i purchesed a flowering jade from a boxtop store last winter and it was doing great. now it seems that leaves and entie stems are falling off or shriviling up. what sort of conditions does this jade require and how often does it need water??
ive been watering about every 2 weeks or so. im not sure how often it needs water so to be safe i soaked in about every 2 weeks. is this to much?
can you post a pic of it?? have you looked for infestation?? white fluffy stuff at the base of the leaves and/or little webs? did you ever repot it into better/proper soil? if not and it's still in peat, you most likely have either rot happening or the peat is compacted and the roots aren't getting the moisture. if watered too frequently and there is no drainage in the container, the peat will stay too moist and the roots can rot over time. on the other hand, peat, if allowed to dry completely, will turn rock hard and it's very, very difficult to get it rehydrated. if this happens, the roots become encased and can't take up moisture. since jade's are succulents and don't need a lot of watering, it's easy to have this second situation occur. as ed said, check the trunks/stems for mushiness/rot. i doubt you'll find rot...maybe a bit of softness due to lack of moisture reserves. carefully unpot and gently shake away the peat. then allow the roots to sit in a bowl of water for a half hour or so - to rehydrate the peat stuck to the roots - and then swish the roots around a bit to remove the peat. do most of the removing of the peat with gently shaking and swishing in the water - try not to actually touch the roots (unless you absolutely must). they're getting a shock to begin with and fiddling with them directly will cause damage. allow the cleaned roots to dry off for a couple hours and the pot up again in appropriate soil for jades...i use cactus mix with extra perlite thrown in and also the really small bits of bark from my orchid mix. allow the jade to sit in the dry soil for at least a week/10 days and then give a thorough watering and then go from there to get it back on a routine. every 2 weeks during growing season is about the norm - winter you can go back to every 3 weeks and even 4 right in mid-winter. best to use an unglazed clay pot also...with drainage holes...jades do best when the soil drys out a bit in between waterings and the clay breaths, so that helps the soil dry a bit quicker. once you get the peat off the roots, if you do find rot, you can cut it off and re-root...just allow the cut to callous over for a week before potting in dry soil and again, allow it to sit for a week before watering it.
