Sharon

It looks thirsty to me. Watering newly repoted plants is ok as long as they have healthy roots. Leaving them dry overnight is usually good idea, just enough time to let cuts (if any - usually if you had to trim some roots) to heal. Many ppl water right after repotting. If you are using fast draining mix, it should be np.

Watering frequency would depend on how warm it is where plant are kept, how fast mix dries up (warmer = faster) and to some extent on how much light it is receiving.

I see your plant is by the window, but seems to be etiolated: internodes are too long. If possible, give it more light. You may be keeping it thirsty - I am only assuming it is in warmer room, and could be watered more often. How do you check for moisture? Easy way is using a bamboo skewer or chopstick (or even pencil), inserted at least 3/4 deep into pot.

In a south facing window in a clay pot and in a gritty mix, you will probably find yourself watering more frequently when the sun is out. If you get cloudy days, it will make a difference. The good thing about jades is they can handle watering more often than cactus of many other succulents and in fact like it, as long as they dry out rapidly between watering provided they get plenty of sunlight and in a good draining mix.

They should plump up in no time.

And, if your plant is responding well, even if the leaves fall off, it just may be the best thing for it. For me I would not worry knowing the new leaves will emerge making for an even bushier plant.

Thanks! I hope so... most of the other leaves look great, it’s just a few, and like I said, the roots looked fine to me so.... fingers crossed!!

Thanks again!

Okay, it seems like my jade is not “bouncing” back... I’ve watered it last week, and it STILL has those darn wrinkly leaves, but nothing has fallen off.

Maybe I missed some rot in its roots when i repotted? Should I take it out again, let it dry and look for rot? Why else wouldn’t those leaves plump back up?

Did you check roots and very bottom of trunks when repotting? Did you get all old soil off the roots when repotting? Is new mix different from previous one? I asked few other questions in previous response you didn't answer, they could help in figuring out your problem.

Hi Rina,

im sorry I didn’t answer your previous question, I use a small wooden skewer to check for dampness. Yes I checked the entire root system before repotting, and yes it’s a new mix that I mention below. Yes I cleaned all the old soil off the roots as well.

One thing I’ve noticed, because my jade now seems to be just withering away, is that the very bottom of the clay pot and skewer, always seems a bit cold/damp.

Could it be because the pot is too big/tall for the plant? The lower leaves are “still” wrinkling and I’ve checked the roots, they aren’t mushy or black.

the plant now looks horrible and Im getting a shallower pot tomorrow and will try that, I just don’t know what to do. I was almost considering cutting the trunks off their roots and trying to start over, but I don’t see rot, so I’m hesitant, and don’t want to do anything drastic.

The plant has always been in a south facing window, but the pot it was in last October/November was too small and I was afraid of it falling and breaking, so I repotted from a 4” pot to a 7” pot with just gritty mix (Bonsai Jack Succulent and Cactus Soil Gritty Mix). The room is our living room/solarium so the temp is always about 60 overnight and 72 during the day, with full sun through those huge windows.

The old soil was just potting soil from the store and I wanted a faster draining mix, after reading good reviews on this site.

I know you’re really knowledgeable with these plants and I need your advice. I can take better pics tomorrow, I’m at work right now. Please, any advice would be so appreciated..... thank you. (The pebbles are top dressing only)

Sharon

Anyone?

Hi Shaon

I didn't see your update -:(

I am not going to read all previous responses, just summarize what I would consider:

1: Roots (I remember what you said) - any damaged should be trimmed off. If any of those are dry, a: plant was underwatered. If sot and/or mushy, b: plant was overwatered. If a, consider watering more often. If b, water less often. In either case, make sure potting mix drains well, and monitor moisture of it with a bamboo/wooden skewer - dovel, or pencil, sticking deep inside of pot.

2: Trunks/stems - check if uniformly firm, especially close to the rootball. If soft there, and roots are wet/damp or mushy, it may be rotting. In that case, pruning would be likely best. If soft and wrinkled and roots were ok and any damaged were dry, it would be thirsty.

3: Leaves - they look dessicated in photos, but do not rush to water unless 1 & 2 are understood and resolved. Leaves could be limp from bit too much water too.

3: Potting mix & pot - big step-up in size from 4 to 7", but since you are keeping all the stems together and using well draining mix (I never used BJ soil but many do & lke it, so I am going by that info), it should be OK. I would have separated them and potted into individual pots, but that is just my liking (I prefer 1 plant/pot). I find that there is no 'interference'/figting for space if plant is alone; it is easier to trim/prune, and easier to make sure it all sides receive good light. It is also easier to monitor for any problems, and if loosing one - there are others left. This is not crucial, JMO and preference for solitary plant. I see you are using terracotta pot with drainage (plastic is as good IMO, but terracota nicer).

4: Light - plants seems to be ok overall, but may prefer more sunligt (acclimatizing is important). I see some etiolation. You could do some pruning in few mo to get rid of it. Not urgent now.

While small pots are prone :) to being knocked over-falling, and plants could be damaged, do not worry much about breaking. Any part of jade usually roots very easily and you could have many new plants that way (ask me how I know, lol)... Any pruning will not be damaging to plant either - it could be pruned of all arms, of all leaves, and new ones will grow quite fast. But repotting your plants from water-retaining soil to well draining mix was most likely good idea, even if repotting is better in late spring/early summer (I have done lots of repotting in winter, and pruning too - jades that really needed it IMO :)

If 1 & 2 were all ok, maybe your plant just needs spring - that sounds like silly thing to say....in that case, I would give it best light I can, water only when mix is dry deep down in pot (using skewer helps). You mentioned that soil & pot seems to be damp for too long - possibly, your mix should drain better. Adding more of sifted perlite or pumice or grit would help.

Just a summary - as I said I didn't check anything said before so forgive me for repeating. And I apologize o others for such long post...

At this Sharon, I'd depot it and show us the rootball.

The measures in the recent past that you've taken haven't worked as well as we all hoped for.

IMO, it's better to start over, and if you're willing to do that, take some pictures of the rootball - you might have 99 problems but the rootball shouldn't be 1 (and that's where almost everything problematic starts).

Given your other enviromental factors, this plant should be in active growth now, and since it isn't, it needs a physical.

Following Rina's advice post - rootballing will be a great idea, but I think it's something else that needs the restart from the fundamentals.

Thank you both SO much! I just got home from work (2nd shift), so I’m off to bed now but will take some pictures tomorrow with my better camera and show you the roots... and will report on what I find.

Taking my little Maltese to the vet in morning, shoud be posting pics around noontime. Thanks again for all the advIce.

Okay, I took some pics after uprooting. Also, I have two other pots that I can use, any advice on those would be appreciated too :-). The roots look good (too me), I see white roots growing out of all of them... so not sure what's going on. All roots, bottom.. trunks near the root ball, everything is firm and dry, no soft, mushy anything.

I will add some perlite to my potting, gritty mix and should I water, or not? Thanks again for all you guy's help... I LOVE my plants!!!

Dang, my pics didn't upload!! i will do them tonight, i have 13 very clear, sharp photos... so sorry, but i have to go to work!! :-O

Sharon

Try to post pics; maybe they are too large and you can decrese pixels - just wondering.

What size are your other pots? It is always good idea to add perlite (or other substrate) for drainage; I would make sure it is sifted or rinsed (usually lots of dust in bags).

Posting this not-so-good pic of few of my jades; they are all single plants per pot. Some have branches so may look like more than 1 plant - eventually, I trim off those extra branches that are too low):

I’m so sorry, yes I will post them, but I’m at work now til’ 11:00, so I’ll have to do it when I get home tonight. Yes I will sift the perlite too.

the other three pots I have, two I bought on amazon. One is resin and two ceramic, and yea they’re glazed so I wasn’t sure about those.

Yea maybe my pics were too big, I took them with my canon rebel so the pixel size is definitely large. i will do that tonight. I took some snapshots of two of the pots from amazon that I’ll post now....

Wow, your plants are so big and beautiful!! How old are they? Wow, really nice looking, they’ll be full sized trees before you know it how big/tall will they get?? Very nice.

Shaeon

Thank you - those are just few of the jades I have. Hard to tell age, as I do not keep detailed records and often prune branches. Those, I just stick into pots and root them. Couple of those bloomed, and others (older) did too. I have many bigger jades than those in photos, not sure about age. But 'oldest' I have is probably 9 yrs old, grown from a branch of much bigger jade that I managed to kill with too much water (it was almost 4' tall). That was few years before I joined this forum and finally learned a bit :) I have given many away over the years, and will again this spring/summer.

Pics can be reduced, I do it usually using good old Paint.

Those are nice pots, but what about drainage?

Here is a smaller jade that looked very much like yours (shrivelled/wrinkly leaves) when I found it - I knocked it off the shelve and didn't notice until few mo later (probably 3, maybe longer). Plant fell our of the pot, spent summer behind other plants totally neglected. I was to throw it out, but decided to pot when I was answering someone here. It was very desicated, had roots but most had dried up.

1st pic shows photo of plant just before I decided to pot it up - leaves shrivelled just as your plant:

I trimmed most of the roots - this is after pruning them:

I potted it into gritty mix. Here is photo of it when potted (2018/03/21):

Same plant (2018/06/15) - I keep all outside until late fall:

As you can see, your plants should be OK!

Wow... okay, I'm hopeful now! Alright, I'm going to try to upload photos again... Also, the drainage in the pots is a big ol' hole, right in the middle (only one), but it looks like I may need to screen the holes, which is fine. Can't believe you've got a plant that really looks just like mine! That makes me feel better :-) I left a couple pics out that just showed the leaves again, I think you've seen enough of those :-). Let me know what you think!

I'm also noticing my roots look different from yours... hmm Your's look like a "root ball", mine look like long "branch roots" if that makes sense... Should I cut under the white roots? I mean, I've watered these and they've never plumped back up, but nowhere can I feel soft or mushy roots, anywhere. They're very hard and firm... so, will wait your opinion :-)

Difference in roots is because I am showing the trimmed rootball.

Are pictures all of different plants/stems? They look different to me - but could be angle. Overall, there are fewer roots, less than I would expect. I think some of the plants lost roots, or maybe never developed enough. Enough to live, but not enough to relly thrive. That is likely because od mix/soil they were in. Here is photo of different plant when it was repotted (sorry, pretty bad photo):

I would be tempted to do some cutting...

I am not sure what is going on - there seems to be problem with posting...

Looking at #1, I would consider to cut where red line is:

That may look quite drastic, but I am only looking at the photo...

Next - last pic:

I am nor sure if pic. # 4 is showing differebn plant, but it seems to have almost no roots. I would consider to re-root that one too.

#8 shows most rots, I would just pot it up.

Perhaps you should wait for someone else to comment...but this is what I would (most likely) do.

What do you think?

Yes, there are 5 plants in all that I took pics of. This time, I took a pic of each plant, in a better lighting area (I had the uprooted plants in a shaded area). Some of them have barely any roots, looking like new little white roots growing, but everything firm. Wonder where all the roots went??

When you said "I would just pot it up" for #8, are you saying no cutting? just new soil/pot? And yes, #4 above has almost no roots, just tiny little white ones barely showing. Trying so hard to live :-(.

And on #1 above, I actually thought the same thing you did about where to cut... but wasn't sure.

So, after I cut, do I put the plant in a shaded area for a week until callused and then just pot up without water until new growth? What do you think about using rooting hormone on the callused trunk?

Okay, here are my new pics of "each" separate plant that was in the original pot, 5 in all. I tried to get as close, and as clear as I could with my camera.

Sou probably noticed rocks - I use them to support newly potted plants, until they get established in the new mix (and sometimes leave them on...)haron

Overall, trunks look quite ok, plant just do not have enough roots. Good there are those white roots, they wouldn't grow if trunks were rotting. I think your roots slowly 'melted' away because of the previous soil, or never grew any more for same reason. Mix i use is very gritty, and roots just 'run' thru it - that is why I would add lots of perlite to BJ mix. Old roots should be trimmed; that is what I did on desicated plant; here is pic before and after cutting:

Do not be afraid to do some pruning. Cut off all dead roots, they are of no use.

After any pruning of the trunk, make sure there is no visible dark/almost black marks (spots of any shape) in the flesh. That would be rot. Let callus out of direct sun. How long, depends on size of cut. Thin branch will callus in few hours, thicker trunk will take few days. If pruning juast dry roots - there is likely nothing to callus. It will be enough just to let it rest while preparing pot/mix. But plant will be ok even if left unpotted for longer period of time.

Using mesh over drainage hole helps. I use window/mosquito screen (I cut it usually to fit bottom, but not really neccessary), also drywall tape or any fine mesh.

Ppl use paper coffee filters or even piece of newspaper, but they will eventually rot.

I never used rooting hormone and rooted hundreds of cuttings loosing just about none (I am talking jade :). On few large cuts, I have dusted lightly with ground cinnamon (natural fungicide), but really quite seldom. Y

Okay sounds good! THANK YOU . I don’t have time today to do it but might have time tomorrow before work. If I do I’ll post pics of the “surgery”. If not, I’ll hve to unti Saturday morning and post then.

Thanks again for all your help, you’re very knowledgeable and I appreciate the help so much!

Sharon, I'll add my two cents' worth this evening, but if you listen to Rina you'll do fine.

Okay, I decided to take a half day today (yay!) and come home and do
surgery! It's done. I used a new razor dipped in alcohol and I had to
keep cutting on one of them because I 'did' see a few black dots/marks
that were not symmetric in the flesh, so, to be sure, i cut it off.

The
others weren't bad, just a lot of dried, hard roots... so, I'm hoping I
didn't make it worse :-/ by cutting too much. After I cut, I took
photos and then I dusted with cinnamon. Where should I leave them to
callus? Bright shade or shade? Does it matter what I put them on?
Right now they're on paper towels. Here are the pics, I cropped each
one in photo shop so you could see them better.

If you're got some sulfur powder (flowers of sulfur, available at a compounding pharmacist's, or Rootone or some sort of rooting hormone / fungicide, it's be good to dust those ends with it. Pot it up per above, locate the pot in a sunny, warm location (if you can put it on warm concrete during the day, that's as good as anything, to help them root in the next two months or so before growth slows down in the summer. Misting only the plant daily will promote rooting - don't water the mix until you see growth.

It's just as well you did the slicing and dicing - those branch roots were the plant's method of ensuring its survival when the tissue beneath it was dying/dead.

Thank you, all I had was cinnamon, so I dusted them with that. Hope that will be alright. Also, don't I need to wait a few days for the cuts to callus? And should the mix be 'damp' or dry when I pot them up? Thanks so much!!

Sure, you can wait a few days. I've never used cin., but there are many who have, with good results. Dry mix, always dry.

Sharon

I usually wait until cuts callus before I pot them up. That way, I am sure I will not water even by mistake or "too much love" . I also pot them into dry mix. That's the way I do it - others may differ some. Cinnamon is good - I had just that when I thought I need to use it. If my plants, I would wait to calus especially with the one in the pic just before last, since it has such large area of cut. Just for next time, I would try to make cuts as small as possible - that means across the diameter rather than on any angle. Not a big deal, but IMO it would make things easier - less chance of infection/rot. Jades ae quite forgiving and survive easier than some other plants, I just want to make things as simple as possible. Bottom heat, as Jeff suggested, most likely helps, I never used any. I do not water for a while and do not mist plants at all, and so far it worked well for me; but Jeff suggests misting plants and his advice has been always very good. In colder location and with more organic mix, I would consider misting maybe 1x/week, and increase only if warm - but that is JMO. Usually, I acclimatize my cuttings to full sun, giving them chance to 'recuperate' from the surgery. You probably do not have to worry about that, since - I am assuming - it is still cold in your zone and plants are indoors. (We had snow overnight, until about 10:00 am this morning...)

Looking forward to updates...

Thank you thank you!! Yes I will wait a few days, pot them up in a dry mix and not water until I see new growth?

They just look so bad...., but only maybe 3 leaves fell off so not sure if current leaves will come back or just fall off.

I don’t think I’ll use bottom heat, I have a room with sheers on the windows that is warm, but south side. Do you think that’ll be ok? It won’t get full sun, but indirect bright indirect sun through the sheers.

We’ve been having weather in the 50’s now and today, high 60’s and sunny so I think spring is finally here. All my outside plants are budding, daffodils and crocus are all coming up.

i will post back after I pot up and show you the plant in its temporary location until I can acclimate it.

Thank you guys SO MUCH!!!

One more question, should I do a 50/50 ratio of BJ & perlite for the mix? Bonsai jack is all I’ve got here with a bag of perlite.

Oh, and I have a new brick of fresh coco-husk and some imperial orchid mix also, but I thought I’d use the gritty BJ with perlite, your thoughts?

You might be overthinking it. Simpler is usually better. The BJ and perlite mix will be fine.

Yep!! Exactly my thoughts! Thanks!

Hello! Sooo sorry it's taken so long to repost! My uncle passed away and we've been so crazy BUSY all week.

I've decided to keep my jade in a sunny window, because, well... that's what it's used to, and I don't think the sun is very strong right now, as we are just starting to get into Spring weather - 50's/60's.

I hope it's alright to water the plant today, because I gave it some water this morning, in the sink and let it sit to drain - the mix drains really well! Then, I put it back into it's place in the sun. I'm hoping after a week, the little roots that were there have grown a little and will appreciate a drink.

Also, I'm hoping that all the cuts I made are all healed, it did not take but 3ish days for callus's to form before planting. Hope I did everything right.

I'm posting pictures, right after planting back into the new mix. I used BJ gritty mix for cactus/succulents and added 50% + of perlite - which, as I said, seems to drain really fast. I will use a wooden skewer to measure moisture and HOPE FOR THE BEST!!

Advice? Comments? Suggestions? Did I do things right? Thanks in advance for any replies!

Sharon,

Thanks for posting a follow-up.

Usually I counsel no watering when the cuttings have no root, misting only (because cuttings usually don't have roots, so to avoid infection you don't water the soil), but your soil appears to have low organic matter, and succulents are tough plants, and they look OK.

Personally I'd have added some more organic matter to the soil, but that's only for rooted plants. That does look like a great overall succulent mix, that's for sure. I hadn't seen a pic of it before - did you add nothing to the BJ soil?

Your location sounds fine. They do like full sun, or partial sun, or mostly shade - very adaptable. They'll even grow better outside, if you can do that, in the later spring / summer / early fall. They're opportunistic plants, non-cold hardy as you know, but they don't like extremes of heat, just like the cold they abhor, growing the most during the shoulder months between summer and winter.

Hi! Thank you for your response, the reason I gave water is because I was watching new leaves getting bigger on stems, and i thought once there was new growth, to water. I hope I didn’t do it too soon and make things worse.

My mix, I did 60% Perlite and 40% BJ mix. It seemed perfect and drains really well.

I’ll watch closely for anything and won’t water for quite a while now.

No, I meant that if they look fine you should continue doing what you’re doing, by all means. My suggestion for CutSuccs in the Mist was general advice, but in many cases they’re eager to root and your mix and environment are perfect for doing so.

Thank you, great advice. There are some top leaves that look really good, could it be they’ve taken a drink? They did have very tiny white roots, after I made the cuts even. Ill hope for the best now like I said, I love my plants.

Your top leaves are your newest / most current ones. Yes, we understand - that's why we're stickin' with ya.

Sharon

Good job repotting (I still think there are too many plants in same pot - but that is JMO :) Hope they recover fast; pls. post a follow-up.

Not too many more years of you keeping up the good work, Sharon, and you'll have this.

Thanks Rina! I know, but I just didn’t have enough pots, haha... maybe in the future I will separate them out.

Omg what is that cactusm??!! That can’t be a jade....!!!! Wow, look at all those flowers! And I love your kitty, he/she looks very comfortable!!

It is a jade, and she loved to jump on anytime I was within her required parameters for doing so. Clio was a good kitty.

Wow!!! That is a JADE?!?! OMG it’s beautiful, I’ve never seen one that large!! Beautiful! And yes, she was beautiful too!