Is this same plant you asked about in another thread HERE?

Going by your description, soft/squishy trunk and leaves filled with water doesn't sound good. Those are things that are most often associated with rot.

Looking at our photos, soft trunks seems to be above the roots and continue for a bit upwards, and roots look reasonable - but it is sometimes difficult to judge from photo.

Did you recently repotted plant?

How often and how much do you water? - did you change watering regime?

What kind of temps is the plant kept in?

Hi Rina--thanks so much for your reply!

Yes--it is the same thread, but since I got no replies, and since my question is now more precise, I thought I'd simplify it :) I'm a bit anxious because the rot seems to be spreading so I'd like to decide whether/where to cut the plant.

I haven't recently repotted the plant. I used to keep it in a big east facing window in the bathroom--which could get a bit steamy from the shower--so I recently decided to move it to a north facing window (that still gets plenty of sun). Another plant in the arrangement that I had seemed to have rotted as well--so I suspect this was from overwatering or something bad in the soil (you can see it drooping there on the right in this photo, which was taken right before I dismantled it--weirdly the calico kitten underneath it dried out... but that's not relevant)... you can see it's a pot with good drainage. the plant is kept in good temps, 72 degrees almost always. I have other jades and they are all fine and happy...

It sounds like it's probably rot. Should I wait and see if it gets better or just carve it up? Would it help to include better photos of the roots or anything else? I inspected the roots but don't necessarily know what I'm looking for....

The reason I asked what are temps like is for watering - if warm, plant should be watered more often.
If it was kept in bathroom, it may have been too humid for it and there could have been problem for a while, that is just showing now. If there is any rot - and I suspect there is, do not wait. Rot spreads fast and it could kill whole plant. You said another plant in same container rotted too, so there was likely a problem with drainage and/or humidity.

I can only tell you what I would do if my plant, that is rotting:

I would cut off all rotten flesh; cutting off small slices until there is no dark spots-lines, rings or any other shape - in the flesh of trunk. That may sound drastic, but if you leave any, it will just continue rotting. Roots may be OK, but if the stems are soft/mushy, that is where the rot is. If you have to cut roots off and cut enough to have only healthy flesh, you'll have new cuttings (stems without roots). They can be rooted quite easily (I have same jade too, and np rooting cuttings).

You have 2 trunks, and perhaps start with 1.

There are few threads here about rotting jades, HERE IS just one of them with some photos. Look thru, and ask any questions you may have.

Thanks so much for these links! And for your reply! Such a huge help.

I've looked through the threads... I see another person, similar to you, says "You have to make sure that you cut back until you reach fresh green/white stem, without any gray, brown or black matter."

I did cut up one of the plants-despite that the trunk was squishy, and quite watery (like the leaves, if you squeeze them little drops of water would come out), it was completely green inside. It was not brown, grey, black, though I saw kind of a white-ish ring...

Here are photos I took of the cut--does it look rotten?

Also, I notice that the trunk, now that it has been severed from the plant, has actually hardened (it hardened within hours!), while the trunk of the other plant that has not yet been cut up remains super squishy.

Perhaps it possible that it absorbed too much water but has not yet rotted?

PS: I suppose when you say no lines or rings in the trunk--this may be exactly what you mean--so perhaps it can be perfectly green but the white circle is what I need to watch out for (?)....

White - creamy white is OK. Dark spots of any shape are what you need to worry about.

Your plant may be just recovering very slowly from the repot. I suppose it is possible that it was in water-retaining soil, and you 'saved' it before it rotted.

Sometimes, thirsty plant could look similar. But thirsty is better than overwatered. I had jade cuttings out of any soil for months. They would shrivel, but recover nicely once potted. Rotted ones do not :)

I would prune off that small piece of branch in 1st pic of your last post. Prune it close to trunk, leaving just few mm of flesh. It will callus well, and I may branch or at least grow new leaves from the node.

I would suggest more grainy mix. I see some rocks in he white container - they do not help. Make sure container has drainage hole. If using soil, add lots of sifted perlite. PPl that use soil use 50:50 perlite/soil. I use more inorganic mix - just grit, perlite and some turface. It drains very well. I would probably trim just bit of the roots - very ends, and any dry, damaged roots. Let them callus for few hrs or overnight. Then I would pot it into fast draining mix. Support it with few larger rocks and put into good light but not strong sunlight for few days, and move slowly into best light available. You could start watering after about a day or so. Make sure you don't water again until mix is almost completely dray: you can use bamboo skewer or chopstick or pencil; insert at least 3/4 deep into pot and leave few min. If dry when pulled out - time to water. If moist, wait few more days.

I find pictures much easier to understand. So let me try to help.

This is a healthy jade cutting. No dark spots.

PS - Weekends, especially holiday weekends are kind of slow on the forum. We're all busy. You are not being ignored. It just takes patience - which is hard to do when we have a plant problem! LOL You can also post "bump" on your thread to bring it back up to the top.

Good luck. Let us know what you find.

wow! I'm glad I asked. I was about to cut up the other one, too. So, just to be clear--I have the two sister plants--one that I cut up, and one that I held back on.

I agree with you that this looks similar to underwatering--but I do remember it looking a bit underwatered not long ago, and giving it lots of water to perk up, so I'm fairly certain that it's overwatered (especially since I'm squeezing water out of the wilted leaves).

Just to make sure--despite that the very bottom near the trunk is quite squishy now, judging by the inside of the sister plant after I cut it up, maybe I'll hold off on cutting up this one for the time being --- but I should trim the roots of BOTH plants (?)

here is the plant still in one piece, that currently still is squishy on the base stem right near the roots:

And if you're curious, here is everything I have from the sister plant that I already cut up (i assumed the base trunk was rotten, so made several mini trees out of it)--I assume (hope) I cut them in a good spot, but can still correct if it doesn't look good:

Per your suggestion, I trimmed the little portruding piece of branch off the trunk and see if the trunk comes back to life (maybe I got too close?). Here it is now:

I think the cuttings for this are clean and not rotting. They are basically firm.

Maybe I'll give them a little bonsai wire in addition to some rocks so they can stand up...

As far as repotting--the rocks in the white container were just decorative on top of the soil, and just got mixed up. I use 50/50 perlite/succulent soil---in fact, I think you taught me that a couple of years back! :) .... I would be curious if you have an opinion on using rooting hormone on the stem. I notice in your other thread you suggest cinnamon... would either one suffice? Here is what I have:

also--some websites--including some of the threads here--say that I should wait to repot until roots are showing.... but that could take weeks, I would think. Is it ok to repot without roots? Maybe I should use more perlite in that case (75/25)?

Anyway, thanks again! I'll be interested to know your final thoughts, and I'll give you an update down the road and let you know how the jades are doing!!!! :)

PS: Rina and Crenda--I was writing my last post before I saw your most recent posts. reading now.

Rina--I will trim the roots of both plants--just the very ends, as you say. Your photos of the plant that fell behind the counter make me feel very optimistic that the jade can recover! I've seen these plants recover remarkably in the past myself as well. Maybe I'll use rocks and not wire to hold it up so I don't strangle it.

Credna--thanks for the pics. They do help to explain things. It sounds like you concur with Rina that this is not rot--but what could be called pre-rot overwatering--almost rotten, but right now just overwatered? I see dark green around the edges but no brown, and no spots (it looks like there is a small amount of debris on there--but those are not spots):

In this case, I hope my plan to NOT cut the other jade (it's "sister", pictured below) makes sense, even though the bottom is super squishy! Like I said, this one was squishy too but hardened after I cut it.....

I never used rooting powder so can't advice, and used cinnamon on large cuts (bigger diameter plants). I do not bother using it on typical plants. Many rooting powders supposedly contain some fungicide. If you want to use any, make sure it is just light dusting.

You don't need to wait for cuttings to grow roots until you pot them up, but should wait with watering until they grow roots. No roots - no water. I suggested to water one with he roots only. Here is a small-leaved jade grown from cutting:

Another suggestion is to use sharp blade to cut - pruners squish the stem and do not make clean cut. That kind of cut has rugged edge and more spots that could start rotting. Look at photos Crenda posted - that is a good cut. Wiping blade with alcohol after each cut is a good idea. And make cuts on jade close to the 'collar' - otherwise, there is too much flesh to dry up and takes long time to callus. I believe I made suggestions about that on the thread I linked to, marking with yellow on the photo (I'll have to check those old posts :)

I trim off any dry-dead roots, and any that are broken or soft and dark (rotting).

ETA: I was judging your plant from your description 'super squishy'; also you said the leaves were very watery. I would call it 'water-logged' , perhaps not rotting yet.

Also, you said you use 50/50 perlite/soil. What I can see in photo doesn't look 50/50 to me - but it is either photo, or perlite is too small. Sift it and use bigger pieces only. Here is photo Crenda posted before:

I agree with Rina. Pruners tend to crush the stem a bit. I use a sharp knife or even a razor blade. I also have better control that way.

I have used that very rooting hormone. I really didn't see much difference in using it or not. Jades generally root well on their own. I have also used cinnamon or sulfur on large cuts for the fungicide properties.

Thanks Crenda and Rita! I will switch from shears to knives or a razor. (And by the way--Crenda, thanks for the advice before about the best times to post! I didn't know that about this forum).

Rita--Good to know that it's best to wait until roots show to water. I guess in this sense there is no rush to plant them? Or do roots grow more quickly in a perlite/soil mixture? I would be curious to know about that... if there is an answer. In any case, you are right that the soil mix I had with the Jade before does not look 50/50--maybe I didn't mix it properly which was part of what lead to this "waterlogged" issue.

I can rest easy knowing that I'm making an informed decision now about holding off on cutting up the other "sister" jade for now. If it starts to show more strange symptoms, I'll update this thread. I did trim the roots on that jade and on the other stump--not sure I knew what I was doing but I just trimmed the very small edges that had loose bits of soil on them. I didn't see any that looked rotten. I'll leave it in indirect sunlight in a dry place for a few days and then repot it.

Also, Rita--that's a cute little jade--I hope that's how mine looks soon. I do have my own little nursery and have grown tiny jades just from jade leaves before--as well as these others (in fact, from this very jade plant), and when they get big enough I put them in little arrangements (there's a jade in each one of these--and these *certainly* have at least 50% perlite):