Jade plant rescue advice?
May 11, 2012 10:06 AM   Subscribe

What should I do with this Jade Plant rescue? I noticed it in the outdoor planter of an abandoned house and grabbed it. It's about 11" tall, and was under a bit of an overhang, so has been pretty much completely starved of water for yoinks. The leaves are all pretty much gray, deflated and leathery, except the very newest baby leaves (which seem extremely new -- but there aren't very many of the new ones). It came out with a bit of a root system, so I think it will be fine to replant, but should I prune it way back? Way, way back? Or leave the limbs but prune them? Or just it let it be to do as it will?

I'll be keeping it outside in a pot. The climate here (Greece) should be fine, and we get tons of sun in our outdoor area. I'll have it where I can monitor it every day, and dispense affection and encouragement. (Green Thumb level: a kind of lazy 7 out of 10, I guess. My plants usually live/thrive, but I'm not systematic about anything.)
posted by taz to Home & Garden (9 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
dump a bunch of water on it...it'll be fine...succulents are easy...flood them every month or so when they get wrinkly...let the soil dry completely between waterings...they're desert plants...long times without water are par for the course for them.
posted by sexyrobot at 10:11 AM on May 11, 2012


Best answer: I look back to this site every so often for tips:

Hortiscope

specifically, at the questions he answers about jade plant issues: Questions on Jade Plants

I have no idea if his advice is outdated/superseded by Magical New Discoveries in Houseplants(!), since it doesn't look like the site's been updated for a few years. But it seems pretty sensible. (Personal jade cred: I have killed one jade and am currently cultivating a new one.)
posted by pepper bird at 10:26 AM on May 11, 2012


I wouldn't prune it, personally -- dried-out jades like this are pretty good at regenerating leaves, as you've already noticed. Given the pictures I'd expect this jade to recover quickly as-is, once you move it into soil.

If part of the plant remains spindly and bare in a month or so, you can break it off at a joint and stick it in some water or moist sand til it develops a root system, and then bam: two jades!
posted by vorfeed at 10:57 AM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]


Don't prune. Plant in well-draining soil. If it's been in the shade, introduce it to full sun gradually or it will get a sunburn.
posted by purpleclover at 11:11 AM on May 11, 2012


Replant it in good soil for sure. I've had a jade plant for a while, and grown a lot of new jade plants from the dropped-off leaves of my original plant. Jade plants establish roots pretty easily if given half a chance, I've noticed. I wouldn't prune it though. Give it a chance to get established and soak in some sun, and there's a pretty good chance that it will flourish pretty quickly (and start developing branches in other directions too). Jade plants are also pretty good at dropping leaves and growing newer healthier ones once they're given the option. Pruning just seems like it would weaken it at this stage.
posted by colfax at 12:06 PM on May 11, 2012


I know you said you were going to keep it outside - maybe consider treating it to some indoor therapy until it's stronger? I had a jade plant that just loved being under a recessed heat lamp in the ceiling of our bathroom. When the bulb burned out and I replaced it with a special one for plants, the poor thing faded. It really loved that heat lamp - made the leaves glossy and dark and beautiful.
posted by cartoonella at 1:14 PM on May 11, 2012


I inherited a jade plant from my landlord. She had problems with it outside. I moved it inside for the winter, where it got a fair bit of always-indirect light, occasional days-week+ of neglect, and it took off.

A couple weeks ago I moved it outside onto my patio, and it's had constant rain since, plus plenty of direct light. The leaves are becoming grayish, with purple tones, and overall it looks sickly.

From what I've read since, jades prefer flood-to-drought cycles, and possibly only indirect light.

Now that I've thought about it, I've seen 3'-high monster jade plants in California, where their soil will get very dry between rains/waterings, and always growing in the shade of trees.
posted by IAmBroom at 2:03 PM on May 11, 2012


Water it well, maybe once a month, repot it into some fresh mix that will hold water better and have some goodness in it. I was always told these were called money trees and to not keep them out the front of your house as they stopped the money flowing in, you were supposed to put them by your back door to stop money leaving. I have no idea if it's true or not, but my mum has done it for years. She treats her plant with benign neglect and if flourishes. If you do decide to prune it back or if some breaks off you can grow new plants from the cuttings just shove them in a pot.
posted by wwax at 3:05 PM on May 11, 2012


Response by poster: Thanks everyone... these were all best answers actually, but I marked pepper bird's answer best for the helpful site. I took everyone's advice and didn't prune, plus I put it where it had a bit of shade (from a tree) instead of full-on sun, as I was planning.

It's looking quite chipper and relieved these days. All the leaves have reconstituted and plumped out, leaving only a couple of tiny brown spots from its ordeal, and lots of new leaves have grown. I think we saved a life!

I will try to remember to update this later with more pix after some time has passed.
posted by taz at 3:17 AM on June 10, 2012


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