How I rescued an overwatered Echeveria

My Echeveria went from plump and blue-green to mushy and translucent in a single rainy week. I'd been watering it on the same schedule as my tropical plants — a mistake. Succulents store water in their leaves, so "a little thirsty" is far safer than "a little damp."

Reading the signs

The bottom leaves turned soft, almost see-through, and one fell off with a gentle tug. That translucency is the classic overwatering tell — healthy succulent leaves are firm and opaque.

What I did

1. Stopped watering immediately and moved the pot to a brighter, airier spot.
2. Removed the destroyed leaves with clean tweezers so rot couldn't spread.
3. Checked the roots — they were starting to brown, so I trimmed the worst 1 cm and let the cut callus over for a day.
4. Repotted into a fast-draining mix (70% pumice + 30% cactus soil) in a terracotta pot that breathes.
5. Waited two full weeks before the first light watering.

The recovery

After about three weeks the new growth at the centre looked firm and clean again, and the remaining leaves firmed up. The pink tips even came back with stronger light.

The lesson that stuck: with succulents, underwatering is recoverable, overwatering is not — so when in doubt, wait. I write more rescue stories like this on my blog.