Jade plant

I've had a large jade for several months, its always been in the same spot, on the floor in front of a south window. It has been shedding leaves constantly and I don't know why - at first, it was growing in height, but now its a disaster. I water once a week and it is getting enough sun, I think...any suggestions?

Eileen

Can you post a picture? It could be too much water, jades are succulents and don't need a lot of water so that would be my first suspect.

I have a feeling it's too much water as ecrane3 said. Years ago I had a nice large jade and some smaller ones out on the deck. We were gone on vacation for a week and it rained a lot while we were away, the leaves were totally off all of them when we got home. The big one rotted but I still have a couple of small ones. I water everything with the hose and I have to be very careful with the jades, since they are succulents they store water and too much is going to cause decline and eventual death.

I think the location you have the plant situated is fine, but once a week watering is probably too much. I would let it dry out for a couple of weeks, see if you see any change, hopefully it isn't already rotting from the inside out. If your plant is okay after a couple of weeks I would just give it a very little bit of water and only every couple of weeks. Good luck and I hope you can save your plant.

Thank you both - I think overwatering has probably been the reason for the plants decline. The soil always seems so dry and compacted that I have overdone it. I will leave it be and hope it isn't too late. I wish I could post a pic, especially a before and after, but I don't know how! I'm glad no one thinks its the location, as I have no where else to put it. It is, or was, a beauty and I would really hate to lose it. When I bought it, it was actually in bloom, with small white flowers, and though it was bigger than I usually buy (and more expensive!!) I just had to get it. I'll hope for the best! Thanks again.

Eileen

SOmething else I would like to mention, actually I think I already did....the soil is very compacted and dry and water runs right through it. Should I repot? Could this be the problem.? Thanks!

Eileen

I think it might be a very good idea to remove the plant from the pot and look at the roots to see if they are healthy and viable, or possibly rotting. If all of the roots have rotted and the base of the jade seems soft I don't know if your plant will be salvageable. If there are still good roots and you repot make sure you use a soil especially for succulents, something light and well draining. You don't want a soil that holds water, any water sitting around the base or roots of a succulent will cause rot.

Here's some info I found while googling, scroll down to the Answer: http://en.allexperts.com/q/House-Plants-721/Jade-tree.htm

and also here: http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/f10/jade-tree-dropping-leaves-1321.html

Good luck with your Jade, I hope you will be able to save it.

Thanks, plantladylin, I will try to do what you suggest. Problem is, its not one plant but about 8 - 10 separate small "trees" in one 12 inch pot. They are about 1 1/2 feet tall. It will be difficult to get out but I think that is the only way to see whats going on with the root system, which is probably what is wrong. Thanks again!

Eileen

While I still think overwatering is a definite possibility given that these plants don't like a lot of water, what you say about the soil being compacted and water running right through and the size/amount of plants in the pot makes me wonder if it's getting enough water, or maybe it's pretty rootbound. If the potting mix gets really dried out, it can be hard to rewet it, so if you just water until you see water running out the bottom, the whole potting mix might not have gotten wet, so you may actually have very little water in there for the roots to take up--in order to get it wet all the way through you can set the pot in a sink/bucket full of water and let it soak up water from the bottom (be careful with this approach though, once you start watering the plant properly you will need to water less often than you have been). Or a similar thing can happen if the plant's really rootbound, in that case there are so many roots in the pot and not much soil to hold water, so it becomes next to impossible for the plant to get enough water. So I'd definitely pop it out of the pot and see what's going on in there--it is critical to figure out really what the issue is so that you're fixing the right problem.

Thank you ecrane3, just to be on the safe side I am going to repot this coming weekend after I have bought cacti/succulent soil. I won't lift it out until then, because as I said, it will be difficult to do, given the size of it. All the help is greatly appreciated!

Eileen

Just wanted to give a brief update - last night my husband and I were examining one of the stems that had fallen off (yes, even the stems are coming off, though not as many as the leaves) and when we squeezed the stem together, water came dripping out! So everyone was right, I was overwatering. I'm so furious with myself, but glad to know the reason, maybe now it can be saved. I'm not watering it for a month! Plantladylin said to use a light soil if I repot - I am going to lift it out tomorrow to examine and prune any dead roots, and if its okay, I may leave it in this soil, as it drains very quickly. Thanks again to everyone, we never would have squeezed the stem if we hadn't been looking for excess water, as suggested here.

Eileen

Eileen,
I would take a few tip cuttings and root them if they still feel firm.Individual leaves that have fallen will root,too,if they are still healthy.
Lynn

Succulents do store water in their leaves/stems, so I'd go by how the soil and roots look before you decide for sure that overwatering was the problem. It's still the most likely suspect since they don't need a lot of water, but since they do store water it is possible that even if it was in a good watering situation you might be able to squeeze water out of the leaves/stems.

Thanks, ecrane3, I was having the same thought last night....it just seemed like so much water coming out! I think I will still lay off any watering, but today I am going to buy some cactus/succulent soil and a slightly bigger pot and repot it. I'll look carefully at the root system, and go from there. Thanks again!

Eileen

Just a final note on the jade...I got it out of its pot and into a new one. The rootball was damp even though I had not watered in a week, and the very bottom was really wet. I was surprised to see the root system was very fine and delicate; I didn't see any rotted roots, but it was difficult to really tell. Thanks to everyone for your responses!

Eileen