here is the birdseye view

now for the topsy turvy. Its the same dang story. All that exposed stem was covered in leaves when I purchased it in September or October. Leaves are dropping one by one and I just dont know when it is going to stop! Any tips/advice/ideas are welcome.

top view... so you can see the top looks very healthy (to me at least!)

and this is when I first bought it. Maybe a few weeks later - after the repot into gritty mix.

you can see those yucky leaves in the bottom left picture. That is what they are doing... it seems to be slowing down but when I came back from my 10 day trip there were 4 more leaves dying

I'm having a similar issue and looking forward to reading replies. All the new growth on my plants look healthy but the loss of lower leaves has me questioning whether there's something wrong or not.

Mine are also in a gritty mix & under lights, how's your light situation?

some leaves just get old...

plants respond to different care regimes-light, water, humidity, what we think are small changes have a disproportionate effect on the plants and the most common reaction is leaf loss.

Do you think it has been too much change in the past 3-4 months? Purchased - out of horrific conditions, put into gritty mix, at first were outside until about a month ago when it got too cold. They are now inside under a compact florescent grow light. I think I have it set for about 10 hours a day. 7am to 7pm.

Deva

I think they are just reacting to the change. Indoors, even under CFL's, is still not the same as being outside, receiving sunlight, having better air circulation. We can only try to give them something as close as possible.
Repotting - even if necessary - is another 'shock' they had gone thru; on top of 'horrific conditions' they were in (as you said). Davids10 already pointed that out. On top of that, some bottom leaves are probably old enough to die & fall off.

They are going to get etiolated somehow because of lack of sun. So be prepared for that. For us in colder zones, they have to spend more time in these conditions.

Just concentrate on keeping them healthy - don't overwater, keep them free of insects, and supply as much light as possible (you are already doing that). Can you keep light on little longer (12 hrs or so?)
BTW, what size bulbs are you using? How far is the light source from the plants?

Rina

Thanks Rina. I don't know the size of the bulb. It's a compact fluorescent light system I purchased from Amazon last year. It's about 6-8" from the plants right now. I need to get some chain to get it a little closer but I just haven't gotten to it. Grad school is keeping me busy. I'm also wanting a 2nd light because the one just isn't enough for all my plants.
There are no bugs. I water every 10-14 days or so, & fertilize every other watering. Most of my succulents are in gritty mix. Those that aren't get watered less frequently & will move to gritty in the spring.

I also use CFL light bulbs. After reading quite a bit about growing under lights, I bought 100W daylight. They use only 23W, so economical. Look for marking on package, daylight will be in blue spectrum. Higher the #-better (try to get min. 4000k.)
I hope I am not suggesting something you already know.

Rina

Edited to add:

...and shedding the older leaves. Much of it has to do with the fact that those lower, older leaves can no longer be supported by the current amount of light the plants are receiving.

that is what Josh (greenman28) mentioned on another thread (he is referring to jades in this case):
read here
Read further post by Al (tapla) in same thread regarding shedding the leaves.

This post was edited by rina_ on Wed, Dec 3, 14 at 20:26

Thanks Rina. I appreciate you posting a pic of the bulbs. I have started and read through another thread on grow lights but I have also quickly forgotten what I should get. I like the idea of getting a few of those to hang from my little makeshift stand. Pics will follow. Just give me a few weeks. I have finals in 2 weeks so its crunch time!

My Topsy Turvy is looking the same way! lower leaves wrinkle up and die off, elongated stem. :(