help for my jade plant

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Todd Allen on July 23, 2009 at 10:00am

Plants often do poorly with a big change in conditions. A plant kept indoors with lots of shade and no wind needs to be hardened off gradually before being subjected to full sun and wind, etc. Ideally it should go into a location that gets morning/evening sun but is shaded from the intense mid day sun. Adjacent to a wall or wind block also helps. After a week or so in a sheltered spot, move it to a less sheltered spot. After another week it ought to be ready for full sun (assuming it is a full sun plant - which I think jade is).

If you don't have a sheltered spot and can't create one, some people harden plants off by taking them in and out repeatedly gradually giving them longer exposures to the elements.

Another big no no is putting fertilizer on stressed plants. A strong fertilizer dose can easily kill a plant in stress.

btw, I doubt the jade would have frozen in the window. Perhaps any bits actually touching the window might have gotten frost damage but the plant as a whole probably would have been fine. A lot of plants will do better in cooler conditions when getting insufficient sun. The cold slows them down and reduces their energy needs. Sun loving plants resting in cool shady conditions should also be kept a little drier than normal and should not be given any fertilizer.

Permalink Reply by Rachel on July 24, 2009 at 3:34pm

Wow - overwatering is often the issue with jades. Any other symptoms? White fuzzy areas? mushy stems? It does sound like it may have been too big a change in environment. Cut back to rescue?

Permalink Reply by jen on July 25, 2009 at 7:32am

No other issues, I did have a black mold thing going on last year but i sat and cleaned each petal(leaf?) with a q-tip and this homemade solution a master gardner at the garfield park conser. told me about and its has been gone ever since. I just need to stick to rubber trees and other tropical plants. I have much better luck with them.

Rachel said:

Wow - overwatering is often the issue with jades. Any other symptoms? White fuzzy areas? mushy stems? It does sound like it may have been too big a change in environment. Cut back to rescue?