Catastrophe! Help, please...

I guess I'm a little slow-witted today, as I was up late with a not-so-well child and back up very early this morning. It's nice out so I decided to open the windows and air out the house. What I didn't realize is that it's quite blustery...a gust of wind came along, caught the blinds, and knocked an entire windowsillful of plants into the floor. Here are the results. I can just barely grow jade plants to begin with, and have killed more than my fair share of variegated jades. I just bought a new very small variegated one day before yesterday, and now this! Grrr...
Anyway, can someone please tell me how (if at all) I can save these poor little guys? The regular jade I was able to plop back in the pot, but several stems and leaves broke off. The variegated jade lost a couple leaves and that one section on the right of the picture. Can I root that piece of Moses in the Cradle? That's all I had (and it had one little bloom thing coming out of the soil right next to it, so cute!) so if that won't root, it's completely lost.
I appreciate any help you can give me. Sigh...it's one of those days...

oh heavens! Jades often sprout aerial roots for me. I just plunk them down in a sandy cacti/succulent mix and lightly water. You can even start new plants from leaves. It's best to let them sit for a few days to let the 'wound' callus over, then plant.

Not sure about your Moses, do you see or feel any root 'bumps' where it broke?

Hey Amy ... I sent your package out today and I put some 'Moses in the Cradle' In there for you! I have had Jade Trees over the years and sometimes I've had them last a very long time and sometimes they just give up and die .... Lack of proper care on my part!
If I leave them alone, they will put out those aerial roots like Begoniacrazii mentioned in her post. I have also just stuck the little leaves in a pot of soil and they will root easily! I would take all those little jade plantlets/leaflets and let them callous over for a couple of days and then pot them as begoniacrazii said in a cacti mix ... well draining soil! And, they don't need a lot of water, they are one of those succulent type plants that "store" water! Good luck with them. Oh, and the 'Moses' plant, you might as well try to see if you can get roots from that baby too! It looks as if there's a bit of stalk there and not just the leaf, so you should be able to get it to root for you.

I sent you a D-Mail regarding you package thats in the mail!

Lin

Sorry I didn't get back on here yesterday. A candle jar got blown down and shattered as well. I cleaned all that up and took a nap! LOL
Thank you both for your help! The Moses has one little bump on the side of it. I stuck it in some moist potting mix, so we'll just see what happens. Thank you for sending me some of yours, Lin! The jades are lying in what I assume to be a safe place ;o) for a few days and I'll pot them up and see what happens.
Thanks again!

jades are really easy to regenerate. as was mentioned above, give them a few days to "heal", and then just plunk em in some soil. I don't use any special soil with my jades...just plain ol' miracle grow soil (I just make sure that the pot I use has a adequate drainage holes. I had a beautiful pot of variegated jade that was annihilated by an exuberant Labrador tail. every single piece recovered.

I don't know if it is true, but I was told by a plant vendor that if you root a variegated jade leaf, you'll get a solid green plant. if you do it with some stem, you'll get another variegated plant

I also leave my jades outside when it isn't freezing. just like most succulents, the edges turn a happy pink from all the sun, and they grow like crazy. maybe that will help get your jades growing.

another thing I do (and I haven't killed a jade yet) is water when dry. I usually have a few other succulents that will shrivel slightly to indicate that it is time for everyone to get a drench

Thanks gaia! Everyone has told me that jades are the easiest plant to grow, but I don't find that to be true. What has helped me with watering is that I have a Drunkard's Dream plant. I watch the soil in it. When I see that it looks dry, I wait 3 days and then water it and my jade. So far so good with that method! The Drunkard's Dream is putting out all kinds of new growth and the jade isn't dead, so at least for me, it's a good system. I did forget to water the DD one time and the "bottles" started to shrivel. I watered right away when I noticed and they plumped right back up. I love a plant that can stand neglect! LOL
I'll put down a variegated jade leaf to see what happens. If it roots and grows, I'll let you know what happens.
These plants are small - the larger jade is in a 4 inch pot and the variegated is in about a 2 to 2.5 inch pot. Could they go outside being as small as they are?

Gaiadisciple: I have never seen a variegated jade, didn't even know there was such a thing! Could you post a photo? Oh, I bet it's a beauty!

Lin

Amy ... do you have a pic of your DD plant? That sounds familiar and I thought I had one out in my menagerie of plants on my deck that someone ID with that name. But, I'm thinking it might not be the same plant cause I don't understand the reference to "bottles'. I need to go search for mine and look closely at the thing! LOL.


Be back later ..... Hope you and Gaia will both post pic's of that Variegated Jade! Wow! I would really like to see one of those. Maybe I'll go google! My favorite pastime anymore!

LIn

yeah, they can go outside. just make sure they are situated where the wind won't keep knocking them down!

Thanks gaia! I'll set them outside if it ever warms up! :o)

Here is a picture of the Variegated Jade, the Jade that got knocked over, and a Crassula ovata 'Gollum' I got the same day I bought the Variegated Jade. It was right there and too neat to leave out of the picture! LOL You can see on the front of the Variegated Jade where part of the stem and a couple leaves broke off.

Here's the Drunkard's Dream. It was all one plant, but it was so heavy it wanted to tip over, so I cut the side off of it and am rooting it. As soon as that part is rooted, I'll combine them into one pot to have a fuller plant. It blooms yellow flowers. Mine had a couple yellow flowers left on the cutting when I got it, but hasn't bloomed since I got it. Maybe this year... If you stick the "bottles" in moist soil, they will root quite easily. :o)

Edited to add a link to the PF page for this plant: http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/55382/index.html

This message was edited Apr 17, 2007 2:21 PM

You can see some of the new shoots growing in the previous picture, but here's a close-up. It's a really neat plant! I enjoy having it.

Yep ... that Drunkard's Dream is a plant I've got. I used to have a HUGE one .... very wide pot that was full and it was beautiful when it was full of those yellow blooms! I only have a small piece of it left ... don't know why it died down over the years and only a little part stayed alive. I really need to repot the part thats left of it!

Love that variegated jade ... never saw a variegated one before. I had a very large (tall) jade tree years ago that my Mom gave me. Was beautiful for probably 15 years and then something happened and it died. I have bits and pieced of it left ... but it is neglected. Some plants just don't seem to last with me very well.

Oh, I also have a little pot of that one called Crasula ovata gollum ... it's in a teeny pot, very dry. I keep thinking I should repot it, but it seems to be doing so well, I've left it along. It's grown taller since I got it last year.

Thanks for posting your pic's Amy!

your jades look fairly healthy right now

if your average low temperatures aren't going below 40, I think you'd be fine sticking them outside now. if a cold snap is forecast, just don't water them before hand and pull them under shelter so they don't get wet. now is a good time to move them to bigger homes too since they'll be getting more energy for growth. I love dressing my little plants up in cool pots. I'll go take some pictures for ya'll

ya know, now that I think about it, I think I mix in just a little peat for lightness when I plant these guys

this is my variegated that got whacked by a tail. there's actually a really weird growth spot , but my camera doesn't have the resolution to take an adequate picture. this plant has been more than neglected for the last two months since I was moving.

to the left is a weird brown speckled jade I bought a few months ago

to the right is a different jade that my housemate bought. it looks alot like the jades growing on the cliffs in San Diego

to the very far right, you can see how much I love ceramic planters

and here is my happy happy hobbit in a pot I got from my grandmother

Jades are succulents, so you want a good draining soil, I would mix the soil with perlite or crushed stone, some type of grit to attain good drainage. Here is a link with some good information on the Jade Plant. Scroll down the page to soil/fertilizer and it talks about what type of medium it should be planted in. I use a lot of perlite mixed in the soil for my succulents ... so they drain quickly and the plants don't end up having soggy roots.

Nice plants Gaia! I have one of the Hobbit Jades too ... Crassula ovata 'Gollum' - aka 'Trumpet Jade' aka 'Spoon Jade'. I also heard someone refer to it as ET's Fingers ... they do look a little like his fingers!

Here's a pic of my little guy:

Here's a close up: Love those little "fingers"

aren't Gollum and Hobbit different? hobbit has curled leaves, but not the little cups like Gollum. keep in mind, I could be very very wrong

Plant Files Link:

http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/545/index.html

Regular Jade: Also Crassula ovata

http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/9/index.html

I'm bad with plant nomenclature, but I guess these Gollum and Hobbit are just varieties (cultivars?) of the regular leaf ovata

http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/3286/index.html

yep, cultivars

I'm embarassed to say I was an ag major. my only possible defense is that I was on the animal and not the plant side

I think these two Plant File listings may be the same identical plant. Crassula ovata 'Gollum' is the botanical name and Hobbit Jade and Trumpet Jade are just common names for the same plant! I may be waaay wrong though ... I really am not sure! Wonder if I posted this question over on the cacti & succulent forum if one of the Pro's in the field could tell us? I think I might give it a try!

Gaia: I posted the question over on the cacti/succulent forum and so far one person responded and said yes they are one and the same.

This message was edited Apr 19, 2007 11:38 AM