Brand newbie Gollum jade help

9 years ago

Hello, all. This is my first post on Gardenweb. I have been lurking this forum all evening and have learned so much! I have just begun trying my hand at plants. My only experience is a sweet basil starter plant that I saved from certain doom at Wallyworld (which is growing indoors and getting pruned like crazy).

For the same reason that I have a home full of rescue animals, I fear I may soon be overrun with rescue plants as well. I found a Gollum jade plant that stands about 1 foot tall by 1 foot wide at HD yesterday - potted in regular potting soil, drenched, with standing water in the pot.

Got it home and everything looked decent. I poured the excess water off, did a little trick I read on here to get the perched water out of the bottom. The plant looks mostly healthy to me. There is some scarring. Not really mushy or droopy or anything. There are a couple of concerns though.

1. Something white on parts of the plant. Don't think it's mold or a pest of any kind. But I am not the expert. Thought it might be mineral build up possibly? I tried to show it in the close up picture.

2. Several, maybe ten, leaves spread throughout the entire plant are a kind of yellow sickly color and mushy. They fall off if you touch them. I've read some places on this forum that it is normal for older leaves to fall off and I'm wondering if that's what this is since it doesn't appear to be widespread or specifically plaguing any one part of the plant. I posted an example of this in the last picture, it is the leaf directly in the center of the photo.

3. I know I need to repot into a gritty mix and I am working on getting the supplies together for that including the fertilizer. This plant came from outside and will surely experience a transition period now that it's indoors. Should I wait any specific amount of time before repotting it? I don't want to shock the plant. I really, really like it. :) Also, if I repot using the gritty mix, can I use a substantially larger pot? It's my understanding that a jade plant will grow to its container and I'd love for it to have room to grow, grow, grow.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read all of that. I've already learned a lot just from creeping around but I'd love some specific advice!

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Comments (8)

greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
9 years ago
Nice full 'Gollum.' Is it a single trunk?

Sunniest window you can provide, and just be careful not to overwater during the Winter. Re-potting will be best next season, once the Jade is growing again and has regained some vitality after the Winter indoors. In the meantime, certainly assemble your potting ingredients.

Josh
lacey_k
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks, Josh. I think it is actually two separate plants. Honestly, its so "full" that it's hard to even get a good look without bending things. I don't want to touch it too much! I'm afraid I'm going to break something.

What are the guidelines for watering in the winter, especially since it's in regular potting soil? Should I be waiting a specific length of time or checking the moisture at a certain depth? I know with my basil I water when the soil feels dry at 1/2" depth and that has worked well for it, but seems like that would be way too much water for a jade.
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Nifty, Josh! I like it! You really must get great light to grow and bloom such nice plants! The light here is much weaker during certain times throughout the year, and it shows in my growing. I have definitely found that the medium I use allows for much more evenly spread root growth down inside the containers. Except for that one orchid, the roots don't come toward the surface or circle the walls, anymore. It's really a neat concept! I may have seen the same three legged planter at a garage sale or two over the years, but they weren't in such great condition. Yours appears to be very nice, Laura... mine has a wobbly leg or two from age, I think. It just made me smile to see another one! Yes, lovely Jades, everyone! I do believe I killed my last one with kindness.
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Wow, I'm really impressed by everyone's expertise. I went to my greenhouse/nursery today and got some perlite and a bonsai mix that appears to have some bark. I see there is some questioning of the usefulness of bark but I'm thinking that it's definitely a step up from what I had been using. I couldn't find any pumice, but I did at one point find some small gravel around my house in a pot so I threw it in the mix. Bark, bonsai mixture (I didn't notice any peat in it, it's very dry) Gravel (with what looks like the rocks that go in a fish tank, I think I read someone saying those are good) And of course perlite, but you all know what that looks like! I use like a 4/3 ratio of perlite to bark and then the rest was gravel. Here is my one non blurry pic of my portulacaria afra cuttings (my first rooted cuttings, and while I know they're supposed to be easy I am quite proud of them!) And forgive the blurriness on the last one, I'm merely including it to show the size of the pot that I'm using to root the jade leaf. It's only perlite and I am keeping it in an area that is mostly shade. I'll let you know how the leaf turns out. No water, no direct sun and several weeks of patience. You'all are pretty awesome. Wish me luck! PS: Great info about broken ceramic pots, that's one thing I definitely have around the garage!
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Haha you LOTR nerds! Just kidding, I'm a fan too..but honestly I'm more a fan of Star Wars! One day I will name a variety 'R2D2' :P On the subject of jades, I just had a cool idea today! My roommate is always trying to get me to drink coffee from his Keurig coffee maker. He showed me the little cup of ground coffee after it was done brewing, and I realized that it would be perfect for a small plant! The little cups are about 1 inch in diameter, have a coffee filter secured in with about 1 centimeter of empty space below the filter (water can drain through) with a hole already punched in the bottom! I filled them up and put my jade leaves in there to grow. He drinks a lot of coffee so I should have more pots soon to put lots of cuttings in! I am afraid the coffee filter will rip at some point, but I wasn't able to poke my finger through it so it is pretty strong. Does anyone else use this kind of coffee maker? Check out the coffee container next time you make a brew. -Chris
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zzackey
9 years ago
The white stuff might just be a film from being sprayed with a chemical. Great looking plant! It's one of my favorites!
greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
9 years ago
Get yourself a wooden shish kabob skewer and stick it all the way into the mix, and use this to determine when the potting mix is actually drying out down lower in the container. I imagine that you'll be watering every 1 - 2 depending upon the relative warmth and sunlight in the house, as well as the activity level of the Jade.

Josh
lacey_k
Original Author
9 years ago
Zackey, I think you're right. Upon closer examination, I think it could even be residue from our East Texas hard water being used to water it improperly (just sprayed all over the plant).

Josh, thanks again! I will get a skewer. That's brilliant.

I am becoming a bit worried now as I am seeing a few more leaves turn yellow and drop. Could this be a sign of root rot? Maybe I'm just paranoid because the plant was so soaked when I picked it up?
greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
9 years ago
Jades drop leaves as the sun decreases. Mine are shedding leaves they can't support right now.

You could always slip the root-ball out of the container, and if the roots are rotten it should be evident. If not, slip it back in, and just be easy on the watering.

My previous post should have said "1 to 2 weeks*" for watering.

Josh
nomen_nudum
9 years ago
If it's already over watered and you suspect root rot why wait for growing to re-established when repotting with visual root exam could be done sooner ?
kaktuskris
9 years ago
You are overthinking this. Jades are used to difficult growing conditions. No need to make things harder than they need to be.

These are some of the easiest plants to grow. A few yellowing leaves does not present a problem, as Josh has mentioned. I would just remove them.

Your plant as it is looks in excellent health. What you need to do, in my opinion, is not water too much, place in the sunniest window possible, and put in an unglazed terra cotta pot.

You do not NEED to repot into gritty mix. That is a personal choice. They can and do thrive without doing so. Mine is not in gritty mix but has been doing fine. Good luck with yours.

Christopher

Brand newbie Gollum jade help

Comments (8)

greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a

lacey_k
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Brand newbie Gollum jade help

Comments (8)

greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a

lacey_kOriginal Author

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zzackey

greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a

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lacey_k
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