Beginner Gardening: Jade-Like Plant, Badly Damaged (very little leaves left), 1 by Juju6513

Juju6513 wrote:
I recently visited relatives in Norway, and one of my relatives has a big jade-like plant. The reason I say jade-like is that is have leaves shaped sorta like a jade, but the leaves are thin, not plump like jade leaves. When I was heading home, my relative gave me a branch (my best guess, didn't see them remove it) of the plant. I brought it home and planted it in a pot. Later, after it had grown some, we transplanted it into the garden in mid summer. When it started getting colder (Around Sept-Oct) we put it back in a pot and brought it back inside. In the last month, its health has been deteriorating. The leaves have been drying out and falling off. My roommate had noticed this, and today decided it would be a good idea to "gently" pull on the leaves; and for some reason, continue to pull almost all of them off. I was devastated and thought of throwing it away because I thought there was no chance. According to some research I have done, not all hope is lost even if all the leaves are gone. The stem is still very green.

I suspect the cause is under watering, as my roommate has been using 3 ice cubes to water an orchid we have, and thought that all plants can do fine with this watering. When I touched the soil, it was very dry, and even after sticking my finger in a good inch and a half it was still rock dry. My roommate claims it is a xerophyte, and will die from overwatering, but when the soil is rock hard I don't think "overwatering" is anywhere close to happening. I have watered the topsoil a bit by wetting a sponge and wringing it over the plant, because I do not know for sure whether or not it is a xerophyte or not.

The root is strangely curved, and was when we first got it. It seems pretty dry, and is above the soil. I thought about putting it deeper in the soil, but then I don't think there is enough steam above the ground.

Any advice as to how I should care for the plant and nurture it back to health would be highly appreciated!

Also, in regards to lighting, it is directly under a tall lamp, but the lamp has the "lampshade" (translucent glass dome) upside down under the bulb.