You are going to rot the plant, in the wild they grow on a rocky hill side, with no water for 6 months out of the years, it did get fog which dripped down. Karen is right less care is better for this plant, the new soil will be fine and give it a jump start, it has enough in it to feed it for at least 2 years, the plant needs to grow crowded in the pot, and the pot needs holes in the bottom for drainage. Do not let it sit in water, and give it good sun at least 6 hours daily. Cut it back to make it attractive again. Good luck. Norma

I wouldn't go by a certain, "twice a month" watering schedule.

Here's the scientific way that will ensure you won't over love this plant:

Put it in a sunny window. Forget about it.

Some day, when you say "hey, I wonder how that Jade's doing" go find it and check the soil and leaves. If the first is dry and the second are soft, then give a good thorough watering.

I think this way will mitigate the peaty soil you have it in. When you repot, do a gritty mix (soil that won't ball up in your hand when it's wet.)

Also, I'm not sure about rocks in the bottom of pots adding much for drainage, I know a lot of people here don't think that's true.

Hi constantgardner, Okay...you've peaked my curiosity! What do you mean by "from a friend's comically large/old Jade" and "its mother is an extremely interesting looking specimen."color>

Care to elaborate and or better yet...would you have a picture of your friends Jade. Would absolutely love to see it :o)

FWIW, I also agree, I don't think the rocks on the bottom does anything extra for drainage. I would def. use a grittier more porous potting mix(no peat) when you decide to repot.

You should water these plants 3-4x a month, at most (and this is with a porous soil), when they're in growth, which is now. Otherwise, twice a month is best, generally. You want to practice benign neglect when growing Crassula ovata.

Pictures will help, and there are also thousands of words, providing scores of hours of reading entertainment, if you use the search function here with the key word 'jade' or 'Crassula ovata'.

I'm going to be a naysayer to Blut and Puglvr and speak loud and proud for rocks on the bottom - with a lot of ifs....if you provide a solid layer of sufficient depth using the right rock, this method does help increase drainage, but a lack of drainage, combined with heavy soil and heavy watering, can doom your plant.

but you're better off having a more porous soil until you understand how this plant grows, which is in just about any type of soil. It doesn't like its feet wet for long and it doesn't like cold, although it will tolerate it for a while.

Thanks everyone for responding. Very good guidance.
Pug lover,...I'm going to see if I can get a picture for you. It just looks like no other Jade I've ever seen. Maybe because its stems and trunk have a much woody-er look appearance (if that's a word). It just looks more like a tree. Maybe a bunch of Jade's do that, but I've never seen it before.

Improving drainage by adding rocks to the bottom of a pot is most definitely a myth. Insufficient drainage is another way of describing a perched water table. And a perched water table is caused by surface tension in the soil pulling water upwards against gravity. The soil acts like a sponge. And just like a sponge, it will not drain any better by setting it on a layer of rocks. The solution is to eliminate fine particles like peat, and stick with grittier ingredients like bark, gravel, pumice, etc.

As for watering and fertilizing, I'm not sure why people are being so hard on their plants. Sure they can tolerate neglect, but why should they? I know some plants will develop more fat, compact growth when deprived of these things, but the only skinny jades I've seen are those that are deprived of light. With sufficient light and a porous soil, I'd think you could water and fertilize a jade regularly and get fantastic growth. I water and fertilize mine (at 1/4 strength) every 3-5 days, and growth seems compact and healthy. But mine is still quite small, so I'll defer to others with more experience here.

I also believe in Bigfoot and the Easter Bunny.

And that egg is just one province over from me.

Here is a link that might be useful: Myth Magnet

I have a Jade that isn't doing too well. When the foliage is touched, it falls off. The foliage that falls off looks lush. Some of the tips of the branches are dark and squishy. Can anyone give me any insight to what is going on? My soil appears dry and I don't water it too much at all. Re-potted last spring. Root fungus?

Sound like it was exposed to cold temps for to long or it is rotting.

I would never water a Jade every 3-5 days..thats very bad for a Jade and will only induce rot. Especially if your Jade is small, it will tolerate even less.
Those that talk about neglecting a Jade are experieced growers of this plant and know what they are talking about. This plant thrives on being neglected. To much water even with a porous soil will still be detrimental to the plant.
Mary

I would never water a Jade every 3-5 days..thats very bad for a Jade and will only induce rot. Especially if your Jade is small, it will tolerate even less.
Those that talk about neglecting a Jade are experieced growers of this plant and know what they are talking about. This plant thrives on being neglected. To much water even with a porous soil will still be detrimental to the plant.

I think this is an overly broad statement. Watering frequency simply depends on how quickly a soil dries out. I grow my small jade in a mix of equal parts fir bark, Turface, and granite grit. I water it every 3-5 days in winter because it will be bone dry within 5 days. The risk of rot is introduced when a soil holds water for too long. If it dries out in a reasonable amount of time, then there is no risk in watering when dry. Jade's are pretty vigorous plants that continue to grow during cooler months. When I repotted mine recently it was so full of roots that I had to trim half of them back.

Dirtshaman's problem does sound like rot, but that is most likely caused by an overly water retentive soil. The problem many people have is that they don't realize how long moisture remains in the lower portion of their pots. A wooden shishkebab skewer poked into the soil for several minutes can be a big help in figuring this out.

Im getting cuttings, what would be the best way to make sure they root? (temp,soil,light amount)?

Temp - around 20C/70F (constant)
Light - as much as possible, as long as it's been acclimated. If not, acclimate gradually to to full sun.
Soil - since they're cuttings, a small amount of soil, perhaps an inch, in a pot, and the rest rock/gravel supporting the plant. The soil should be porous.

Until you see definite growth, don't water - mist only, every few days.

As an FYI, your question, since it's separate and different than the original poster's, should be posted by itself. You'll have more people see it.

There's an FAQ here, along with thousands of words written on Crassula ovata here (use the search function for hours of fun reading) - from reading them you'd get a heap of edumication on this plant.