sun burn on Jades
I do the same slow acclimation to full sun that I’ve always done and for some reason, I really burnt my jades this year. They haven’t even been moved into full sun yet. Seems really odd.
Comments (15)
rina_Ontario,Canada 5a
last yearlast modified: last year
socks
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Direct Sun- Bright Light for Jades and Succulents...
Comments (31)Hi PUGlvr1, First, just wanted to say I've read many of your posts and have enjoyed them. I guess everything is relative. Here in Las Vegas, we started hitting 100 in May31. Today, we hit 107, humidity is 8%. What? it ain't summer yet? :-) Needless to say, by this time of the year, almost all my jades go indoors or under the porch. They're mostly outdoors during winter, save a day or two when night temps go below freezing. The opposite of what most folks do. What can I say - Vegas has nice temps in the winter. Humid in Vegas is 25%. I would imagine with your higher humidity, even temps in the 90's could push the heat index well above 100. My next door neighbor, who owns a landscape company, caught me many years ago watering my plants (potted, in-ground, and grass) at high noon, on the hottest day of July. I did this because I thought it helps cool the plants off. He said I should not do this because any water that splatters on it's leaves, even on grass blades, would get hot to the point that it could damage leaves, burn spots, and/or wilt the plant. Luckily, I only did minor damage to one gollum. To date, the brown spots on it's otherwise healthy leaves still show the scars. So now, I water outdoor plants very early in the morning or when the sun has shaded the plants. I wonder if when jades are subjected to very high humidity (isn't 100% humidity called rain?) baking in the full sun, if that does some damage to it's leaves, exactly as if you watered the leaves while in full/esposed sun/heat? -sutremaine- I agree with your statement "If you want a Jade that can take full sun you'll have to make a new one from a leaf so that the growth it puts on is created with full sun tolerance". As an experiment and because I have never done so before, I took a crassula leaf and a few small gollum tips, and dropped them into an outdoor pot last summer. The pot gets full sun all day, all year, no special treatment. This year, even watered them when they're completely sun-baked (leaves and all, as you can see from the water spots). And here they are! I suspect these would be my toughest jades (winter or summer). The only downside is I have to water them every other day now. By July, it'll be everyday. But they're not even red! :-)...See MoreReally burned Jade?
Comments (21)Listen to Joe and Josh. There are differences of opinion, and then there are facts. Fact is succulents rot very easily, and jade is no exception. Using a peaty mix, especially in an even larger pot, is a recipe for disaster. Maybe Bammbulance's jades are freaks, or his mix has some special characteristic, or most likely his plants are just growing rapidly enough to compensate for damp mix. Yours is not. Yours will rot. The last one in that pot, as you already pointed out, rotted. There you have your lesson. Repot it in a smaller pot with a well-draining soil. Al is a member here (Tapla). His expertise in soil hydrology has saved many a plant, and many a grower. I didn't check the link, but it's probably a mix someone made using Al's recipe. Ask the seller if the particles are between 1/8 and 1/4 inch in size. If so, go for it. If not, find another option. A 75 watt bulb is absolutely hot enough to burn a plant - any plant. A 40 watt bulb can burn a plant. It all depends how close it is. If you don't believe me, try unscrewing either with your bare fingers after it's been on for an hour. We're talking about heat, not sun damage. They are not the same thing. Those leaves are toast. The ones that turned brown later weren't burned as bad as the worst one, so the damage wasn't visible yet. The burn didn't spread; it just took longer for the tissue to deteriorate noticeably on the less-burned areas. If those less-burned leaves are still mostly healthy, especially at their bases, you MIGHT get them to root. It doesn't hurt to try. Just cut them right at the base of the trunk, then let them sit several days to callous. Once calloused thoroughly, bury them 1/3 of their depth, upright, petiole end-down, in gravel, perlite, pumice, gritty mix, or soil and DO NOT WATER until you see a tiny plant forming. That is likely to be many, many weeks with your less-than-optimal growing conditions. If you water them, they'll turn yellow and die. You must have the patience of Job to have nursed that tiny plant 8 years. I can see it's etiolated, but not nearly as badly as I'd expect in 8 years. There must be details you've left out. I don't know whether the cold blast from the a/c would be worse for it than the lack of light. My gut feeling is that it must have light. Succulents are more tolerant of cold temperatures than most tropical houseplants, but I just don't know about a continuous cold draft. Can you direct the sunshine onto it with a mirror? Mirrors can also multiply that grow bulb many times. I don't know that grow bulbs are adequate for growing succulents, but I've used then successfully with tropicals. Aluminum foil might also work to reflect, and thus multiply the light. If you can keep the cold draft off it using plastic or foil or something, I tend to think it's better off at the window, but without knowing just how cold that spot gets, I'm only guessing. You absolutely can use that grow bulb. You just need to keep it far enough away that the plant doesn't get over about 85 degrees (yes, it can handle a lot more heat than that, but 85 puts you firmly in the safety zone). Alternatively, you can use a fluorescent bulb instead. A fluorescent bulb can be as close as you like without burning it. If you doubt the advice that Joe and Josh have given you, do some of your own research. I don't doubt Bammbulance's success with his own plants, but I'm absolutely certain you will not do well following his advice with the particular plant and conditions you have....See MoreJade Plant - Enjoying the morning sun
Comments (7)Thank you both. I have kept it outside all this past summer which really attributed to it's growth. I'm going to incorporate Al's Gritty Mix to all of my Jade's this upcoming spring so I am looking forward to see how my plants enjoy the change :)....See MoreJade 'Hummels' Sunset' liking the sun and an unkown
Comments (7)Gill, Rina, I do have a part of the original purchase of about 3 plantlets in the gallon container it came in. It is thankfully labelled 'Hummels' Sunset'. It does have a red tint on the newer stems too. I'm pretty sure the picture at the top was one of the other 2 plants. It does have some red tint to the new stems but not as pronounced as the one I kept in original pot. I think I should confirm names of my small collection of Jades and then put the plants in a bed to get good growth on them. My regular Jades and Hobbits that I put in as anchor (forget the word) plants have grown like weeds in this climate. I have one regular form that is easily 8 feet or more in diameter (about 6 to 8 trunk like branches) and 4 to 5 feet tall. They survive on the little rain we get here. I imagine if I actually took care of the named varieties they might grow like monsters (or rot from too much attention)....See Moreken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
last year
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
last yearIt's important to keep in mind that an individual leaf's ability to acclimate to more or less sun isn't unlimited. Something I wrote to explain why some leaves might burn, no matter how long the acclimation period:
Light Acclimatization
The degree to which a leaf can 'acclimate' to changes in photo load is limited. IOW, you can't expect a leaf that emerged under a full sun light load to acclimate to light levels in a dim corner, any more than you can expect a leaf that emerged in a dim corner to acclimate to a full sun site; this, no matter how long you allow for gradual acclimation. Too, the plant's ability to adapt to higher light loads is greater than its ability to adapt to lesser light loads.
Using a 1-10 numerical example to illustrate (numerical value of 1 is low light, 10 is high light): If a leaf emerges where the light level is measured at 5 units, it's range of adjustment might only be to 3.5 on the low side, but 8 to 8.5 on the high side. When the level of adjustment required is greater than what the plant is genetically programmed to deal with, the leaf is shed and this can occur with conspicuous or relatively inconspicuous damage to the leaf. While shed leaves can never be replaced, per se, new branches can form, with new leaves on the new branches, in the axils of dying leaves or from latent buds immediately above scars left by shed leaves. Too, whenever a new leaf appears it will be perfectly acclimated to whatever the photo load is where the plant is positioned (within the limits of what it is genetically programmed to tolerate).
If the dark leaf (lower left) is damaged and shed or simply snipped off, it is lost forever. No leaf will ever grow again from the point on the branch where the leaf was attached. However, that the leaf might be lost comes with the potential for a new branch to grow from dormant buds immediately above the point where the leaf was attached. To see this occurring, look at the next leaf (upward) on the left side. The primary leaf is still attached, but there is already a branch growing in the leaf's axil (crotch). What determines whether a new branch forms (or not) is a growth regulator/ hormone which is synthesized in all plant tissues, but primarily at the growing tips of branches (apical meristem) where branch extension occurs.
Here, the 2 new branches growing in the leaves' axils were forced to grow by removing the tip of the cutting.
Al
Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
last yearwhip1 Zone 5 NE Ohio
last year
greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
last yearwhip1 Zone 5 NE Ohio
last yearrina_Ontario,Canada 5a
last yearMike's is beautiful!
I have cut/pruned this one because I didn't like etiolated growth; leaving only a small branch with 2 leaves:
Same plant, growing in full sun; more compact & with very shiny leaves:
So pruned for different reason, but will work the same!
whip1 Zone 5 NE Ohio
last yearPat Z5or6 SEMich
last yearMeyermike(Zone 6a Ma.)
last year
Meyermike(Zone 6a Ma.)