I have had this jade plant for about 8 years. As you can see from the picture it is quite spindly and drooping. The plant is 18tall and in its original 6 pot. The leaves at the bottom continually shrivel and drop off. I keep the plant about 4 from a window, getting about 2 hours of direct sunlight a day, and water it once a week. Is there any way to bring life back to this plant? Also, I have taken cuttings from this plant and they too appear to have thin trunks. Does anyone know what Im doing wrong? Thanks.
It does not look all that bad.. but unfortunately, it has become etiolated. Means the leaves are spaced out more widely than they should be, and the stems are thinner too. Even if sun rays actually hit this plant from the window, every inch away from the glass dramatically cuts down the amount of light it is really getting. Human eyes are very bad at estimating the true amount of light that is present, and from the plant's point of view, it's really going short on light. You can test this easily with a photographic light meter, or metered camera. The farther from the light source, the weaker the light is. If at all possible, you need to move the plant so it is right next to the window. Which way does the window face ? South or west is best, east is not enough,north is nowhere near enough. But you should move it gradually, as putting it in stronger light suddenly can burn the leaves. Though it's been in the same pot a long time, Jade's have small root systems compared to the size of the crown. Pop it out of the pot and look at the roots. If the ball is a solid mass of roots with no loose soil, one option would be to move it into a pot one size larger than it has now. Mix up some soil that has plenty of perlite or very coarse sand in it, so it will drain faiirly fast when watered. Feed it, if you have not been feeding, using any balanced formula [ where all the numbers are the same, like 20-20-20 ], but mix it only half or quarter strength.. do it every couple of weeks once it starts showing new growth. Only thing is, it will not likely get thicker or stronger this way. The problem with etiolation is that, so far as I know, once it starts, plants cannot go back to making normal growth from the parts that are etiolated. I think this is why your cuttings have been spindly. If you start from a leaf, it should give you stouter plants, but it will take time. It may be best to drastically prune this jade. There is some risk, but if you want a robust plant it is the only way. Cut it back hard. Take off that lowest drooping branch that is farthest from the trunk completely. Leave about two or three nodes on each of the other branches from the main trunk but remove everything else. Do start some leaves, for backups. If you decide to do this, don't repot it right away, and don't feed until it begins growing new leaves again Instead, trim the old root ball back about an inch on the bottom, half an inchd off the sides, with a nice clean knife, like slicing bread. Put it back in the same pot. Wash the pot first, then fill in around the trimmed roots with fresh, fast draining mix. Make clean cuts, on a slant, just above a leaf node. Once the leaves are gone, you can move it directly to the window, as there will be no leaves to burn. All the new growth will start in the brighter light, and with any luck at all, the leaves should grow much closer together, and the trunk should begin to thicken up gradually. The way to keep Jades thicker and stronger is first, enough light, then regularly pinching out the tips or pruning off some new growth, which encourages both more branches and thickening. Letting it grow taller without pinching or pruning leads to weaker plants that droop under their own weight. If you can, it will like to be outside in summer. But put it in the shade for about two weeks before you give it full sun, as it will take this long for it to adapt to the stronger light, and prevent leaf burn from too much sun too soon. It will want more water and food if it is outside in sun, and it will grow faster outside too. Just make sure it never sits in any excess water.. no saucer or put it on a stand, so it drains freely when it rains.
furballs, thank you for the speedy reply. i will prune the plant per your advice and put in a sunnier location. hopefully some cuttings will also take root. abbylynn
Good luck. A tip if you want to start some leaves.. don't stick them in soil. Just set them on top of fresh mix that is kept barely damp, and allowed to dry out. The leaf ends need to dry and callous over, then it will put out some roots, then baby plants start to grow, then you can set them vertically with the roots in soil, again, just damp, not wet. When you take a leaf to use this way, do it gently, and make sure the entire leaf come off the stem.. there is a sort of, I don't recall what it's called by botanists, but the base of the leaf sort of wraps partly around the stem, like it's hugging it. You need those little 'arms' that are wrapped around the stem, they have the tissues that root and can make new plants. Try tipping leaves upward toward the stem, not down, should get the whole thing that way. If it's really clinging, a gentle side to side tug may do the trick.
