand, if coarse, may be used). There are 'experts' out there that grow in sand, but they really know their plants...peat can get hydrophobic very easily.

Getting a bag of perlite, sift or rinsing it and adding lots of it could help a lot. Get rid of sand, peat, maybe even husks (but I really do not know how the retain water...) I wonder about size of gravel you use: it should be approx. same size as sifted perlite. If too big - it doesn't work.

If you read some other posts here, you'll find that "fast/well" draining mix is always recommended. Proper growing substrate is #1 for successful succulent growing in containers.

And, finally...what is your general location? I may have asked in other posts of yours but don't remember. Location matters, as climate will make difference in some aspects of growing. Pls. add that info to your name as others do, it may help in giving better advice...

I'm sorry I got it wrong! It's pumice stones I use, and not peat. I was advised by my local nursery that it would be a good base for succulents since we live in the hot tropics with high humidity. On top of which, we should just repot the succulent from their purchased state wholesale (soil and all). So far it seems that most local nurseries plant succulents in inappropriate soil, and I've pretty much had to repot everything. When doing so, I use about 40% pumice stones, 10% gravel (small sized, like perlite) and 50% regular potting soil. Have also updated location!

It's a well known fact that it's the same thing with nurseries in almost every country we have posters on here from! They all seem to put things in wrong mixes....maybe so they die and they get another sale, who knows? Not to say they all do it wrong, but a lot do!

Maybe worth trying to lower the potting soil below half. Pumice is good from what I've learnt, not used it myself as I've yet to see it for sale over here. In hot humid countries I would think the less organic matter in a mix the better.

Gill

Thank you for adding your location! :)

I agree with Gill about using less, maybe not any soil for reason she mentioned. It takes much longer for mix to dry up in humid climate, so mostly or 100% inorganic mix maybe better. I am only in z5 and plants have to be indoors for practically half a year, and use mix of grit, perlite and smaller amount of turface (maybe 10-20%).

Pumice is good to use. Maybe you should try nd make a mix using 40% pumice, 40% gravel and rest soil. Or even less soil. You could replace all soil with husks - as I pointed out, I do not know anything about them, but they may work similar to bark (that is often used in gritty mix). In either case, husks may be good replacement for soil that is much finer.

Growers use peat or coco peat for starting plants: I believe that it is good for that. They are able to keep it evenly moist, I would expect that many have watering systems set up and if not - they would water/mist at regular intervals that may not be easily possible for a hobby grower. Those substrates are inexpensive and very light that is good for shipping. And plants are kept for very short period of time - just to grow enough to be sold. (Sometimes, they are also fertilized heavily in order to 'push' growth.) Peat becomes hydrophobic very easily and coco peat will loose its 'loft' after a while. So for hobby growers, these are not so easy to keep properly moist and aerated.

Wow thanks rina and Gill! This has been way more informative than any other source I've come across so far (succulents are still a fairly niche thing in Singapore). I think I'll take both your advice on using less soil - it really is too hot and humid here for that and I've noticed that the soil portions get a little clumpy when wet! Thanks both again, really appreciate it!