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.

Joe, I've started about a bazillion Jade cuttings over the last 30+ years and here's my advice - don't worry so much about your cutting. Jades are practically fool proof. When I stick a cutting in a pot of soil, I always water it right away and water every time I find the soil dry. And I think the mix you're using is far more forgiving than what I use, which is coir mixed with perlite. They root fast this time of year, though it make take time for it to have enough roots to be stable with that size of a cutting. Last year, I whacked back my two biggest Jades and had literally dozens and dozens of cuttings. At my business, we had these pots that needed something in them, so I filled them with the cuttings, which all rooted quickly in plain old potting soil and grew like mad all summer. About half of them came off this Jade, which is now starting to look nice and full again... The other one - well, I made the mistake of also moving it up to a bigger pot at the same time as the whacking and I think it was too much for it to work on new roots AND new foliage and it collapsed this winter. **Sigh** I guess after all this time, I still have a few things to learn, too!! Denise in Omaha

Hi, guys. Shannon left a link to this thread, so I came & read through it. This is a picture of the soil most often referred to as the gritty mix. You can see by the particle size that it has tremendous macro-porosity. It's made from equal parts by volume of 1/8-1/4" fir (or pine) bark, screened Turface (hi-fired clay granules), and crushed granite (grower grit - about 1/8" pieces). You can vary the water retention of this soil by keeping the bark component at 1/3 while varying the % of Turface and granite. E.g.. a mix of 3 bark 4 Turface 2 granite would hold considerably more water than 3 bark 4 granite 2 Turface You can also simply add more Turface or granite which has the effect of reducing the organic component. I've started hundreds of different cuttings, many succulents, in this soil, and never had damping off issues, so I would bet that Kashu's issues are other cultural or inherent in the plant. I suggested a sulfur dusting of the cut end and sticking the plant in dry soil for at least a week w/o water, after at least 2 weeks callusing time. Take care - just wanted to say hey. Al

Hey everyone! Hi Nancy. I have a feeling that it could be spider mite damage. That is what I had a problem years back and that is what the leaves on mine use to look like. It has to be a pest of some sort on yours too Josh damaging the surface tissue. Maybe a slug which I have caught on mine or even earwigs. They were sitting in a few of mine the other day and left an indented mark. Nancy. I just love yours. Great job and it is so good to see you. Linda, Josh and Mary, have a great night! Still looking forward to a few more pictures from the dozens of people that got some. Well, we will see.:-) Mike