flowering jade

Discussion in 'Cacti and Succulents' started by hydroformed, Jul 15, 2005.

  1. hydroformed

    hydroformed New Member

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    Several years ago I purchased a Jade in full bloom.Beautifull little purple pink flowers.I have tried to get it to flower again,to no avail.
    What,if anything,can I do to help my Jade to flower again?
     
  2. dzaney

    dzaney Member

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    I did some research into that myself, and I recall reading that you need to keep the plants in complete dark at night and light during the day, sort of as if they were in nature. I've never tested it out since my jades are in my living room and i like to be able to see at night. Here is the site I looked at.

    http://www.thegardenhelper.com/crassulaargentea.htm
     
  3. junebug

    junebug Member

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    One of my Jade plants, and another Jade that is at a place where I volunteer, both flowered for the first time this fall. I am still trying to figure out why. The 2 most likely causes in my opinion are as follows:
    1. Both were outside for the summer, and neither was brought back indoors until the end of October, thus exposing them to some fairly cool temperatures. This may have triggered bud formation and dormancy. Then bringing them indoors to a warmer area brought them out of dormancy. However, I would lean more toward my second idea below because I rarely get my plants indoors berore the cool weather hits. I am outside every fall tenting things in plastic to try to "buy" a little more time to get them all moved indoors.
    2. We had more than our share of bright sunny days this past growing season, so both plants were exposed to intense bright sunny days, though neither sat in full sun all day long. Our climate is usually on the cloudy side, averaging only 63 days of sun over an entire year! I didn't count, but I would believe we had more than that many just in the 3 months of summer alone this year.
    3. One other possibility could be that plant maturity/age might be a factor. I have had the plant that is flowering since 1997, and the diameter of the trunk when I received it was a good indication that it was an old plant then. The former owner was 95 when she died, but I have no idea how long she had the plant. I rescued it from a pile that was headed for the compost bin at her estate. It started flowering in late October, and is still producing new buds. The plant at the office is larger in diameter, and taller than mine, though its size could be related to the regular watering & feeding schedules, so it is not necessarily older than mine is. I have several other Jades which have never blossomed, and are not indicating that they are about to do so. They are treated the same a the one that is flowering, except that they did receive full direct sun in the afternoon for the summer months. The oldest of these was given to me in 1973, and it is not nearly as big a the one in flower. I have been keeping an eye on my other Jades to see if they, too, might flower.

    I have assumed that the following items did not contribute to the appearance of flowers, because the 2 plants are not treated the same culturally:
    1. Fertilizer - I rarely fertilize, while the other one gets fertilized regularly
    2. Watering - The one where I volunteer gets watered weekly, but my busy schedule keeps me from staying on a regular watering pattern. My plants are lucky to get watered once every 4 to 8 weeks in the winter, and about every other week when they are outside in the summer. It sits under a deck roof, so it only gets the benefit of rain during really windy storms from the south, which is a rare occurrence.
    3. Artificial lighting - Last winter, in 2006/2007, I reduced the use of fluorescent lights from 18 hours/day to automatically turn on at sunrise, and go off at sunset, and my plant is several feet away from a window. The other Jade is right next to a glass door and is also under fluorescent office lighting.
    4. Indoor winter temperatures - Mine is in an unheated room attached to the house. The daytime temperature stays around 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Nighttime can drop as low as 45 degrees Fahrenheit when outside temperatures drop into the teens. The other plant is in a heated office area, so sits in fairly constant low 70s temperature.

    I don't know why they decided to flower this year, but maybe these observations will give you a clue as to what you might try.
    BTW, mine has clusters of many small white star shaped flowers scattered over the branches.
     
  4. Hunggarmantis

    Hunggarmantis Member

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    From what I know, the Jade needs to have a very bright sunlight to supply the energy for flower production, but you also have to mimick the daylight hours and temperature as specific to their natural environment, even something indirect such as humidity is usually overlooked. A school friend got his Jade to flower by placing a box overtop of the jade to give it 100% darkness for the 'minimum' amount of time. I'm not sure of the other specifics.... Most Jade plants are smaller than even the smallest Oven or Fridge box so...lol... This is same reason that people who buy flowering Orchids never see them bloom again in their house. We take in a lot of foreign plants and expect them to grow/produce in the same way under a completely different climate.
     
  5. Hunggarmantis

    Hunggarmantis Member

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    Oh, one last thing, I have heard it is best to root bound the Jade plant, they do not like extra soil because they are highly prone to root rot. I know from other plants that they may only flower once they think there is no more room to grow...... I've been told the only time to repot them is when the root system has actually pushed the plant upwards/outwards a bit from the container. I have seen terrifingly huge Jade plants in really tiny pots.
     
  6. junebug

    junebug Member

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    My orchids, Poinsettia, and many plants that my friends do not get to flower, flower regularly for me. I have attributed this to a cool, fairly well lit plant room, yet that isn't enough for the Jade. I had concluded from my observations that strong light brought both my Jade and the one where I volunteer into bloom. We have many, many cloudy days here, but we had more than our share of bright sunny days last summer. Pot bound must not be important because mine was repotted into a bigger pot 1 year before it bloomed. I needed to put it into a deeper pot so that I could use a stake to support it. I have another Jade that has not been repotted for over 30 years, and it has never flowered, even though it is surely potbound. Strelitzia reginae, a.k.a. Bird-of-Paradise supposedly needs to be root bound to flower, and mine broke its way out of several pots over a 25 year period before it ever blossomed, and it only flowered the 1 time.
     
  7. petitecodiac

    petitecodiac Member

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    I have a jade that flowers profusely every year. I give it no special treatment. It sits on a west facing window ledge in a room that we keep between 65'-70'. I water it when I think about it, usually once every 2 wks., it is quite root bound but I repotted it 2yrs. ago and it bloomed both years since. I sometimes fertilize it with Miracle Grow. It has never been outside. I put my x-mas cactus outside every summer and don't bring them in until there is a serious threat of frost, I don't water them while they are outside but I do put a little 6-12-12 on them when they first go outside. I have never seen nicer plants and they bloom from the time I bring them in (Oct) until well after new years. The first bloom consists of literally 150 or more flowers and then tapers of to a couple of dozen for the rest of the time. One is orange/red the other is white/pink.
     
  8. Chester

    Chester Active Member 10 Years

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    Could you post a picture of your Jade?

    I have one that is very mature. I've had it for 5 years, and I would say that it was at least 5 before I got it. It sits outside for the summer and doesn't come in until late September, early Oct. I have it in the kitchen in front of a south window. It does not get continuous darkness. It has never bloomed. I would like it to, but have almost given up hope that it will. It has been in the same pot for quite a few years, but is not underpotted. I've thought perhaps I put it in too big a pot, if they like to be underpotted. I think it must partially come down to the cultivar that one has. Mine does not get a red edge in the sun, and does not really acclimatize to the sun the way some people say they can. I'm thinking of getting one that has the red edge...maybe I'll have more luck. At the very least, it won't be so tricky to give it the appropriate exposure outside.
     
  9. Daniel Mosquin

    Daniel Mosquin Paragon of Plants UBC Botanical Garden Forums Administrator Forums Moderator 10 Years

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  10. junebug

    junebug Member

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    Here is a photo from last winter (2007). So far, that was the only time it has flowered. The photo only shows a small portion of the plant because I wanted to see the bloom detail. The specimen is about 3 feet tall with a 4 foot spread.
     

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  11. Chester

    Chester Active Member 10 Years

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    Very pretty!
     

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