Caption
Jade can make a great houseplant, especially in a classic ceramic or terracotta pot.
Image Credit:
Olga Miltsova/Shutterstock
Botanical Name
Crassula argentea, Crassula ovata
Sun Exposure
Soil pH
Bloom Time
Flower Color
Plant Type
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.
More Like This
I have a jade plant over a foot high not quite two feet. Recently some of the branches have fallen off. I am desperate not to lose this plant.There is one shriveled leaf on the plant. Can you help me. Thank you
My jades wintered in the garage. The average temperature was 50 to 60 degrees in the garage. Two of my plants have, what appears to be, a black smug on many of the leafs. What is this? And what can I do to correct this condition? There is new growth on each plant. Thank you. Regards
Has the plant been moved around recently or experienced any changes in its environment—temperature drops, increased watering, decreased light, etc.? It sounds like the issue could be related to watering or the plant could be responding to a change in lighting. Shriveled, dehydrated leaves indicate that the plant is thirsty.
Before watering, check the soil with your finger or a moisture meter to see how wet it is, and be sure not to water until the soil is mostly dry. In terms of light, if the plant has recently been moved from a bright area to a dark area (or vice versa), the shock could have caused it to drop its branches.
I have a jade plant my son gave me many years ago I have done over 100 leaf dropped-plant start with this plant > It looks like the normal plant. However, I have 1 leaf did something quite different. It grew low and full-almost like a flower. The last 2 years it had nice smelling flowers on longer stems.-Don't know how it happened or how to do it again,Ideas?
Right after I moved to Florida 10 years ago, I purchased a tiny jade plant from the garden club in the 55+ community where I live. It has lived very peacefully (and successfully) on my carport, facing east and has become quite nice. However, I have never had a flower on it...and until reading the comments on here, didn't realize that jade plants flowered. It has a very strong and sturdy 3-4inch/diameter main trunk, with many smaller branches. It has been in the same pot (with drainage hole) for probably the last 7-8 years, and basically gets watered when I think of it. It has very little leaf drop, and mainly at this time of the year. Is it unusual for a plant this old not to flower? Am I doing something wrong? Thank you in advance for any advice/comments you may have for me.
Thanks for all the questions and answers. It really helps new gardeners as we try to garden.
What is the difference between Jade Tree and Spekboom (aka Elephant food or bacon bush)
Although they have different latin names they are both indigenous to KZN and the Eastern Cape, and look exactly the same in the photographs.
Hi Sherley,
Although Jade and Spekboom plants look similar (and are often mistaken for each other), they are completely different plants and are unrelated.
Hello,
I recently cut back a rotting jade bonsai plant to about a 3" height by 2" diameter stump. I took it out of the old soil and let it sit about a week until the new soil was delivered. The roots are all crunchy and when I touch them they fall off but the stump is still green inside which makes me think its alive. I repotted it and now are not sure if I should water it? What can I do to help it? I do not want it to die!
I was given a huge Jade plant as I am deemed the only green thumb in the family by family friends who are moving. I have several plants that I water every Sunday morning - mostly typical house plants and a few white birds of paradise (8' tall)
I read this article after I did my Sunday watering. Should I try to dry out the soil and if so, how? I'd show a picture as it is a thing of beauty (currently).
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