Sounds like good advice. And may I ask - why isn't your Jade outside?? I'm in Omaha and mine all go out as soon as the last frost is past and stay out until we get a good hard freeze. They really, REALLY benefit from being outside in summer, and it increases your chances of getting blooms in late fall/winter.

Hope you can save that big beauty.

Denise in Omaha

Instead of peat, use coir. I bought mine in blocks called "Bed a Beast" at Petsmart (in the dragon/lizzard section). It is much easier to rewet after drying out. Beautiful plant.

Thanks for all of the advice!! I will probably try inspecting the roots this weekend when I have some time.

Also, the reason I don't keep it outside Denise is because I am in an apartment complex with no deck or rooftop garden space, which kills me, but I have to make due.

Thanks again for the help. I will do my best to keep this big guy alive!!

i can't agree more -

PEAT BELONGS IN A SWAMP NOT IN A SUCCULENT POT

besides acting like a wick when dry, the by-products of peat decomposition are toxic. Peat is OK for palm trees or annuals which are vigorous and the soil mix is changed regularly anyway...but not succulents which rely on a stable, neutral soil mix to keep the fine roots alive

besides the soil mix, i think that plant would benefit from a wider (and maybe more shallow) pot, but as was already stated, inspect the roots 1st before you overpot.

i agree, inadequate water to the leaves is the culprit here

Better you be the broken record and not me. Thanks, Norma

Well, I've gotten at the roots and I don't think they look very good. Any expert opinion on these?

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They appear pretty red in that picture, though as they've dried overnight they seem to be a bit lighter in coloration. There are plenty of fine white roots, but nearly all of the large ones are that reddish color. Scratching the root with a fingernail reveals white underneath.

Quite an ordeal, I should say, to wash the dirt off of this. I had to haul him down two flights of stairs and use the hose from the business my apartment is located behind (which happens to be a bar!). Anyway, the plant is sitting in a shady spot in my apartment just hanging out today. Thoughts on where to go from here?

At least you don't have to walk it every day. No Vet bills, give it a slightly larger pot at this time and trim the top off the plant so the roots have a chance to grow. Place it near an open window, that has some sun coming in part of the day at least. It's a healthy plant. New soil, will give it a jump start. Add some pebbles into the soil, so it can drain well, make sure your soil is fast draining. Some more hints that may be helpful. A bird shop will have coarse gravel that you can add to the soil, or scratch for chickens, or a nearby clean stream should have small pebbles or rocks. Those roots need to grow and support all of the leaves on top. Norma

Thanks Norma! I had never actually looked at Jade roots before (except from some cuttings I had propagated) and the reddish tint of the roots scared me a bit--though they are all sturdy (no mush).

The soil mixture I was considering preparing was equal parts topsoil, sand, vermiculite and then a little perlite. Does that seem like an OK mix or should I consider something else?

I believe Norma would caution (Hi Norma!) against the sand, unless it's quite coarse & of course, clean & salt-free.

My own opinion, I NEVER use sand, it can cause problems, I'd skip the vermiculite (which is used to retain water) & increase the perlite (which will help insure fast drainage). Pls. use a hefty amount of perlite, like at least 1/4 of the whole volume, if not 1/3, personally, I use it in 1/3 propoportion (tho' I tend to use pumice in place of perlite).

Feel free to disagree w/ me Norma, I don't have a 1/4 of the experience w/ these as you do!

I agree...skip the sand and vermiculite altogether and use more perlite, grit, or decomposed granite, etc.
The root-ball seems a bit small for this size plant so I am going to surmise that it was not developing fine roots. Water only as needed. Your surgery is going to do worlds' of good for your C. Ovata! Carry on! Jo

I'm having trouble finding a supplier of haydite or turface in my area. Is there anything acceptable I can substitute in my soil mix (something that I can find at Menard's or Home Depot, or something like that?)

Vermiculite breaks down into clay components which reduces drainage in the long run. Vermiculite is great for seed starting because it is light and fluffy, but not stable.

Unless you are using very coarse sand, it will not improve the soil structure in a pot. In the ground, sand can help lighten up a dense substructure.

Equal parts top-soil and perlite I think would be a good, simple place to start, and learn to observe your plants for their watering needs rather than sticking to a set watering schedule.

"Equal parts top-soil and perlite I think would be a good, simple place to start, and learn to observe your plants for their watering needs rather than sticking to a set watering schedule."

I agree with X, Dead. My mix is very simple. I know lots of folks use a number of ingredients mixed together but "simple" also works. 50/50 potting soil and perlite will give you good drainage. The only issue with using perlite is that it is sooo lite that some of it floats to the top of the soil when you drench soil. In order to keep a neat appearance, you may wish to use decomposed granite or river rocks or something over the top of your soil. You should be able to find all the items I've mentioned in this post at HD. Haydite is a bit more difficult to find but you can do a search and the manufacturer has a site that will help you locate a dealer in your area. I get mine at the local organic gardeners nursery. For turface, ask anyone who maintains a local baseball field (at a high school or community park) turface is sure to be used to control drainage. "Oil-Dri" can usually be found at HD or at WM. But as I said, simple works too! HTH - Jo

Alright! Thanks for all the advice everyone. I've repotted the jade in a 1:1 mix of topsoil and perlite, with a few river stones thrown in and some decorative rock atop all of it to clean things up. I drilled a few extra holes in the bottom of the pot and all is draining well.

Thanks once again for all of the advice. Hopefully this will end the leaf drop and lead to some growth.

One final question before the pics... someone had suggested that I give the jade a trim. Why should I do this, and how should I do it? I have my pruning shears ready !! :)

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...and good luck! Jo

There are several things you can do with pruning. You could whack each big trunk and take quite a bit off or jut cut each secondary branch back to within two to three inches of the main trunk. It may take quite a bit of the leaves off, but they will come back quite quickly. If you have sharp loppers or pruners (that can cut 1") you can use those or a simple knife. Make sure that whatever you use is clean. It will be hard to prune a lot for you because it will take so much of the green, but it will come back and will branch more and become fuller. Good luck.

The first thing that I noticed when you showed the roots, is that the porportions are not correct. Too much top growth for the amt. of roots. I would trip off 1/3 of the top, or you will have the plant flopping out of the pot. Don't take the tops off and have a square top, do a little at a time wait two weeks and do a little more, make it as natural as you can. Watch watering for a month, and set it in a low light shade position until the roots grow again and the plant is steady. These plants like to be crowded, so you may want to use natural looking rocks around the plant.

Karen hi to you, you did well, if you were wrong you know I would speak up, regardless that we are good friends. If I leave out something, you would speak out and tell me of course. I would expect you to do that for me. Norma

Hi dead, how did you get the picture inside. Need instructions. Norma

Norma, sorry, which picture are you referring to?

The pictures that you showed on the forum of your Jade. I would love to be able to do that, my pro PC man can't figure it out. Any help would be appreciated. I will give the instructions to him, he will be able to translate it.
Will you be able to give us some instructions please.
Trim your "Jade" a bit at a time. Come down about 2-3" per leaf cluster at the top. You will know when the roots are growing by the new growth on the top. You need to force root growth. I hope you broke up at root ball, and spread the roots on top of the soil, then poured more soil on top of them. What is that top dressing? I hope it not sand. Use two or three big rocks on top partly buried into the soil then use a coarse tan or gray gravel on top 1/4 in size. You may be able to find gravel along the side of a road. The more even the size of this top dressing the better it will look. Pour it over the rock and down into the pot, then take a brush, any paint brush will do and wipe off the excess gravel on the rocks, then see if you like it, and please show us a picure, you take excellent photos. Norma

Oh Norma I didnt realize that you didnt know how to upload pix to the posts. It is very simple. Let me start it in a new post instead of hijacking this one! Jo

Coir warning: Somebody suggested coir - and that suggestion was not taken. But be careful of coir - especially if it was not specifically designated for plants. I have read that some coir is high in salt which is not (generally) good for plants. I have used and like coir. You can even buy it in bricks (about the size of a brick paver), that when hydrated fill a 5 gallon bucket almost 2/3 full.

Hey there, I have a followup.

It's been about a week since the repotting, and I've done a fair amount of pruning back the tree, but there is still major leaf drop!!

I've watered the tree through once, and the soil is draining fine and is relatively moist--so right now I'm letting it dry completely. There is a tiny amount of new growth, but it is not spaced evenly throughout the tree, and none has shown up on the places where I've pruned. I'm still pretty concerned about this big guy. Is this just part of the adjustment phase and should I expect the leaf drop to continue for a while, or does this mean something may have gone wrong in my repotting process? Thanks again!
Brett

Can someone help me out with my jade!? I don't know how old this post is but came across it trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong with my big green baby.. I love my jade. After reading this post I'm thinking I may know what to do but can't be sure.. I'm thinking it's too heavy .. Needs trimming and possibly a differs soil mixture and more sun. I do live in NH and in an apartment for now so please keep this in mind. I will attach pics . Thank you for any help I may get on advance. I live on the third floor and have no access to outside water.. And it's January in NH so it's very cold outside.

Please do a search on this forum for how to provide good care for your ailing Jade plant, there must literally be hundreds of posts on them, almost every other thread is asking for the same information. Posts on the best mix, light, feeding, pruning etc. It's there, you just have to do a little research for yourself first :) not meaning to be awkward, but it's all here:) if you then can't find the answer by all means comeback, but do check out other posts.

Gill UK

Short answer - more sun (which you don't have, so....), less water, thinning. Maybe additional lighting. BTW, it's healthy.

Long and better answer - what Gill wrote. You can have it all!

I'm surprised it's healthy the plant itself def is but the actual green leaves all droop downwards.. They are just long and awkward. Thank you Gill for your answer I appreciate any help and have been digging.. That's how I happened upon this post, I'm also very new to this site and signed up moments before posting seems more geared on home owners then anything. I just didn't want to dig up my jade and kill it trying to fix it is all

Carrie

When searching, you'll see a date on the far right - 'Last updated xxx'. You can sort answers by Relevance.

You can start your own thread too, you may get more answers that way. This thread is old (2007).

Your plant appears healthy - the 'problem', as Jeff pointed out, is lack of light. If you can give it more light, new growth should be more compact. The old growth will not revert tho, it will remain as is. To get more compact-short plant from what you have is possible, but you would need to do some pruning. But first you need to solve light situation, otherwise it will continue growing same way (pruning or not).

Rina

carrieabalch This thread has a posted comment that reaches seven years ago prior to your post

Your northern corner of the US would allow the blinds to be open during the day the lack of winter rain fall from out side could be replaced with tap water that's been allowed to set at room temp for 24 hours or more.

ummmmm I don't know either but how does anyone get rain water from the outside to three floors up inside?

Yes green is good but it is a bit on the stringy side sparse,thin and slightly on the side of etiolated. I imagine some pruning of your jades weaker growth and cutting would be in order, as to where you'll find some ideas as to where or what to cut could be a little difficult to look up after all the other soil mixing and idea searching you'll be doing.

mind if I use your pic ?

Start with the red lines and cut away as best as you can if you happen to find some info on your relentless 1000's and 1000's of jade threads You may also want to attempt to root the cutting as as well which also has 1000's and 1000's of searchable info on how to do as well.

Side note which has very very little to do with any of your 10000's of searching information results The pot is a bit to big.

I was wondering about the pot size, I didn't replant it but the original (largest plant) was re potted because he assumed the roots needed more room as its a pretty thick root. The others I think sprouted from dropped green in the soil. I'm thinking of transplanting the smaller ones and moving the larger into a pot not so deep as that seems to be part of the problem. I can get it more light but admit I'm bummed the original plant will hold such a drooped green as it used to be not that way. Guess I'll just dig in when it warms up and see how it goes. I appreciate the comments. I joined a larger forum and this one seems to be an off shoot of that one so I'll have to get myself into the secondary forum. Thank you again

your current soil line with a black line Vs. where the soil line should be ( green arrows)

Best of info collecting on the alternate forum to you too....

Pots 101 ) A bigger pot holds more moisture and can hold it's moisture longer than a smaller pot. A deeper depth takes a longer time to moisten than a shallower pot that would be moister with much less water when watered. If you browse about on either forum notice the pot size in relation to the size of the jades make notes to the sizes of pots. Personal preference (referencing the trunk size(s) seen) I'd use a 6 inch pot maybe an eight inch depending on pot depth.

When ever you want to re-pot is okay too but if me but I'd re-pot it sooner than later as it's inside and would be plenty warm enough to do the deed.

Granted you do have lighting issues to resolve and as there will be more cutting needed to rid the lesser than desirable in appearance of the lesser than healthy green. You also have both watering and lighting concerns in a slightly bigger pot than most would use that your jade will adapt to and as you would need to learn how to control. Ultimately your jade will be the better teacher.

So I should pot in a smaller pot with the soli higher and trim would be the ultimate answer.. Should I move the smaller plants and have them grow alone or re pot them all together? I do need to open the shades more often I will admit. Other building facing my window finds me closing for privacy which I can deal with during the day to save my baby.

Carrie

Sorry for repeating myself, but the first thing that needs to be done is to assure that plant gets more light. Opening blinds will help, not sure if that's enough - if not, a lamp would help some too.

You can keep plants together or separate them - whatever you like more, and whatever space available with good light permits (if separating, you'll have more pots).

Yes, they should be potted higher up as suggested. And succulents generally don't need huge pots. Having so much soil only keeps it wet much longer than usually necessary.

Rina

Should I move the smaller plants and have them grow alone or re pot them all together?

A stated from Rina it's your choice Windows during the daylight hours while blinds are up are difficult to see through even on a cloudy day . Yes that is correct windows are very see through during darker times.

In reference to additional lighting for your jade during the winter months. There are a lot of bulbs out there to pick from and hopefully you'll get some bulb picking guidance for what bulb(s)would be sufficient for your jade(s) If not look for the better bulb color brightness with the bigger number IE 6500 K . Distance from the jade to the bulb can be adjusted by moving the light stand or fixture. Bulb burn time may vary from one window to another Example I use all the sun light then burn added bulb time to the areas that need it with low wattage CFL in the day light spectrum until 8PM until the sun sets at 7 PM a different window gets less bulb burn time and another needs more added bulb time (Grrrr... the sad part is why I don't save links to the BBS bulbs is beyond me)

Thank you everyone for your help, I will be sure to have a healthy jade in no time.. I know she's green and flourishing but I could tell I wasn't doing something right. Sometimes it's easier to have a run on conversation with people that know more then I do then search the millions of posts wondering if I'm doing it right, I just wanted to be sure. It's been super helpful . Thank you to all who shared with me