Rocks in the bottom to act as drainage does nothing to help the plant either, they should only be used to cover the drainag hole to prevent he mix from falling out. Rinas advice is spot on, too little light, too much water and the wrong mix. I would cut it back severely if it were mine as it will struggle to thicken up if just tip pruned...if at all. Also, what is a mason jar please?

Gill UK

Gill

Mason jars are the ones for canning, usually with screw-on metal top&ring (they could have the rubber gasket too)...here is one with wide 'mouth'...not sure what you call them in UK:

A Kilner jar would be our equivalent....thanks Rina. Obviously neither is suitable for any kind of plant to grow in!

Gill UK

To echo Rina, needing less water doesn't mean to water in sips, though I can see how people could take it that way. When soil is moist, the plant drinks up all it can. When soil dries out, the roots grow in search of moisture(a good thing). When soil is dry and you water it, at first the soil resists water. Thus, to 1. water it until it runs out the bottom then 2. wait a few minutes, then repeat that cycle two more times, you ensure that all the soil in the root ball actually gets wet.

The wait time depends on how long the soil holds on to water. There are several factors that go into how fast the water left in the soil evaporates, so you have to evaluate dryness each time before you water.

If it were mine, I would prune it back significantly and try to find a better lighting situation. By significantly I mean in this case about 6 inches off each branch. This allows for increased branching, and gives the main branches time to harden off and be more resistant to flopping in the future.

I assume that by saying the leaves are mushy, you mean they are dehydrated, floppy, flattened. Is that true? I have never seen rot in the leaves and not in the trunk, so rot seems unlikely in this case.

Keep in mind that it is MUCH harder to kill a jade with dry conditions than with wet. Which brings us full circle back to Rina's question about well-draining mix...

ez

Two more thoughts: I think the pot size is good for the plant size, and when you prune significantly you will have to water even less often.

Thanks Rina and Gill. My jade is placed right by a south-facing window, so it gets 3-4 hours of direct sun each day. I have pruned my jade back significantly in the spring a year and a half ago, but it just continued to grow taller with only one pruned part actually branching. Is it unwise to prune it again now that winter is approaching?

The roots were bone dry when I repotted it, so maybe because I feared over watering so much I actually did the opposite?

Yeah, sadly planting succulents and jades in mason jars was "trendy" at some point. It's also a shame that a lot of plant pots are made without drainage holes these days.

Edit: My well-draining mix is equal parts: potting soil, perlite, horticultural sand, and sphagnum moss.

I would 'loose' the sphagnum moss for the succulents.

I had many succulents in south-facing window/sliding door (in Toronto), and they still grew leggy in the winter.

I am not quite sure of your plant, it seems to have smaller leaves than typical jade? (Crasulla ovata) - and the lack of branching after pruning.

Rina

Rina,

Yeah, my jade originally looked like the one in that picture: lime green leaves and red edges. I would say it has medium-sized leaves.

My mom has a cutting of my jade at home, and the leaves became really small but they grew really compact on the branches. It's amazing how different this one jade can look depending on the lighting conditions. We both have south-facing windows but my window is quite small.

Unfortunately, the only other window I have is a North-facing one.

The photo above is from outside, in August. They will not look the same :( after the winter...but they will get supplemental lights and won't be as bad as without.

You may consider some supplemental lighting - I use it, ortherwise all my plants will be just long, skinny sticks.

There are other jade varieties, some with small leaves:

Rina

When you say horticultural sand, how gritty or fine is the sand? The word sand sends shivers down my spine when referring to using it in any c/s potting mix! The particles should be large, i.e. as in grit, not sand. I would, and this is my opinion, ditch the hort sand (as well as the spaghnum as that should also be banned apart from lining hanging baskets!) and swap them for hort grit which should have particles up to1/4 inch, roughly.

I think the hole less pots are 'generally' sold as cover pots, not usually as planters themselves, and again they can be very bad as they can encourage plants to sit in the unseen collected water in their bottoms!

Gill UK

Hi Gill, The horticultural sand I use is made up with large grits. I didn't want to suffocate the roots of my plants.

Good to know about the cover pots!