How to Care for Jade Plants (2024)

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How to Plant JadePlants

• Choose a wide and sturdy pot with a moderate depth, as jade plants tend to grow top-heavy and fallover.
• Use soil that will drain thoroughly, as excessive moisture may promote fungal diseases like root rot. An all-purpose potting mix will work,though you will want to mix in additional perlite to improve drainage. A 2:1 ratio of potting mix to perlite is great. Alternatively, use a pre-made succulent or cacti pottingmix.
• After plantinga jade plant, don’t water it right away. Waiting anywhere from several days to a week before watering lets the roots settle and recover from anydamage.

How to Start a Jade Plant from a Leaf orStem-Cutting

1. For a stem cutting, ensure you’re using clean clippers or scissors to take your cutting, which must be 3 to 4 inches long. If you’re using a leaf, it must be the complete leaf, that includes the small pointy bit that breaks off from thestem.
2. Once you have your leaf or cutting, allow it to sit for several days in a warm place; a callous will form over the cut area, helping to prevent rot and encouragerooting.
3. Gather your pot and a well-draining potting mix. Use soil that is slightly moist but notwet.
4. Lay the leaf on top of the soil horizontally, covering the cut end with some of the soil. If you have a stem cutting, place it upright in the soil (prop it up with a few small rocks or toothpicks if it won’t stand on itsown).
5. Place the pot in a warm place with bright, indirect light. Do not water.
6. After a week or two, the leaf or cutting will start sending out roots. Give the plant a gentle poke or tug a week or so after that to see if it has rooted itself in place. If it hasn’t, wait a bit longer, testing it (gently!) every fewdays.
7. Once the plant seems to be firmly rooted, water it deeply and carefully. Use something like a turkey baster to gently water the plant without disturbing the roots too much. Make sure that you don’t just get the surfacelayer of the soil wet, as you want to encourage the roots to grow downward for water, not towards thesurface.
8. Let the soil dry out between waterings and keep the plant out of intense direct sunlight until it is wellestablished.

How to Care for JadePlants

Lighting

• Jade plants should receive at least 6hours of bright light each day. Young plants should be kept in bright, indirect sunlight; large, well-established jade plantscan handle more directsunlight.
• Kitchens andoffices with south-facing windows are typically great spots with just enough light, as are western-facingwindows.
• Jade plants that are kept in low light can become leggy and top-heavy, making them susceptible to damage if they fall over, or become unable to support their ownbranches!

Temperature

• Jade plants grow best atroom temperature(65° to 75°F / 18° to 24°C), but prefer slightly cooler temperaturesat night and in the winter (down to 55°F / 13°C).
  • Note:Jade plants are not frost tolerant, so if you keep yours outdoors during the summer, be sure to bring it inside once temperatures fall to around 50°F(10°C) inautumn.
• During winter, move jade plants away from cold windows and keep them out of drafty areas. If exposed to cold temps, jade plants may drop theirleaves.

Watering

• Watering jade plants correctly is very important! Improper watering is the number one issue that most people experience with their jade plants.
  • When the plant is actively growing in the spring and summer, it will requiremore water than at other times of the year. Water jade plantsdeeply (meaning that the soil gets sufficiently moistened throughout—not just at the surface), then wait until the soil has mostly dried out before you water it again. This means that you could end up watering it once a week or once a month—it depends entirely on how quickly the soil dries out in the environment where you keep yourplant.
  • The plant may go dormant in the fall and winter, causing it to slow or pause growth entirely. During this time, it won’t need much water. Water it less often than in the spring and summer, allowingthe soil to dry out fully between waterings. Large, well-established jades may not need more than one or two waterings throughout their entire dormancyperiod.
• Try to avoid splashing water on the leaves while watering, as this can expose them to rot in a humidenvironment.
• Jade plants can be sensitive to salts in tap water, so water with filtered or distilled water if your tap water is notideal.
• If the plant starts to drop its leaves, if the leaves look shriveled, or if brown spots appear on the leaves,it indicates that the plant needs MOREwater.
• If leaves become squishy and waterlogged, the plant is getting TOO MUCHwater.

Read more about How to Water Plants for Healthy Growth.

Fertilizing

• Jade plants don’t require high levels of nutrients and should be fedsparingly. Use a diluted mix of a standard liquidhouseplant fertilizeror a fertilizer made for cacti andsucculents.

If you prefer using your own fertilizer, you can use our Organic Homemade Plant Fertilizer.

Repotting JadePlants

• Jade plants don’t mind being root-bound in asmall pot. In fact, keeping them root-bound will keep the jade smaller and moremanageable.
• Repot youngjade plants once every 2 to 3 years to encourage growth. Witholder jade, repot once every 4 to 5 years or asnecessary.
• Transplantin the early spring, just before the growing seasonbegins.
• After repotting, don’t water the plant for aweek or so. Wait at least a month before fertilizingso as not to burn fresh rootsaccidentally.

There are many types of jade plantsavailable—from the standard, green-leafed jadeto a number ofvariegated varieties. Here are a few exciting jades to keep an eyeoutfor:

• ‘Hummel’s Sunset’ has beautifulyellow- andred-tippedleaves.
• ‘Tricolor’ has leaves variegated with white andcream.
• ’ET’s Fingers’ has tubular leaves with red tips. Anoddity!

• New jade plants can easily be started from the leaves of mature plants. See the Planting section (above)for moreinfo.

Catherine Boeckmann