Growing Jade Plants

How to Plant, Grow, and Care for Jade Plants

Jade can make a great houseplant, especially in a classic terracotta pot.

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Jade plants are succulent houseplants, which makes them fairly resilient and easy to grow indoors—plus, they’re long-lived. See how to care for your jade plant.

With their thick, woody stems and oval-shaped leaves, jade plants have a miniature, tree-like appearance that makes them very appealing for use as a decorative houseplant. They live for a very long time, often being passed down from generation to generation and reaching heights of three feet or more when grown indoors.

Jade plants adapt well to the warm, dry conditions found in most homes. It’s important to keep the plant watered during the growing season (spring, summer) and drier during the dormant season (fall, winter). However, even during the growing season, the soil should be allowed to dry out fully between waterings, as jade is very susceptible to rot.

Jade plants may be grown outdoors as landscape plants in areas with a mild, dry climate year-round (typically Zone 10 and warmer). They are very susceptible to cold damage, so in locations where temperatures get to freezing or below, it’s best to grow jade in containers and take them indoors when it gets below 50°F (10°C).

Planting

How to Plant Jade Plants

Choose a wide and sturdy pot with a moderate depth, as jade plants have a tendency to grow top-heavy and fall over.
Use a soil that will drain thoroughly, as excessive moisture may promote fungal diseases like root rot. An all-purpose potting mix will work, though you will want to mix in additional perlite to improve drainage. A 2:1 ratio of potting mix to perlite is great. Alternatively, use a pre-made succulent or cacti potting mix.
After planting a jade plant, don’t water it right away. Waiting anywhere from several days to a week before watering lets the roots settle and recover from any damage.

Jade plant. Photo be trambler58/Shutterstock.
Older jade plants may develop a thick, scaly trunk, giving them their classic tree-like appearance. Photo by trambler58/Shutterstock.

How to Start a Jade Plant from a Leaf or Stem Cutting

As a succulent, jade plants are very easy to start from single leaves or cuttings. Here’s how:

Remove a leaf or take a stem cutting from a well-established plant. An ideal stem cutting would be 2–3 inches in length and have at least two pairs of leaves. Once you have your leaf or cutting, allow it to sit for several days in a warm place; a callous will form over the cut area, helping to prevent rot and encourage rooting.
Gather your pot and a well-draining potting mix. Use soil that is slightly moist, but not wet.
Take the leaf and lay it on top of the soil horizontally, covering the cut end with some of the soil. If you have a stem cutting, place it upright in the soil (prop it up with a few small rocks or toothpicks if it won’t stand on its own).
Place the pot in a warm place with bright, indirect light. Do not water.
After a week or two, the leaf or cutting will start sending out roots. A week or so after that, give the plant a gentle poke or tug to see if it has rooted itself in place. If it hasn’t, wait a bit longer, testing it (gently!) every few days.
Once the plant seems to be firmly rooted, water it deeply and carefully. Use something like a turkey baster to gently water the plant without disturbing the roots too much. Make sure that you don’t just get the surface layer of the soil wet, as you want to encourage the roots to grow downward for water, not towards the surface.
Let the soil dry out between waterings and keep the plant out of intense direct sunlight until it is well established.

Care

How to Care for Jade Plants

Jade plants need at least 4 hours of direct sunlight each day. Young plants should be kept in bright, indirect sunlight; large, well-established jade plants can handle more direct sunlight. Kitchens and offices with a south-facing window are typically great spots with just enough light, as are western-facing windows.
Jade plants grow best at room temperature (65° to 75°F / 18° to 24°C), but prefer slightly cooler temperatures at night and in the winter (down to 55°F / 13°C).
- Note: Jade are not frost tolerant, so if you keep yours outdoors during the summer, be sure to bring it inside once temperatures begin to fall to around 50°F (10°C) in autumn.
Watering jade plants correctly is very important:
- In the spring and summer, when the plant is actively growing, it will require more water than at other times of the year. Water it deeply, then wait until the soil has mostly dried out before you water it again. This means that you could end up watering it once a week or once a month—it depends entirely on how quickly the soil dries out.
- In the fall and winter, the plant may go dormant, causing it to slow or pause growth entirely. During this time, it won’t need much water. Water it even less often than in the spring and summer, allowing the soil to dry out fully between waterings. Large, well-established jades may not need more than one or two waterings throughout the entire dormancy period.
Try to avoid splashing water on the leaves while watering, as this can expose them to rot in a humid environment.
Jade plants can be sensitive to salts in tap water, so water with filtered or distilled water if your tap water is not ideal.
If the plant starts to drop its leaves, if leaves start to shrivel, or if brown spots appear on the leaves, it is an indication that the plant needs more water.
If leaves become squishy and waterlogged, the plant is getting too much water.
Jade plants should be fed sparingly. Use a diluted mix of a standard liquid houseplant fertilizer or a fertilizer made for cacti and succulents.
During the winter months, move the plants away from cold windows and keep them out of drafty areas.

Repotting Jade Plants

Jade plants don’t mind being root bound in a small pot. In fact, keeping them root bound will keep the jade smaller and more manageable.
Repot young jade plants once every 2 to 3 years to encourage growth. With older jade, repot once every 4 to 5 years or as necessary.
Transplant in the early spring, just before the growing season begins.
After repotting, don’t water the plant for a week or so. Wait at least a month before fertilizing so as not to accidentally burn fresh roots.

Jade plant leaves. Photo by Mauricio Acosta Rojas/Shutterstock.
Some varieties of jade may develop red leaf tips if given sufficient lighting. Photo by Mauricio Acosta Rojas/Shutterstock.

Pests/Diseases

Mealybugs or scale may hide under stems and leaves. To remove the pests, use a spray bottle of water or wipe the insects off gently with a bit of rubbing alcohol on a paper towel or cotton swab. Repeated applications will be necessary to remove the pests’ offspring. If the plant is too heavily infested, it may be better to take a clean cutting from it and start anew.
Powdery mildew can be a problem, but is fairly uncommon indoors.
Root rot is caused by excessive moisture in the soil. Let the soil dry out between waterings.
Shriveled or wrinkled leaves are signs of a thirsty plant in need of more frequent or deeper waterings.
Waterlogged and squishy leaves indicated that the plant is getting too much water.
Leaf drop is a symptom of watering issues, too.

Harvest/Storage

New jade plants can easily be started from the leaves of mature plants. See the Planting section (above) for more info.

Recommended Varieties

There are many types of Crassula available—from the standard, green-leafed jade to a number of variegated varieties. Here are a few interesting jades to keep an eye out for:

‘Hummel’s Sunset’ has beautiful yellow- and red-tipped leaves.
‘Tricolor’ has leaves variegated with white and cream.
‘ET’s Fingers’ has tubular leaves with red tips. An oddity!

Wit & Wisdom

To persuade a jade plant to flower, keep it root-bound in a small pot and hold back water. Cooler temperatures in the winter promote blooming, too.
Jade plants are one of several plants with the nickname of “money plant” and are seen by some as a sign of good luck and prosperity.
Due to their long lifespans and resiliency, jade plants make great gifts that can last a lifetime and be passed from generation to generation.

Reader Comments

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Unusual growth (flower?) on leaf

I have a jade that developed a small, dark growth that looked like a tiny artichoke on one of its leaves. I went on travel and the plant lost some leaves, including the one with the growth, while I was gone. The plant is healthy and spent the summer outside. Any ideas what this growth was? It was about the size of the eraser on a new pencil. I can't find any info on what it could have been.

Unusual Growth

The description doesn’t ring any bells, unfortunately. Could it have been an insect? Jades form flower stalks at the end of their branches, rather than on the leaves themselves, so it sounds like it wouldn’t have been that.

Jade Plant, Crassula ovata, loss of most of leaves

I repotted a very beautiful jade plant within the last 6 months and relocated it to another place in my residence. After a few weeks, I noticed the main stems started to fall over, then it started losing its leaves except for a few on the ends of the smaller branches, and all of the branches have fallen over and have gotten twisted around in weird directions. I also noticed the surviving leaves appear to be shriveled as well. I do water it about every 1/1/2 weeks long with my other plants, and haven't had a problem with it until after I repotted it. I moved it back to its original place, but this doesn't seem to help. Do you have any suggestions about what to do? I've considered taking some cuttings from it, but am not sure they'll survive. It used to look like a small tree, but now it looks weird.

Jade Plant

How soon after repotting did you water the plant? After repotting, jades should be allowed some time (a week or two) to settle in and heal damaged roots before being watered again. Especially if the soil you used to repot it with was already moist, any extra water could have led to root rot.

However: dropped leaves and shriveled, prune-like leaves indicate that the plant is thirsty, so I suspect that your plant wasn’t getting enough water. When you water it, make sure that you’re watering it deeply—meaning that water reaches down to the roots and doesn’t just saturate the surface soil. Water should run out the bottom of the pot, and you can let the plant sit in the excess water for a little while to soak it up. Once it stops soaking up water, be sure to dump out the excess. Then, allow the plant to dry out quite a bit before watering again.

I would recommend taking a couple leaves and laying them on top of dry soil. They should produce roots soon enough and will then begin to grow into new plants.

Care of Jade Plant

My Jade plant is getting so big I have to stake the stems to keep them from falling over and
maybe breaking off. Is it possible to trim some of the stems back and will new growth appear in time - or will plant die????

My indoor jade plants have a

My indoor jade plants have a tendency to get a bit spindly and top heavy causing them to droop from the weight. I suggest you trim them back a bit and that encourages the main trunks and branches to get thicker and stronger. Use the cuttings to start new jade plants.

Is jade plant toxic?

Greetings,
Your article covers many topics and it is mostly to the point, though it is kind of thorough approach but an accurate one.
You should include one or two paragraphs of toxicity of jade plants like, is crassula family toxic to pets or human?
Thanks for reading my comment.

Stems Drooping

Hi, I have a multi stem jade which is maybe 40 years old. It has survived moves and several near deaths. Recently it has looked very vigorous, but today two of the major stems have fallen sideways. I did water it recently and that may be the problem. I did turn it to get more even sun. Are the stems likely to go back up to the previous positions or should I try to support the stems?

Jade Drooping Branches

If they’re thick, heavy stems, they’re not likely to be able to return to their upright positions alone, so it would be wise to provide some support. Once supported, they may be able to re-solidify and hold themselves upright. Let it mostly dry out before watering again, and keep it in bright light (but watch that it doesn’t get burnt by too much direct sun).

jade plant

i got my jade 5 days back in online. after 2 days its getting leaves falling. only stem is remained. whats can i do now. i got that for my office desk. is that alive or died. give me some tips to grow my jade and food for that.

Jade watering information is WRONG

Your jade watering information is absolutely & utterly incorrect. Jade are one of the, if not the, most drought tolerant non-cactus succulent species. I personally consider it the most drought tolerant. You should never have moist soil. Ever. Jade should dry out at least 50% between watering. They can go a very long time without water. The thirstier they get, the thinner & more puckered the leaves become. A good watering & they will swell overnight. If you have a very large jade with a thick trunk, they should not be watered at all in the winter in cooler climates as they go dormant. I have three jade bonsai that stand 3' tall each. I do not water any of them for 6 months out of the year, from fall until spring when the growing season begins. One I didn't water for 9 months. It wasn't even in soil. The leaves were very puckered & soft but last weekend I soaked it overnight & it was instantly plump & healthy. I also have two large cuttings I sawed off of a jade last Christmas & they still have not been planted. Again, the leaves are wrinkled but absolutely nothing has died. None of these cuttings have roots. I own a plant shop & the reason I know of your article is a woman came to me yesterday in tears because she kept the soil of her gigantic inherited jade moist based on this article & it had completely rotted within two weeks. I helped her, taught her, & salvaged some cuttings. Please revise your article with correct information & facts. I do not know where you got the watering information from but I cannot stress how incorrect it is. If you read literally any other article in books or online, it will tell you to not let your jade soil be moist.

Watering Jade

Thank you for your feedback! We have revised and clarified the watering instructions on this page.

My Jade/ money tree stem

My friend gave me a piece of her Jade/money plant that broke off but I'm very unsure on which way my stem actually goes for it almost makes a complete circle and has like little tiny black hairs on it with new little leaves forming around like the entire circled stem

long etiolated jade

The jade which I have has been in very low light for too long. The plant is long an straggly. I would like to prune it back to give it the chance to grow more shoots and become bushier again. Could you please tell me what to do? Ideally with clear diagrams as I´m not much of a gardner!
Many thanks in advance,
Christina

jade repotting

my 5ft jades dirt you cant push your finger into it to check if needs watering do i need to repot or what

Compacted Soil

It sounds like the soil is compacted. If that’s the case, the plant could probably use repotting or at least some fresh soil.

Dusty Leaves

I recently got another jade plant, leaves were terribly dusty, dirty so carefully rinsed them under a tap as thought this may help plant. (I do use rain water collected to water).
Have I caused damaged by rinsing leaves? Is there a better way of cleaning leaves?
Lastly what sort of plant food should I use?
Trying to look after plants well !
Many thanks and for your article, which is so helpful.

Cleaning Leaves

There’s no harm in rinsing off the leaves, as long as the plant is allowed to dry off completely. You can also use a moist paper towel to gently wipe off leaves.

As for what kind of fertilizer to use: A succulent fertilizer would be best, and it’s important not to go overboard with it. Jade plants can be sensitive to the salts (nutrients) in fertilizer, so only apply diluted fertilizer once or twice a month in the spring and summer; in the fall and winter (the dormant seasons), don’t fertilize.

Moving my beloved jade across a border

Hi again,

I wrote earlier to ask if anyone has tried to "bare root" a jade before and if you know if it would survive. I am moving to the US from Canada, and want to take my beloved 35+ year-old jade with me. The border crossing rules stipulate that all houseplants must be "bare rooted" -- meaning all growing medium/soil must be cleaned off the roots. I could drive the jade to my friend's house -- she lives very close to the border -- and remove it from the pot there, gently hose the soil off the roots and lay or suspend the plant in the most supportive position possible in the back of my jeep to drive it over the border. Then, just on the other side of the border in Ogdensburg there is a hardware store that sells the right soil. If I have a clean pot on hand, and buy that soil, I could immediately re-pot the jade on the spot. In all, it would be without soil for an hour at most. The jade is currently very happily root bound in a pot that it has been in for more than 20 years, and has about four trunks. I would really appreciate any advice you can offer on whether this would work. If it is just too risky I will give it to a friend, but I really do consider this plant to be a member of my family. Thank you so much!

Transporting Jade

How long is the journey from your current home to new home? If you were to gently hose the roots off at your friend’s house and then keep the root ball wrapped in a towel for protection, I don’t foresee it having any trouble surviving the trip. As a succulent, jades are very tolerant of being without water for extended periods of time, so their roots are tough. Perhaps keep it in its current pot during the journey—just wrapped in a towel rather than soil. It could likely tolerate a few hours in this state without adverse effects.

When you repot it, it may experience some level of transplant shock (as most plants do if completely removed from soil), so expect a few dropped leaves at least. Otherwise, there’s no reason for it to not recover!

Best of luck and let us know how it goes!

Thank you!

Thank you so much! I will give it a try. Unfortunately it is going to be a long journey. Once I am across the border I'll be driving from Ogdensburg New York all the way to Denver! So will definitely repot it once we get into Ogdensburg. I'll be very careful about ensuring the car doesn't get too hot or cold en route, and will definitely keep you posted on how it turns out. Also, I can't say how much I appreciate this web site -- congratulations to all of you on such an important and informative resource!

Safe Travels

Thanks, Kerry! Best of luck with your move and jade transportation!

10 year Plant

I brought a jade plant that’s 10 to 20 years old, and it’s falling over. I would like to repot the plant but lm confused as to take all the dirt that’s surrounding the plants roots and surround with new dirt or get rid of all the old dirt to the roots. I did that once before and the died on me . This is very big plant and if I laid it down limps will break off. What to do

Repotting

Don’t remove the old soil from around the roots—you’ll damage the established roots, which will make it harder for the plant to recover. Add new soil around the old soil in the new pot.

3ft. Jade plant

I did as u said about repotting, didn’t water for two to three weeks. The plant full and all of sudden the leaves and some stems would fall off at the lightest touch. Now the big trump is real bare. I don’t water a lot so what can do to make it grow. I wish I could send u a picture it.

Jade Plant Dropping Leaves

How do the leaves look? Wrinkled, shriveled leaves indicate that it needs more water. Make sure that when you water it, you’re allowing water to soak through to the roots. To do this, either pour water into a dish and set the plant’s pot in the dish, allowing it to suck up water through the drainage holes; or water the soil until water comes out the drainage holes, then let the pot sit in the water for a few minutes until it soaks up the drained water. Once it stops soaking up water, dump out the excess water.

Additionally, make sure that the plant is in a location with good lighting. It will do best in bright, indirect sunlight. Without enough sun, it won’t be strong enough to hold itself up and regrow.

Moving my beloved Jade across a border

Hi there,

Almost 35 years ago my best friend's mom gave me a cutting from a jade plant I had admired for many years. Now that cutting has grown into an absolutely stunning plant that I honestly consider a member of the family! I am moving to the United States from Canada and have learned that all houseplants must be transported with bare roots -- no growing medium on the roots at all. I am happy to drive it across the border with a clean pot -- directly to a store to buy soil and repot, but will it survive? Really hoping someone can help!

Outdoor Jade in cold climate

We have a multiple Jades. One is around 30" diameter and has out grown it's large pot. We plan to transplant into a larger pot but realize by doing so, we won't be able to move the plant in the garage during winter season. We live in a moderate climate - but do get below freezing for weeks during the winter months. And on occasion we've had limited snow. Is there a way to protect the plant from frost and snow so we don't have to move the pot indoors? BTW during the winter with the plant in the garage on a lamp - we get beautiful small white blooms. This is a very happy Jade. Thanks.

Root Pruning Jade Plants

Unfortunately, jade are not frost tolerant, so if temperatures reach below freezing in your area, you’ll need to keep your jade indoors or risk severe cold damage.

Jade plants don’t mind being pot-bound—in fact, it helps keep them small! Usually, you only need to repot if the roots start coming out the bottom of the pot or if the plant becomes top heavy.

Instead of repotting your jade into a larger, heavier pot, you could try root pruning. This is a technique commonly done with bonsai trees that allows you to keep a plant in its current-size pot while also giving it room to continue to grow. To root prune, remove the plant from the pot and prune off at most ⅓ of the roots. Cut from the bottom of the root ball, and try to remove the older, darker roots first, leaving younger, paler roots to continue growing.

When you repot, it’s important to use soil that’s fairly dry and that drains well, and to refrain from watering for 7–10 days. This will keep the roots safer from fungal disease like rot. For extra protection, you could dust the cut roots with an anti-fungal powder (find it in a local hardware store or garden center).

No sunlight

I bought jade plants for my office, but have no access to direct sunlight. Are there any other options for light?