Hello, I would like to reopen this thread. I have had a jade plant for a couple of years. It grows in a small pot (about 15cm diameter) and is on my kitchen window. It gets plenty of sunlight and it was doing absolutely fine untill a week ago. We have had some hot days (humid and sunny) and the plant started losing leaves plus a branch fell off. I tool it out of the pot and the soil was very dry, so I watered it both from the top and from the soucer. However it still keeps on losing leaves. I usually watered the pland with an espresso cup of coffee once a week. I have been doing so for months and the plant seemed happy. A month ago I added some houseplant soil as the previous soil shrank a bit too much (it was quite dry too). When I took the plant out of the pot the roots seemed ok, some white and some brownish. The soil is now quite moistured. What am I doing wrong? Thanks in advance for your help!
Sounds like it's getting plenty of light, so it might be in the watering. If the water runs straight through as you just start to water, it may be that the water is not fully wetting all the roots, maybe because the pot is too small and the soil is getting too dried out too fast. If that's the case, you'll want to go to the next pot size up, for instance, from a 3" to a 4" pot using cactus soil and perlite or pumice mixed in for added drainage. You want at least an an inch, up to two inches of room between the stem, and the inside of the pot. When watering, make sure the entire root-ball is getting wet, keep watering until it runs out the bottom and empty out any drained water from the saucer, you don't ever want the pot sitting in water because that can cause rot. Let the soil dry fully between waterings. Your jade may not need watering once a week. Watering every ten days to two weeks for jades is not unheard of since the plant stores water in it's leaves.Usually the lower leaves will start to feel a little tiny bit soft when it's in need of water If any parts of the jade are soft, or mushy, including the roots, it's getting too much water and you'll need to cut back, or in the worst case scenario, take cuttings. You can root stem cuttings, or just the leaves pushed slightly down into the soil. Some direct sun, (too much might burn the leaves) Not enough can cause green leaf loss The right size pot, only water when completely dry.Light feedings using cactus and succulent fertilizer, use only on healthy, growing plants, not sick ones... It's always a good idea to ck for pest as well.
Hi Bluewing, Thanks for the reply. If I water the plant with say a glass of water, water will start running through the bottom by the end of the glass. So maybe the pot is too small and I need repotting. The thing that surprises me is that the plant has been growing healthily in the pot where it is for years and all of a sudden has started loosing leaves and branches at incredible speed...can this be due to a too small pot? With regards to pest, I watered the plant this morning as my moisture meter measured 1 out of four. I am pretty sure I saw a tiny silver insect with about 6 legs and small antennae running on the ground surface…any idea of what it is and whether it’s a dangerous one? The plant lost another branch yesterday and I am getting a bit worried
Greenish, If water runs out by the time your out of water, that sounds ok. If the roots are growing out the bottom, or in a mass circle, it should have a bit larger pot. If the pot is "too small" the soil can dry out rather quickly, within days of watering, not giving the roots a chance to drink up "enough" water to stay healthy. Like mentioned, the roots should have at least an inch or two of soil all the way around, if you have anything less, or more, you can have dried up roots, or rot, but you do want the roots on the snug side. For cactus and succulents, I like to use clay because they are porous. Keep in mind, plastic pots will hold water longer. Water meters are not always accurate, and can give false readings. The best way to tell if a plant needs water is by using your finger, putting it down into the soil as far as possible, or by way of the drainage hole, another way to tell is the weight of the pot will feel very light. Even if after a week the soil feels dry, it can still be moist further down and you don't want to give it any more. down further. Jades can be dry for more then a week, The pest your talking about sounds like maybe Springtails, especially if they scurry around on top of the soil real fast and jump when disturbed when watered. Springtails eat decaying material in the soil, so the good news is, they won't hurt your plant:) but who wants that kind of business in the house! These pest live in wet, or moist soil among other places that are damp, so that means the soil is staying too wet and may be causing some root rot. I'd change the soil and keep the soil drier. Is this the pest your seeing? Springtails... http://homepage.ntlworld.com/alan.cann/articles/pics/springtails2.jpg
Yes Bluewing, the insect is the one you showed in the picture! I have now repotted the plant in a slightly larger terracotta pot. I have used some John Innes compost for succulents, which seems more gritty and sandy than the normal houseplant compost I was using. However, when I took the plant off the old pot I realised that there was 1 centimetre of ground that remained wet and where the roots did not grow. I guess that caused a bit of rot. Proof of this is that one more branch is about to fall off, having lost almost all its leaves. Anyhow, I have repotted one of the branches that fell off and it seems it is happy to regrow. I hope the remaining of the plant (still carrying quite a few leaves) is not going to perish. Thanks for the suggestions!
Greenish, Hopefully you were able to catch a more severe problem in time.... I hope your jade does well:)
