Photo is from the summer, and is about 3ft to the left of where my jade lived. She’s in indirect sunlight in a room around 23°c and is watered every 2-3 weeks (the whole gang gets watered less frequently in winter). By the time she started rotting about 2.5 weeks ago she was about a foot tall and had 7 healthy main stalks.
And then suddenly she just started rotting. I’ve had this happen with 2/3 jade plants I’ve owned now, and I have no clue why. I’ve also had friends in different countries have this happen out of the blue. There’s been no change in environment or watering, nothing. They just start dropping all of their leaves and then turn to mush within the span of 1-2 weeks, with the inside of the stalks turning dark brown. I’ve had three jade plants over the past 12ish years, and this is the second to do this. The first I had for 5.5 years and then moved countries so I had to leave her behind, but my god she was glorious. The second I had for ~3.5 years before she completely rotted and died within a week. There was nothing obviously wrong with her roots. Now my current jade (~3yo) is doing the same thing. I took her out to check her roots and they looked totally fine, so I separated the root balls of the rotting stalks from the only three remaining healthy ones, and repotted into a smaller pot. I’m keeping a close eye on it, but have already had to remove another stalk that was beginning to rot, so she’s down to 3. I do have two baby jade’s that I propagated over the summer in a separate pot, so I guess at least I have her legacy if she dies….
I just don’t understand why this keeps happening. There’s no evidence of root rot, fungus, insect infestation, no changes in care or lighting. All of my other plants in the vicinity are doing fine. Does anyone know why this happens???
by itachihoe
11 Comments
They need long periods of drought. Don’t water them until you see the leaves become leathery and shrink.
Edit to clarify, by “long periods of drought” I mean months without water. The Crassula is a succulent.
*Also asking this for a friend…* 🙇♂️
I keep mine in good bright light, it can handle a bit of sheltered direct sun but only a few hours in the morning say. I water weekly, like the rest of my plants (we’re super dry here) but I also give it much less water than my other plants. Just a sip pretty much.
I have to say, that when I let my plants dry out for a longer period of time, this risk of overwatering and rot becomes greater – even if you’re consistent with amount of water given.
Consider removing some depth from the soil and adding something on the bottom for sharper drainage. In my experience, these two plants have different light requirements and the jade should definitely be somewhere brighter.
I keep mine in good bright light, it can handle a bit of sheltered direct sun but only a few hours in the morning say. I water weekly, like the rest of my plants (we’re super dry here) but I also give it much less water than my other plants. Just a sip pretty much.
I have to say, that when I let my plants dry out for a longer period of time, this risk of overwatering and rot becomes greater – even if you’re consistent with amount of water given.
Consider removing some depth from the soil and adding something on the bottom for sharper drainage. In my experience, these two plants have different light requirements and the jade should definitely be somewhere brighter.
The pot it’s in doesn’t drain properly I’m positive as I have these as well. Ceramic or clay is more suitable for jade. Definitely needs more light as well.
Mine always dried out and rotted at the same time i couldn’t care for it properly :/
Underwater them for best results.
(Jade leaves are super easy to propagate, just saying)
They don’t.
Water. Do not like water sitting on the roots
Hey I addressed this deep in the thread, but looking at your picture closely: You have your jade in a plastic self-watering pot (or at best with tight fitting saucer). There you go. Your water has nowhere to go. Plastic doesn’t breathe and your set up doesn’t drain. I’m impressed it didn’t rot sooner. Succulents cannot deal with self-watering pots like this, it is literally sitting in boggy conditions. They need to dry down completely and quickly. You pot is fine for a spider plant, not for a jade.
Repot in terra cotta with a good drainage hole.