Does this look like a plant that needs water or is it fine? I'm specifically referring to the yellowing outer leaves.

I live in an arid part of Texas and typically water 1-2 times per week depending on temps. Plants usually receive about 2 hours of mid-morning sun.

It looks pretty good to me. No wrinkling, no drooping, no bunching up, no crispies. The leaves look very good in fact. The few on the outside are either just changing color, which is OK. Or they are just doing what the old leaves on plants generally do. They don't last forever.

Hi corundum, and to NGA. So glad you found your way there.
I agree with Tim, the plant looks healthy and well cared for. How long have you had it?

I've had it since January and it hasn't changed in appearance at all until now, it actually seems quite dormant. Barely any new leaves, no chicks, no root development.

corundum said:I've had it since January and it hasn't changed in appearance at all until now, it actually seems quite dormant. Barely any new leaves, no chicks, no root development.

You might try some intentional watering so you keep the soil moist for 2 weeks, then go back to regular watering. Sort of to try to see what happens if it gets out of the dry environment for a definitive time.
I would try to get at the same time a bit more sun, like 3 hours of direct sun, so this wouldn't be much of a drastic change compared to 2, the plant might not like that much more sun all of the sudden if for so many months it only got 2.

It had been getting 5-6 hours of direct sun (from 7 am to 1 pm) per day until this past week, the other rosette in this pot was getting sunburnt so I cut back the sun, especially since it's going to be 105+ degrees all week here.

Yeah, I see, 105F is too much.
But in such dry and hot conditions these plants should have more water than the occasional rains.

Knowing the conditions in Texas, I would be careful of watering any more than you already are. I believe it is reacting the the exceptional heat you have. As long as it looks healthy just keep doing whatever you have been doing. It is in protection mode right now. Do you have high humidity this time of year?

No humidity, it's the west texas desert.

Hello corundum, your plant still looks okay to me. It is just closing the center rosette in reaction to the excessive heat, to protect itself as there is much transpiration going on.. My semps do that too at this time of the year, so I try to move them to a part sun area and I have to do daily watering to cool down the plant and its root zone. I do it early in the morning before the hot sun comes around. I water directly the media, not the rosette, otherwise you will risk fungal rotting of the leaves. Looking at your media, it looks very good and well draining so watering daily early in the morning will not be a problem.

It is also dropping its older lower leaves, and will just keep the center core for now, new growth will come at the center. As those older lower leaves turn brown and dry out, you can gently remove them, that way the base stays clean and avoid possible powdery mildew problems. On a worst case scenerio, if it still feel too heat stressed it will trigger bolting, bloom stalk forms and that is a sign mommy plant is on its way out. But don't fret if that happens, it may still try to do new offsets or you can get seeds from the blooms later.

Remember semps are alpine succulents, they prefer cooler conditions, cooler air flow around. I find summer time always a bit of a struggle for my semps. Survival of the fittest. I do the watering early in the morning while outdoor temps are much cooler. It will be pointless to water them when temps are already in the 90F's and higher, the succulents shuts down at that point as it waits for the cool down at night again.

Our temps in my area is similar to yours, very dry here since we have zero rainfall till end of September and daytime highs staying at 98F to triple digits at this time of the year. The only blessing is that we still manage a good cool down to low 60F's at night, a welcome relief to the garden. Semps are best grown outdoors, so I try to manage it by positioning it in part sun/shade area too.

Fall is the time it perks up again, so just got to wait for Fall temps to return.

Great information Tarev. It is wonderful having some one that knows about this type of growing conditions.
Thank you so much.