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Cacti & Succulents

Help! Save my Jade (Please)

10 years ago

Please help! We are going crazy with this plant. Bought it a few months ago at a Home depot. about 2 months in we repotted using cactus soil, a slightly larger pot (but not much) and I DID NOT break apart the root ball. Was scared to do this. Anyway, we do not over water.
What has been happening since we bought the plant is that it is constantly dropping leaves. But the funny thing is it is still producing new leaves. both out of an existing cluster and out of a stem/branch.
The plant is in a business where we face south, and it has indirect light from store front windows.
Any help Would be appreciated. We do not want to lose this plant!

I posted the above in another forum. Advice was that it is root bound and I need to (re)repot after soaking and breaking up root ball. I am sure it needs to be trimmed too.
Any other suggestions for help?
Any tips as what to cut off etc?

Thanks
Jim

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Comments (7)

greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
10 years ago
First of all, it has great "bones" - trunks :-)
But it needs more light, and better (faster draining) soil, I'll wager. The plant will shed any foliage that it cannot support with the light it is currently receiving. And if the roots are compromised, it will also shed foliage to match.

Josh
JimNAZ
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks Josh! The more I think about it the more I am not sure it can get good light inside our business. Would a grow light work? If so, any specific one/type/etc?

Thanks
Jim
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Hi all, thanks for all the advice; I went out today in an attempt to make a cozy new home for my poor ailing jade. I bought I believe a 3'' circumference unglazed clay pot with a drainage hole and a dish, a bag of perlite, and a bag of orchard bark. They didn't have any kind of mix, except the cactus soil that I've been using. Should I just mix the perlite and the bark, or does it need anything else? I've heard undyed aquarium rocks were good too... Doug, thanks for the info; it's currently outside and gets some direct light right now. It was inside on a ledge next to a window getting very indirect sun all winter; I moved it out when the leaves started drooping for no apparent reason thinking that maybe it needed more sun.
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Yes you are catching on. The plant still need more sun, and less water, for insurance cut off a stem that is getting roots and plant it. You must realize these are winter growers and not summer growers, mine flower in December and start to grow after the flowers dry up, starting about January, they need air circulation, and cool air, they need soil that drains rapidly, they don't like living in an apartment with a heater going. They are east African plants, and are domant when it is very hot. I have 24 different, so have a little experence. Pirate Girl lives in New York she may have a lot to add to this. I can see that the leaf nodes are still far apart this tells me more sun is needed and less water. Don't treat like it is your pet. Don't water it from the top, water from the bottom, don't mist the plant. No peat moss in the mix, red wood med. size would do much better. I don't normally respond to 'Crassula Ovata' problems any more because it just gets out of hand. Good Luck I hope you will enjoy your plant and stops giving you all of this trouble. The black spots are caused by cultural problems. Gasteria species also haved this problem. Norma
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Sorry to disagree with Pat: I also think putting both pots in front of the window is a shock. I would have left them between the windows where you had them to begin with. That corner was too dark for jades. They like lots of light and will grow much better in front of the window. Unless they were in very dark conditions for a while and are moved suddenly into very sunny spot (I do not believe that is possible in winter, in Michigan), there should be no problem. Moving plants into strong sunlight from indoors could cause sunburn, and plants should be acclimatized. I believe Steven meant moving the plants from place to place - like from a store, where it sat for a while, to a house...Some plants will respond by dropping many leaves when location is changed (ficus Benjamina is known for doing that). Personally, I do not have that experience with jades. And I move them around a lot.
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js_plants
10 years ago
I bought a smaller one and it's doing the same thing. I would like for my stems to stay bare but the top fill in.
JimNAZ
Original Author
10 years ago
OK - here it is repotted and trimmed. I watered it the day before. (I believe it has enough water because when I cut some branches they were very moist at the cut.) I broke apart the root ball. Some of the branches came apart at the roots so when I repotted I just combined the pieces.
How does it look? Do I need to cut more? I am using string to keep them bunched close together because of the shallow roots. Will this be ok or should I get that plant tape?
Finally, if you have a suggestion for a light bulb/system please let me know.

Thanks
Jim
JimNAZ
Original Author
10 years ago
Here are the cuttings. What is the best way to get these growing? I read some say to put in sand, others say leave out to air dry ends.
????

Thanks
Jim
Denise
10 years ago
Jim,

Jades really, REALLY need DIRECT sun to be happy. That means outside in the summer. And in winter, in south window. SUN, SUN, SUN. Water when it's dry. Fertilize minimally when it's growing. And whacking back keeps them compact. If you search "Jades" here, you'll get so much great info, it'll make your head spin!

Denise in Omaha
User
10 years ago
Sand is perhaps the WORST thing you can use for these.

Pls. read up on mixes for Jades (lots of info. if you search here), but you'll need to correct your soil mix (from something that's too water retentive as yours looks to be from here).

All the trouble you're taking to prune & make cuttings is great, but correcting the soil is even more important. I'd guess is part of why those roots are so small.

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