Hi! I have an ~80 yr old jade plant that has been struggling the past year. Not original owner but it's been in my family about 35 years.
It started a year ago last march after we finished a remodel, it was kind of pushed into a dark corner in the dining room for a couple of months during construction and practically no water. I’ve always watered it about once every 2 – 3 weeks. I had watered it more when I moved it back into the living room but then it started looking like maybe it was getting too much water just on one side. So I’m back to watering once every few weeks. When I do water it runs out the bottom. As for the light it has always been in indirect sunlight and it used to flower every year. It did not flower this year.
It has been dropping leaves and getting smaller every week. Some of the biggest branches shrivel, the smaller branches droop & but the leaves seem healthy. It's producing tons of babies with little roots. Basically lots of small new leaves sprouting out and dropping off. I'm wondering if maybe the plant is just at the end of it's life cycle ? Never had any problems with it before.
Thank you for your advice and help!
(In the photos you will see some scarring from where large branches were, this is unrelated and from a time it was exposed to frost several years ago. It's flowered since then.)
by No_Neighborhood_8921
9 Comments
Have you changed out the soil in the last couple of years? Do you feed it? It may just not have enough nutrients. It still looks like it is growing so it is trying to survive.
Have a plant and here to follow comments…
They thrive in bright direct sunlight and need to be watered thoroughly when the foliage becomes soft. It sounds like this plant has really been through it. Even though you’re only watering every two to three weeks it will still suffer if it’s not getting enough light.
All is not lost so it does have the ability to create new branches down below in the bear parts. It has better odds of doing this if it’s pruned.
I wouldn’t just take my response as I don’t know too much about jades (but I have a 20 year old jade that was gifted to me three years ago and it seems plenty happy) but from my experience you may be watering it a bit too much, we water ours maybe once a month maybe a bit less sometimes and it seems plenty happy. My usual give away is if you lightly press on either end of a leaf and try to GENTLY fold it in half, if it gives a bit and stays in the crescent moon shape she’s thirsty and if it fights a bit and risks snapping in half (I have snapped many petals 😂) it’s good to wait a while longer.
The soil should dry out between waterings since it is a succulent. Also I’d give it a bit of a trim, long branches can get a bit brittle and snap off. Crassulas also want plenty of light full sun if you can. The plant doesn’t look too unhealthy at the moment so it should be okay and improve in time.
Hi, plant lover and florist here! I agree with @nicolearoux. Jades need bright direct sunlight. I would also check the soil, since it is that old the soil may not have as many nutrients anymore to support a plant that mature. If it is winter where you are, there are a couple options. First, you can top fill soil at the base of your plant. The new load nutrients will then filter down to the plants roots giving it a boost. You could also buy succulent fertilizer. I used to advise my customers to research their fertilizers, and they are not all the same. If it is winter, I would do the former and wait until spring to repot. You can sometimes take an heirloom plant like this to a garden center or greenhouse where you live and they may repot it for you. The one I worked at would repot with fresh soil and charge $2 per pot inch. For example, if you have a 10” pot in circumference, they would charge $20 for their soil and labor. You can also prune the plant, but again, if it’s winter, it may take several weeks for the plant to rebound. It does sound like it wants to live, so maybe take a few branches off that look poorly. Start slow, a couple snips at a time. You don’t want to prune half the plant and then stress it so much it dies. I hope this helps, good luck!
Has the soil become hydrophobic? give it a single good soak then let dry for a few weeks.
Watering it until the water runs out the bottom may not be enough. I can water my big plants outside that are in soil (my indoor plants are all semi-hydro), and within 30 seconds, water can be running out the bottom and it does. But the middle of the big pots are not getting water or the fertiliser I water it with. When you soak a big plant like that in a pot, you really have to keep at it until all the soil is moistened. And it should be done when the leaves on the plant start to go a bit soft which indicates the soil is dry. Don’t water on a schedule, water it when the plant tells you it needs moisture and water it thoroughly. It also needs a lot of bright indirect light, which you can supplement with a grow light if it’s not getting enough.
Given the age of this plant, I have to ask, have you replenished the soil at all since you’ve gotten it? How often do you fertilise?
I absolutely agree with other poster’s here, that it may need a repot, as the soil may now be stripped of all the nutrients this plant needs to keep growing.
I was just at the botanical garden for my birthday. As I was walking around I realized that I owned some of these plants. Like seeing a monstera in its “natural” environment. It’s a plant. If that makes sense (like taming a wild animal). We are training plants to be houseplants. But that Jade is a plant!