My pachyphytum has been sitting on a shelf for six months and looks healthy, but the leaves fall off if you even accidentally touch it. Half of them fell off during repotting. Could it be overwatered or maybe too dry? How do I save it and get it back to normal?
I had a pachyphytum at home that was dropping leaves just as aggressively! I panicked at first, then figured it out - it's a normal plant stress response and a sign of watering issues. When a succulent goes from drying out completely to getting too much water, its tissues become weak and the leaves don't stay attached properly. Check your soil: it should dry out completely between waterings! In winter I water my pachyphytum only about twice a month, just giving it minimal moisture.
Another important thing - it could be cold or drafts. If the shelf is near a window where air currents pass through, or the plant is in a cool spot, it starts shedding leaves as a defense mechanism. Move it to a warm place with good light but no drafts. Try not to touch it or move it around unnecessarily - every movement stresses it out when it's in this condition.
Don't worry about saving the leaves - the ones that fell can actually be propagated! Put them on dried-out succulent soil, don't water for a week, then mist them rarely. Most of them will grow roots on their own, it's a succulent after all. And the plant itself recovers pretty quickly once conditions get back to normal!
The thing with pachyphytum is often that it's a succulent with very fragile leaves and it's just built that way. But if half of them fell off during repotting - that's excessive and means there are problems with turgor. When leaves lose their firmness and fall from the slightest air movement, it's usually overwatering to blame. Succulents in overly wet soil start to get root rot, leaves become soft and lifeless - they don't hold their shape.
Check the soil: it should feel dry to the touch between waterings. If the soil is wet, you need to repot into fresh succulent substrate (or make your own from regular soil mixed with sand and perlite). Inspect the roots - if they're black, soft, rotting - cut away everything that's still alive and let it dry for a few days before planting in fresh soil. Use a small pot with drainage holes - that's critical.
And yeah, minimize watering for now - give it its first watering a week after repotting, then go by how the soil looks. The fallen leaves can be stuck in dry soil or just laid on the surface - a lot of them will root and grow into new plants if conditions are right. Good lighting is essential, and direct sun is only good for pachyphytum.
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