Caption
Jade can make a great houseplant, especially in a classic ceramic or terracotta pot.
Planting
How to Plant Jade Plants
- Choose a wide and sturdy pot with a moderate depth, as jade plants tend to grow top-heavy and fall over.
- Use 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 premade 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.
Photo by trambler58/Shutterstock.
How to Start a Jade Plant From a Leaf or a Stem Cutting
As a succulent, jade plants are very easy to start from single leaves or cuttings. A stem cutting is a great method when a branch of your jade plant happens to fall off. Just put that cutting in the soil, and you have a new baby plant or a gift plant! If you have time, however, you can propagate from a single leaf!
Propagate before the weather gets cool. And make sure you start with a well-established plant.
- For a stem cutting, ensure you’re using clean clippers or scissors to take your cutting, which must be 3 to 4 inches long. If you’re using a leaf, it must be the complete leaf, which includes the small pointy bit that breaks off from the stem.
- Once you have your leaf or cutting, allow it to sit for several days in a warm place; a callus 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.
- Lay the leaf 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. Give the plant a gentle poke or tug a week or so after that 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 toward the surface.
- Let the soil dry out between waterings and keep the plant out of intense direct sunlight until it is well established.
Growing
How to Care for Jade Plants
Lighting
- Jade plants should receive at least 6 hours of bright light 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 south-facing windows are typically great spots with just enough light, as are western-facing windows.
- Jade plants that are kept in low light can become leggy and top-heavy, making them susceptible to damage if they fall over or become unable to support their own branches!
Temperature
- 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 plants are not frost tolerant, so if you keep yours outdoors during the summer, be sure to bring it inside once temperatures fall to around 50°F (10°C) in autumn.
- During winter, move jade plants away from cold windows and keep them out of drafty areas. If exposed to cold temps, jade plants may drop their leaves.
Watering
- Watering jade plants correctly is very important! Improper watering is the number one issue that most people experience with their jade plants.
- When the plant is actively growing in the spring and summer, it will require more water than at other times of the year. Water jade plants deeply (meaning that the soil gets sufficiently moistened throughout—not just at the surface), 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 environment where you keep your plant.
- The plant may go dormant in the fall and winter, causing it to slow or pause growth entirely. During this time, it won’t need much water. Water it 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 their 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 the leaves look shriveled, or if brown spots appear on the leaves, it indicates that the plant needs MORE water.
- If leaves become squishy and waterlogged, the plant is getting TOO MUCH water.
Read more about how to water plants for healthy growth.
Fertilizing
- Jade plants don’t require high levels of nutrients and should be fed sparingly. Use a diluted mix of a standard liquid houseplant fertilizer or a fertilizer made for cacti and succulents.
If you prefer using your own fertilizer, you can use our homemade Organic Plant Fertilizer.
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 burn fresh roots accidentally.
Photo by Mauricio Acosta Rojas/Shutterstock.
Types
There are many types of jade plants available—from the standard, green-leafed jade to a number of variegated varieties. Here are a few exciting jades to keep an eye out for:
- ‘ET’s Fingers’ has tubular leaves with red tips. An oddity!
- ‘Hummel’s Sunset’ has beautiful yellow- and red-tipped leaves.
- ‘Tricolor’ has leaves variegated with white and cream.
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Comments
The best way to identify what kind of jade plant you have is to compare it to pictures online. Do its leaves look similar to those of the plant in the picture on this page? If so, then your plant will probably grow similarly. Some varieties grow more bushy, have more foliage, or are differently colored than others, but jade plants generally grow into a tree-like shape. Jade plants are very slow growers, though, so you will have to wait quite a while to have a large jade tree!
Like all succulents, jade plants are very susceptible to root rot, which occurs when plants are exposed to too much water in the soil. They require well-draining soil and should be watered sparingly. If you are currently using standard potting soil, you should consider switching to a succulent potting mix, or creating your own mix by combining equal parts potting soil and perlite. If the roots of your plants are exposed, add just enough soil to cover them. You can get them to stand up straight until they root themselves by tying them loosely to a chopstick or straw stuck into the soil. Be careful not to damage the roots.
If your plants look leggy, then they are probably not getting enough light. Give them at least 5 hours of sunlight each day. A south-facing windowsill is best.
Hi Gail,
Black spots on jade leaves are a sign of many different things, foremost being high humidity, over watering, or too much sun. Make sure the area is not too humid, only water once the top inch of soil has become dry, and keep the plant in indirect sunlight. If these don't have any effect over a few week period, try looking for a pest.
The black spots are likely small fungal infections that arise due to excess water or humidity. We recommend keeping the plant in a drier area and watering less frequently in the future. Removing leaves with small black spots isn't necessary, but if the spots cover most of a leaf, then it would be wise to remove it. Misting the plant with a fungicidal spray can help stop the fungus' spread.
Hi Niccole,
The jade shoot only needs to stay in water for about 2 to 3 days; after that its ready for soil. Since your jade plant has roots growing, its time to plant! It's best to not leave the plant in water for too long or the roots may succumb to root rot. Plant your jade in well-draining soil in a pot with a drain hole in the bottom. Water enough to wet the soil and get the roots to settle into place, and then water every few days for a week. Then only water when the soil has just become dry.
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Leaf drop is a sign of overwatering, so we would recommend cutting back on the water. Jade plants should only be watered when their soil has had a chance to dry out quite a bit. Depending on how long it takes for yours to dry out, you may only need to water it once a month. Gently stick your finger in the soil (away from the stem, so as not to disturb the roots) and see if the soil is dry. The top inch of soil should be dry before you water again. The plant should also get at least 4 hours of sunlight each day, but if you can increase that to 6 hours a day, it would be even better.