Hi, I found this in the garbage and it looks good besides obviously maybe some scale spots? But I also see this orange brown fuzz that I have never seen before. Based on pics just want to see if I can save this and what exactly is wrong with it? Thanks!
The plant appears to be suffering from neglect; the 'brown fuzz' on the stems could then be areas where tiny rootlets developed then died.
The nebari, that part where the trunk enters the ground looks very dicey. I've never seen that before, but the moss doesn't look bad. Moss retains moisture and moss and Jade are mixed metaphors and should never be together. The conditions that you need for moss are exactly what you need to avoid for Jade. You can get away with not watering Jade until you see the leaves wrinkling. Most people don't, but you need to in order to insure that your Jade doesn't continue its slide into death. It was put at the curb because it used to look a lot better. Plants that are variegated grow less, and less efficiently, by the same amount that they have white foliage. Non-green foliage does not have chlorophyll and so is parasitic to the green part doing all the sun gathering and food producing. I don't know whether or not white parts transpire at all, or significantly, but certainly a plant growing less will use less water than another ordinary plant standing next to it. I speculate that this plant has been over-watered for a long time, maybe a response by the owner who, upon seeing going downhill responded by giving more attention: read water and fertilizer instead of sun. The brown spots, again I speculate, may be dead cells that accumulated higher fertilizer salts than could be used in photosynthesis. You need to reverse this process. I speculate. Smell the rootball. It should smell neutral, like dirt. To the extent that it smells bad, it is negative. Buy some cactus soil and orchid soil that specifically says it contains activated charcoal, mix the two and repot in that. Wash the existing soil off the rootball with a hose on high pressure. I would expect that you won't have a lot of roots left. You do not need a big pot for a plant that doesn't use a lot of water. You do need a pot with a drain hole and a companion dish that it sits in. It is not necessary to prevent the pot from sitting in a pool of water that has drained from the pot, but that surplus water shouldn't be a volume that hangs around a long time. A couple days is OK, 4 or 5 days is too long. Almost all plants like to cycle between wet, dry, wet, dry. That's normal, and it's healthy and prevents pests that like wet soil and a build-up of decomposition gases in the soil because soil that dries out leaves spaces between particles for vetilation. This would be a good pot for the tree. ~3 inches deep, or so, with feet and a matching tray. Water this plant about once a week with a volume of city water about 10 to 15% of the volume of the pot. Figure it out and have a dedicated vessel that holds only that volume. Ideally, you water the crown and very little comes out the bottom. That's the right amount. If you miss a week or two or three, don't worry about it. Leaf wrinkling means "water me", not "I'm dying". Do not feed the plant for at least a year, after which only May & July 1st with a liquid at label levels. You want the plant to be maintained, not growing bigger and bigger. Give all the sun you can. Good luck!
It is a beautiful plant and trying to save it is a good idea. I would also grow another, new one, from cuttings jade plant propagation - Google Search , just in case, and also for the pleasure of growing and watching how it develops under the proper care jade plant care - Google Search.
There is no sign of the pest known as scale. If you are referring to the brown areas on the leaves, that could be a symptom of edema. It would tie in with @Michigander's hypothesis that the plant may have been overwatered.
