Hi, I own a young jade plant that I bought while I was living in D.C. It was doing really well there. Six months ago I moved to Puerto Rico and my jade hasn't been doing that great in the past 3 or 4 months. It has lost some of its intense green color and red leave "aura" and a lot of its leaves have taken a slight yellow tone. It has dropped a lot of its leaves (some of them starting to brown on the edge which then spreads to the rest of the leave until it drops). It also drops some healthy looking leaves every now and then. New leaves dont get to grow a whole lot and remain very pale and small and most of them eventually drop. It's current location is close to a North-East facing window which brings 2-3 hours of direct morning sun and indirect light for the rest of the day. The apartment doesn't get terribly hot when windows are closed (while we are out for work) although that might be too hot for the plant. I water once a week or so like I have since I bought it. I think it keeps trying to aclimate to tropical weather but I worry I might eventually loose it. Should I leave it outside on top of a/c wall unit so it doesn't scorch and still gets more light? Is the tropical sun too hot for a jade plant? (80 to 90-something degrees) Is it overwatering or too little water? I think I've read too much about the subject and its confusing me. I've included some pics. Notice the leave-less branches and spindly new growth. I'll appreciate any advice you can give me. Thank you!
jades are finicky and will pout when their conditions change...dc to puerto rico is a big climate change temperature-wise. also a sun light intensity level change (increased). you've also got different water, too. so, you've got a plant that had to adjust to multiple changes and very quickly and something about it's current conditions isn't quite right - so it's not recovered from the initial move too well. do you have a bright southern facing window you could move it to? or even something completely east-facing, so that it can get more than a couple hours of light? i wouldn't put it outside just yet. not only because the sunlight is more intense there - it's also in distress and you don't want to make it worse! i'd get it into brighter light for a few months and then start to ease it outside for even more light. this spot that you mention on the a/c unit...what direction is it facing? how deep is that container? does it have drainage holes? when was the last time you repotted? it can deal with the heat pretty well...if it's humid there, then that might cause it some problems and i definitely wouldn't put it outside until it's on better footing. give it more light and the color should get better. i'd also think about repotting if it hasn't been done for two years.
I would put it outside, only if it can be in shade all day, due to the chance that it is will get scorched. It should be in shade for at least a week before moving it to a brighter spot. A good help is to use a sheer white curtain or white sheet to cover it if shading is not practical. I consider Jade Plants (Crassula ovatum) to be easy plants. Your plant is in an area of too little light, and probably too much water. It may also be in shock from being moved. Stop watering it now! Do not water until it is looking better, then only a little at a time on a weekly basis, increasing slowly. If the plant is doing very poorly, unpot it, and clean all the soil off the roots. Cut any rotted area away, and apply rooting hormone if the plant has no roots. Then let it dry 24-72 hours to make sure no fungus survives, and the cut callouses. Then replant it, and do not water for 1 month. If growth is seen light watering can start, but don't rush it. Underwatering, with bright light is the key for a nice jade plant.
Joclyn, Thanks a lot for your advise. Answering your questions: I actually have two a/c units, one facing south-west and another facing south-east (this one gets pretty hard sun from dawn to a little past noon). The container is about 4 inches deep with one drainage hole in the center. I placed it on this one a couple of weeks ago since it was potbound on the previous one (I actually pulled the entire rootball and dirt mass in one piece) I think I'll move it close to the South-East window but not outside just yet like you said. Thanks again for your help. I really appreciate it.
it could probably use a larger container - it could possible still root-bound if it was that tightly bound up when you took it out of the other container and if you didn't spread out the roots some before repotting it. how long ago did you repot it?
When dealing with heavily root bound plants it is a good idea to break them apart, otherwise they will have a very hard time expanding the area. Breaking it apart is pretty harsh, but it will stimulate more root development that can spread throughout the pot.
i would unpot it and work the roots apart - be gentle as it's already in shock and you don't need to make it worse. some roots will break and there's not much you can do about it...just try to keep it to a minimum. i'd go with a larger container and you can still keep all the individuals together. or you could do an additional same size container and split the grouping out into the two pots. after you repot it, let them sit in the new soil for at least a week-10 days without watering...give the roots some time to heal over a bit from all the disturbance. then do a thorough watering and get it back on the regular routine.
No need to rush to water any succulent, they can usually go weeks without showing much stress. Giving the plant time to work out its problems especially with fungus is a good idea. Generally on a repot of any succulent I give 3 days to first water, on a stress, but not dessicated plant I will go several weeks to see if the plant recovers on its own. First waterings on all these should be small, to see if the water is getting used. Then start watering with more if the first is used. Eventually you will learn your plants, and which take time, and which don't need babying.
