If i lost all of the leaves, it would have been probably overwatered- at least that what I suspect. Oldest leves will dry up and fall, but just one-two at the time.

Bottom of the stem seems to be black - check to make sure it is not rotted. Check the roots too. I would plant damaged stems separately.

I see more yellpwing on oher stems - have you been watering it a lot?

Chroma seems to be planted with hardy succulents. Are they all outside? What zone are you in?

I believe I’m zone 10b (southern California). I doubt it’s overwatering - I use a water meter and wait until completely dry before watering throughly. In current temperatures it’s been about every 2 weeks. No leaves are getting soft/squishy or showing similar signs of overwatering.

It could be too dry. Water meters are sometimes not very reliable, depends which one you use. And how deep do you insert it. Jeff sees the same thig as I do - just wondering. Rot often starts by overwatering, but could start by infection from other rotting plant.

Too may leaves seems to be yellowing, that is why I suggested overwatering. But in your climate, it could be too dry. 2 weeks seems too long to me. Not that plant will not survive, but if constantly dry, it will respond in some way.

I’m near the water so humidity is usually ~50% on average and temps never exceed 80 degrees F. I definitely saw signs of overwatering when I did it once per week. Also usually when they get too dry normally they pull water from leaves, but the leaves falling off are all full? A few more higher, full leaves also popped off just from the minimal impact of pulling the plant out of the dirt as well. I wouldn’t be as surprised if it was from one of the big retail stores, but I bought it about a month ago from a good local nursery.

Hi B,

I am in San Diego. Our climates sound similar. I had E. chroma, too. It was doing fine for quite awhile until suddenly it wasn’t. Started dropping leaves one at a time. I was treating it like my other ecchies, but once it started dropping leaves it was all over. Roots were fine. Good light exposure. No mealies. Just seemed to rapidly decline.

They are very pretty but since I couldn’t figure out what the problem was & never replaced it. I just chalked it it to maybe this one being a bit more temperamental, but don’t know that for sure.

So I just went to the nursery where I bought it and they said that it looks like I planted it too deep. The lower portion of the stems that shouldn't have been under soil were sitting in water for at least a little bit after each watering and slowly decaying. This makes sense because the taller ones tend to be harder to plant without falling over, so I probably pushed it too deep to keep it upright.

If plant gets lanky, it s best to behead it. My chroma grew one of the long stem too, and I have to do it yet - maybe I'll wait until Spring. I probably will cut it where the black line is since there is an offset growing lower on the stem:

You can also see one dry leaf - that is normal ageing and will soon fall off (or I'll pick it off). As plant ages, and receives enough light, stems should become harder and corkier too. How much sunlight are yours receiving?

To make sure it doesn't happen again (stem rotting), perhaps increase drainage. Your mix looks like it has quite a bit of perlite or pumice, but iI am looking only at the photo. If your mix contains lots of peat, there is a chance it may create problem: if kept dry, peat becomes hydrophobic. Another possibility is to use topdressing of gravel - it keeps stems and/or lowest leaves away from moisture. Some ppl do not like topdressing, but I use it on almost all my plants (all succulents, and most non-succulents too).

ETA: gravel topdressing helps to keep stems upright too. Your plant is mostly green and that suggests to me that it was kept in relatively low light. Low light is also cause of week stems. Another is that rosette is not as compact. Here is the same rosette showing how much compact it is. Leaves are also darker in color:

I have a guess. Did you water your plants on a hot sunny day? Did the water get on the leaves?

B Wood

I didn't see your post where you mentioned: ..."I definitely saw signs of overwatering when I did it once per week"...Soil staying wet for a week is water retaining IMO. Leaves that get watery yellowish color and are plump are water logged. Another question: did the comunity pot you planted them have drainage hole(s)?

It was much darker before it started suddenly struggling, but it gets about 4 hours of direct sunlight and usually bright indirect light otherwise. Soil is high quality succulent mix from a local place with added pumice, and all of my planters have drainage holes (learned that was necessary the hard way lol). Not all of them were looking overwatered when watering weekly, but a few sensitive echeverias were and none seem to mind when I wait until completely dry (all the way to the bottom). I water in the morning and make sure to not leave water on the leaves. I’ve been meaning to do a gravel soil topping but just haven’t gotten around to it. I do think the problem was that it was planted too deep - the people at my local nursery recognized it right away, and I definitely remember pushing it down a lot to make it stand up. They recommended cutting the steps above the decaying portions, letting callous over, and replanting in dry soil. Thank you everyone for your help!! I’ll let y’all know if she makes it!

4 hrs of sunlight is not enough. And ifit is thru the window, it is even less intense. 6hrs of direct sunlight (or more) is what is usually recommended for most succulents. Nursery recommended what we did too - beheading/decapitating. If you scroll thru-THIS THREAD -you'll find tips and photos on beheading same plants (E. chroma)