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Cacti & Succulents

Jade plant falling leaves & poor condition

Shiki (North Germany)

6 years ago

This jade plant was bought from a garden centre a month ago and after less than a week it had mealybugs infestation. I have been treating it couple of times to rubbing alcohol with cotton buds and also spraying the solution onto the plant, as the mealybugs kept coming back.I also changed the soil after the first break out to C&S soil with clay granules + 50% perlite.

Lately I haven't seen any bugs, but the condition of the plant has deteriorated, with leaves falling. New growths are drying up and dying. The plant isn't underwatered. Is it overwatered? Leaves and stem still feels hard, only the bad leaves feel soft. Any ideas what is wrong with it?

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Comments (2)

socks
6 years ago
Looks like it is double-potted. This can increase humidity around the plant, so I would remove it from the outer pot.

Move it outside and transition slowly into full sun until weather gets too cold. I'm not sure if you are over or under watering, maybe neither. Push a wooden skewer into the potting mix and remove after a few minutes. If dry, water, if damp, don't.

I assume the inner pot has drainage holes. If you water when it's in the outer pot and the bottom of the black pot sits in that water, that would not be good for your plant.

The white rocks are beautiful, but if you have further problems I would remove them as it slows the time it takes for the plant to dry out between waterings. Others may disagree with me on that. Many here use top dressing with no problems.

It's a nice plant, so I hope most of your troubles are from adjusting to new conditions. It is troubling that new growth is dying because sometimes all leaves just fall off. I hope someone else here can offer some helpful suggestions.
Shiki (North Germany) thanked socks
greenclaws UK, Zone 8a
6 years ago
Could be a combo of transplant shock and the after effects of all that alcohol! Oldest leaves do dry up and go crispy. Just pinch out those dead new growths and it should begin to branch out from that spot. Doesn't look that bad to me.

Agree about the double potting, better in a pot saucer, and till your more familiar with its care, maybe remove the top dressing as advised.

Half and half mix is rather heavy on the organic side for a jade, I prefer less c s mix for mine, only a third at the very most, come to think of it, more like a quarter in fact. That's especially so if you're a bit heavy handed with the watering can or it's kept in a rainy climate.

IGill
Shiki (North Germany) thanked greenclaws UK, Zone 8a
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