This is my 2 year old jade plant. Unfortunately, I have no idea what this brown scale-like infection is... I'm thinking fungal especially with the little growths (as seen circled) in the first photograph... All locations are scattered through the plant, predominately on the stem, but in isolated locations on leaves as well, typically towards the base and on some edges that are slightly folded over. It almost looks like eczema on a plant; I do use a fan in the same room at night. Does anyone think this could be treated with biofungicide? Should I toss this plant and cut my losses? Would it be safe to take cuttings from it where I'm not seeing any scale-like brown spots? Or... is this all normal? Thanks for your help!!! -Caroline
I think the scaling is normal as the stems age. The circled growth are rootlets that develop at the nodes over time and is also normal.
Thank you! I was concerned because a lot of things pointed towards mildew damage. I still think I'll spray it with something, do you have any recommendations?
Still, I wouldn't apply treatment for a problem that has not been confirmed. The plant appears to be healthy. Information on this product, for those interested: Serenade SOIL.
Serenade is a fungicide. Fungicide means, literally, "kills fungus". It's a biological poison aimed at fungus. You need to keep it away from children according to the manufacturer. You must wear waterproof gloves to use it, and call a poison control center if you get it on your bare hands or breath the mist. You are required to wear a respirator at all times when mixing, applying, handling or even cleaning it up. It's not something you want on your houseplants for no reason. Did you know that roots, by themselves, usually can't grow small and fine enough to take up the nutrients they need? They use fungus at the smallest level to grab those nutrients and make them available in what are called mycorrhizal associations with different kinds fungus. Fungus is not something you want to blindly obliterate in a growing plant. It would be like us taking very strong antibiotics when we were very healthy... not a good idea!
Tom Hulse's response seems like an over-reaction to a bio-fungicide that is registered as acceptable for organic gardening. It's active ingredient is dried Bacillus subtilis, a bacterium that has been approved for use in edible products in both the US and Canada and has been used as medicine since the early twentieth century (according to Wikipedia). I agree that it shouldn't be applied without a good reason, but it seems to be one of the few fungicides that might still be available for use in Canadian home gardens. I have lots of fungus problems in my garden during wet weather, so I was interested in learning about Serenade. However, I haven't found a Canadian source; although it appears to be registered in Canada, possibly only for commercial gardeners.
Vitog, there is a common misconception that an OMRI listing guarantees safety. It doesn't. It guarantees that that the ingredients are natural, non-synthetic, and not derived from chemicals and artificial agents. Usually natural and organic are closely related to "safe", but not always. In this case, this product is surely "more safe" than many other chemical-based products, but I didn't make up those cautions posted above, they're not mine. They come directly from the manufacturer, and I gave you the link. Apparently there are different versions of the product, but even the OMRI-listed organic version for home gardeners says itself it is hazardous. The actual quote right from the label is "HAZARDOUS TO HUMANS AND DOMESTIC ANIMALS. CAUTION." [all caps is theirs]. I actually wouldn't have a problem using this product myself to treat a serious problem, if it was outdoors; but even if we did stipulate it as "safe" and not "HAZARDOUS" as the manufacturer says, how can you defend destroying important mycorrhizal associations on plants when there is no problem to fix? Do you see evidence of some dangerous fungus in the photos above even though everyone else says that is normal for a jade plant?
I appreciate the responses from everyone! Thank you! I'll hold off for now on the Serenade and see what happens, but I've had a lot of success using it to eradicate mildew (which is what I believe it primarily eats). I don't think it would kill the fungus on the roots if I gently sprayed it without lifting the whole plant from the pot.
