Jade can make a great houseplant, especially in a classic ceramic or terracotta pot.
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Growing Jade Plants: Lighting, Watering, Repotting, Propogation, and Pests
Planting
How to Plant Jade Plants
- Choose a wide and sturdy pot with a moderate depth, as jade plants tend to grow top-heavy and fall over.
- 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 premade succulent or cacti potting mix.
- After planting a jade plant, don鈥檛 water it right away. Waiting anywhere from several days to a week before watering lets the roots settle and recover from any damage.
Photo by trambler58/Shutterstock.
How to Start a Jade Plant from a Leaf or Stem-Cutting
As a succulent, jade plants are very easy to start from single leaves or cuttings. A stem cutting is a great method when a branch of your jade plant happens to fall off. Just put that cutting in the soil, and you have a new baby plant or a gift plant! If you have time, however, you can propagate from a single leaf!
Propagate before the weather gets cool. And make sure you start with a well-established plant.
- For a stem cutting, ensure you鈥檙e using clean clippers or scissors to take your cutting, which must be 3 to 4 inches long. If you鈥檙e using a leaf, it must be the complete leaf, that includes the small pointy bit that breaks off from the stem.
- 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 encourage rooting.
- Gather your pot and a well-draining potting mix. Use soil that is slightly moist but not wet.
- 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鈥檛 stand on its own).
- Place the pot in a warm place with bright, indirect light. Do not water.
- 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鈥檛, wait a bit longer, testing it (gently!) every few days.
- 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鈥檛 just get the surface layer of the soil wet, as you want to encourage the roots to grow downward for water, not towards the surface.
- Let the soil dry out between waterings and keep the plant out of intense direct sunlight until it is well established.
Growing
How to Care for Jade Plants
Lighting
- Jade plants should receive at least 6 hours of bright light each day. Young plants should be kept in bright, indirect sunlight; large, well-established jade plants can handle more direct sunlight.
- Kitchens and offices with south-facing windows are typically great spots with just enough light, as are western-facing windows.
- 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 own branches!
Temperature
- Jade plants grow best at room temperature (65掳 to 75掳F / 18掳 to 24掳C), but prefer slightly cooler temperatures at night and in the winter (down to 55掳F / 13掳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掳F (10掳C) in autumn.
- 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 their leaves.
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 require more water than at other times of the year. Water jade plants deeply (meaning that the soil gets sufficiently moistened throughout鈥攏ot 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鈥攊t depends entirely on how quickly the soil dries out in the environment where you keep your plant.
- The plant may go dormant in the fall and winter, causing it to slow or pause growth entirely. During this time, it won鈥檛 need much water. Water it less often than in the spring and summer, allowing the soil to dry out fully between waterings. Large, well-established jades may not need more than one or two waterings throughout their entire dormancy period.
- Try to avoid splashing water on the leaves while watering, as this can expose them to rot in a humid environment.
- Jade plants can be sensitive to salts in tap water, so water with filtered or distilled water if your tap water is not ideal.
- 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 MORE water.
- If leaves become squishy and waterlogged, the plant is getting TOO MUCH water.
Read more about How to Water Plants for Healthy Growth.
Fertilizing
- Jade plants don鈥檛 require high levels of nutrients and should be fed sparingly. Use a diluted mix of a standard liquid houseplant fertilizer or a fertilizer made for cacti and succulents.
If you prefer using your own fertilizer, you can use our Organic Homemade Plant Fertilizer.
Repotting Jade Plants
- Jade plants don鈥檛 mind being root-bound in a small pot. In fact, keeping them root-bound will keep the jade smaller and more manageable.
- Repot young jade plants once every 2 to 3 years to encourage growth. With older jade, repot once every 4 to 5 years or as necessary.
- Transplant in the early spring, just before the growing season begins.
- After repotting, don鈥檛 water the plant for a week or so. Wait at least a month before fertilizing so as not to burn fresh roots accidentally.
Photo by Mauricio Acosta Rojas/Shutterstock.
Catherine Boeckmann
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It sounds like you are doing everything properly, however, a soft, damp stem is an indication of root rot, which is typically caused by too much water in the soil. Does the pot that the plant is in have a drainage hole in the bottom? If not, water could be staying in the soil for too long.
In the winter, jade plants should be watered less often than in the summer. If you are watering approximately once a week, try extending that to once every two weeks or so.
Another factor is temperature. How cold does it get by that window? Jade plants don’t like to go below 50掳F at night and colder temps from drafty windows can damage some varieties.
Unfortunately, once a jade plant has root rot, it’s hard to get it to recover. Let it sit for a while without watering and see if anything changes. If the rot spreads, you could try cutting the stem above the rot and replanting the healthy part again. If you do, let the cut part sit in the air for a few days to form a protective 鈥渟kin鈥 over the wound, then plant it in dry soil.
If the fallen leaves are healthy, you can start new plants with them by placing them on top of soil, too.
I have a jade plant I repotted and now it looks like a jungled mess. No tree for sure, the plants branches are not going up but out to the sides of pot. The leaves are getting a little wrinkled and not much substance to them. I don't water much, but I do live in Colorado and it is near a window as it needs the sun. Any suggestions?
Generally, wrinkled leaves are a sign of underwatering. However, they can also occasionally be caused by overwatering, so we should first consider the conditions which led up to this point. Firstly, how long ago did you repot your jade? It’s a good idea to avoid watering right after transplanting, as this allows the plant’s roots to get properly established.
You mention that you don’t water much, which is good, generally. The important thing is to let the soil dry out completely between waterings, and to water deeply. Check if the trunk of the plant feels mushy at all. If so, this is a sign of rot (and overwatering).
How much direct sunlight does the plant get in the window? Too much direct sunlight could be drying out the plant faster than normal, especially in the dry winter air. Additionally, how cold does it get near the window at night? Jade plants don’t like to get below 50掳F at night, and should be kept away from drafty, cold windows.
With all that in mind, it seems most likely that your plant is too dry. Water it deeply and let it dry out completely before doing so again in a couple weeks.
Hello. Last year in the spring I was given a Shamrock plant as a gift and I can't find any advise on how to care for it. It almost died off from what I'm guessing was over watering it, but I babied it and got it to come back. It's still in the original pot, about 5 or 6" with the holes in the bottom. I'd like to transfer it into a regular pot, but the plants are so delicate I'm afraid to without some recommendation. Can you help?
Hi, Brenda: While we think of it, there’s a little more about shamrocks at /content/houseplants-growing-tips. Meanwhile, sure, if you feel your shamrock is crowded, gently transplant it into a pot that is at least 4 inches larger in diameter and depth. Put some stones or broken pottery in the bottom (obviously, you would then set this on a dish or tray), then fill as needed with good potting soil. Shamrocks usually need to go dormant for a few months. As the leaves turn brown, clip them off leading up to this stage. Water only when the leaves first appear to wilt, usually once or twice a week. Thanks for asking!
This fall, I bought 2 'jade plants' according to the tag, from my local grocery store (they set up a big nursery in the summer outside). The pots contained, what looked like, about 8 to 10 sticks stuck in the soil...that was it. A couple of them had a branch, and they were all about 1 1/2" tall. It was the last 2 they had left and, maybe I felt sorry for them, but I bought them and brought them home. This is my 1st time growing jade plants. I have them in a window facing east where they get the morning sun and indirect light the rest of the day. I put them up on the window sill during the day and at night I set them down on a shelf away from the cold (Ohio) window. The 'sticks' are growing, branching off and starting to get little tiny leaves off of some of the 'sticks'. Also, now that they are growing, it actually looks like each pot has 3 different plants in it. They are in little 2" pots. When should I re pot them and should I separate the 3 individual plants that are in each pot?
The plants you are describing don’t really sound like jade plants (not yet, at least), but they may be a related succulent species, such as a pencil cactus. Only time will tell!
In any case, you should let them grow a little larger before transplanting. Let them establish more foliage and get back to good health. The best time to repot them would be in late spring, when there’s more daylight and warmer temperatures. If they are indeed separate plants, it would be best to plant them in separate pots.
Thank you for your reply and help!!!
I live in Southwest Florida. Can I plant a jade plant outside in the ground? What side of the house would give it the best survival rate?
Hello. I live in zone 9a and have jade plants outside. We do get pretty cold here during winter (occasionally snows) but she always comes back in spring. I think the previous owners of the house planted them here and they love where they are. They鈥檙e positioned on the south side of the house but behind an small wall that protects it from full sun, maybe except for an hour or two of direct afternoon sun. Hope that helps!
