This Jade plant was purchased more than 5yrs ago when it was a few inches tall. From what I can gather, Jade is supposed to be upright but this plant is hanging over the pot, mostly on one side since I keep forgetting to rotate the pot. Jade is also suppposed to be rootbound so I have not let it progress beyond a 6" pot. Right now new leaves are green & edged in red while older leaves have a red underside. Is this Jade plant sending out SOS messages that I am not understanding? Please help ...
cubee,
It is falling over the edge of the pot because it doesn't get enough light. I would suggest that you move the plant up one pot size, using potting soil made for cacti and succulents, so it is very porous. Then, I would prune off all of the hanging branches, and put the plant outside for the summer. You should start it in the shade, and then work it out to full sun. Water outside only when the soil is dry. In the winter, bring it in before a frost, but give it the best light possible, close to the window, and a south window if possible. Water it very sparingly in winter, so it doesn't want to grow much.
I have a jade that is about 25 years old, and is in a pot about 16" wide, and it blooms every winter. Every spring I prune off any branches that are hanging too much, and give it a general haircut before it goes out for the summer.
Good luck!
Susan in Minneapolis
Hi Susan,
Thanks for the tips. Just one more question - right now almost the entire plant is hanging over the edge so how much can be safely pruned?
I would leave a few of the most upright stems on the plant, and then from the ones you cut off, you could root several of them in the upright position, usually just by sticking them into the soil in the pot, after drying out the cuttings for a day or two. It wouldn't look too great for a while, but in the end probably would be a nice upright plant. A stake in the pot might help them to keep upright.
Susan
Some Jade's are the upright type while others like to trail ..... check out the trailing jade in Plant Files:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/51535/index.html
I would move the plant into an even larger pot than mentioned, I am like smkennedy and have a huge plant in a large pot, I would imagine that if you carefully knocked the plant out of the pot, you would find all root and very little soil, they require a good bit of water in the growing season and I give mine liquide plant feed once every 2 weeks as I water, dont let the plant sit in a bowl of water as that is over doing it, some of the hanging branches already have little roots on them so these are easy to pot up, I give my pot a top dressing of gravel so that the stems and leaves dont get too wet at watering time, dont put the gravel right against the stem as you wont notice if it gets rot setting into it. sometimes as I pass my plant by, I find little bits drop of onto the floor, so I just stick my finger into the soil and pop the little broken bit into the finger hole and next thing, it has rooted, you are giving it the wrong light conditiond as it is all growing lop sided, so try as sugested, and get it outdoors for the rest of the summer, lack of watering also causes these plants to flop over and then the stems set that way and as you water, it just continues to grow lop sided as it dont have the energy or strength to get itself upright. good luck, hope it all works out for you, WeeNel.
