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

The brown patches on the leaves are sunburn, I know from experience, as in my eagerness to put my plants outside my window on a rare warm sunny New Hampshire day, I left them in the sun for several hours, and a few days later saw the brown patches from being put out in the sun suddenly, without gradual exposure. And your soil is way too water retentive, leads to root rot... I would leave the cuttings out until I see roots start to form, don't need to be in soil for that. And I would repot the plant with roots into a fast draining mix in a smaller clay pot, and not water for at least a week...best of luck! Christopher

I think it is quite etiolated - long and contorted stems that have been turning toward any available light. I believe I see at least couple of dry/dead stems too? I don't think that is serious problem, maybe it wasn't watered enough. Plant's leaves look good otherwise. White dots are most likely some salt/minerals deposits from water that can be wiped off easily - not much problem there. Oldest leaves often yellow up, dry up and fall off. But yellowing could be caused by overwatering too - in that case, they feel soft, full of water and almost translucent yellowish color. That means soil is not draining well and the roots are sitting in wet muck. That would be problem for most plants. I can't tell from the photo. If there are many leaves yellowing at more-or-less same time, I would consider checking the roots. I would cut off all dead branches (they will fall off anyway). Decide how you want plant to look. Some prefer droopy branches - I prefer more compact growth with thicker trunks. Depending how you want plant to look, it should be pruned. It definitely should be given much more light than it had before. If light happens to come from mostly one direction, turn it 1/4 turn every week or two to expose all sides as equally as possible. I would amend the 'soil' you used by adding lots of sifted or rinsed perlite, It seems to be water retaining - succulents should have very good drainage. You can check if the potting mix is dry or still wet before you water. Use bamboo skewer or chopstick. Insert deep into the pot trying to avoid roots. Take it out after few minutes. If dry and clean - time to water. If damp - cold and has even some particles sticking to it, make sure you don't water. Check again in few days. Edited to add: air roots are not much of problem; sometimes they may grow if there is plenty of humidity. It is suggested that they may grow if plant is thirsty - but rather check the soil for that. Air roots could be rubbed off, eventually they will dry up. If you take cutting and it has air roots, they will most likely continue growing. But jade cuttings root very easily, so you don't have to worry about having air roots on them.

I agree with embothrium - to some extent. You could place a small plant in a huge container (like half whisky barrel...). BUT here arejust few reasons why I suggest smaller pot: - potting mix needs to dry and drain very well, and most ppl use regular potting soil or even soil from outside. They do not drain well. - often, as embothrium mentioned, pots are sitting in a saucer that collects excess water. It gets re-absorbed back, keeping roots of succulents wet for extended time. And, wet/constantly damp soil is also breading haven for many undesirables, like fungus gnats and many more . - small plant looks lost in a big container. I know that this is a personal opinion and reason is aesthetics, but many (if not most) will agree... I think. - big containers take too much space. This may not matter to some, but I rather have another plant in appropriate-sized, pot than huge pot taking all that space. One more thing about containers: bowl-like pots look nice, but they are not very practical. As plant grows, it eventually may/will need repotting. Try to get it out from container with recurving top. It is more struggle, sometimes damaging the roots more than they would be and sometimes pot needs to be broken... Most ppl, especially newer plant keepers/collectors/hoarders have many questions with most often asked is about watering. They most often overwater succulents, sometimes keep them too dry for fear of overwatering. Too often, ppl say that they 'water carefully - only a teaspoon full at the time' or some similar amount. Succulents needs water when needed. Experts tell us to water thoroughly, not in drips, and let mix drain well and dry up between watering. That could be few days or longer, most often depending on temperatures.