Jade plant

Light and exposure

The jade plant demands plenty of light. Place it in front of the brightest window in the house, ideally due south or south-west, where it receives several hours of direct sun. It is in this light that it keeps a compact habit, tightly packed leaves and sometimes a red edge on the rim.

In the shade or too far from a window, it stretches: the stems lengthen, spread out, the plant goes bare at the bottom and leans towards the light. A soft, gangly jade plant is almost always a jade plant short of light, not water. Turn the pot a quarter turn each week so that it grows straight.

Watering

This is where everything is decided. The jade plant stores its water reserve in its leaves and withstands drought very well. Water rarely, and only when the substrate is completely dry all the way down: in summer, this amounts to watering every ten to fifteen days, sometimes less. Soak the root ball well, let the excess drain away, then empty the saucer. Never let water stagnate underneath.

Excess water is the fatal mistake. A plant that stays damp rots at the base, and the first signs are deceptive: the leaves become soft, translucent, yellowish, then fall at the slightest touch. Many people react by watering more, which finishes off the plant. Faced with soft leaves, the answer is almost always to stop watering, not to add more.

Soil and repotting

Drainage takes priority over everything else. Use a special potting mix for cacti and succulents, or an ordinary potting soil lightened with a good third of coarse sand, perlite or lava rock. The aim is a substrate that dries quickly and does not hold water around the roots.

Repot every two to three years, in spring, into a pot barely bigger and above all with a hole in the bottom. A terracotta pot is ideal: porous, it lets the substrate breathe and dry faster than a plastic pot. As the jade plant becomes top-heavy with age, a slightly weighted container prevents it from toppling over.

Temperature and humidity

The jade plant is happy in our interiors, between 18 and 24 degrees in full growth. It tolerates heat without trouble, but it is frost-tender: below 5 degrees it suffers, and the slightest frost destroys its water-filled tissues. So it never overwinters outdoors in the Herve area.

The real lever, here, is a cool winter rest. From November to February, place it in a bright but cool room, between 8 and 12 degrees if possible, and cut off almost all watering. This cold, dry rest keeps it compact and sometimes triggers a flowering of pinkish-white stars at the end of winter. Air humidity has no importance for this plant: it does not care about the dry air of our heated homes.

Pruning and upkeep

The jade plant prunes very well and benefits from being trained. Pinch or cut the tips of the stems to make it branch and give it the habit of a dense, balanced shrub. A cut just above a pair of leaves sends out two new shoots. This is how, over time, you obtain a fine little-tree silhouette.

Everyday care is minimal. Remove the faded or fallen leaves at the bottom of the pot to prevent them rotting in contact with the substrate. From time to time, dust the leaves with a soft cloth: clean, they capture light better and keep their fine glossy appearance. Do not over-fertilise; a diluted cactus feed once or twice during the growing season is amply enough.

Pests and diseases

In our damp climate, the number one danger is root and collar rot, caused by excessive watering or a substrate that does not drain. It is insidious: the plant seems fine then collapses all at once, the base gone soft and brown. Excess water also attracts fungus gnats, those little black flies whose larvae swarm in a too-damp substrate, another sign that you are watering too much.

As for pests, watch out for the mealybug, that little cottony white cluster nestled in the leaf axils and on the stems. It thrives in the stale air of our winter interiors. Dab it with 70-degree alcohol on a cotton swab and isolate the plant while you get the better of the colony. Scale insects and red spider mites, rarer, are treated in the same way.

Propagation

This is one of the jade plant’s great assets: it multiplies with disconcerting ease. Take a stem cutting of ten centimetres, let the cut dry and callus over two to three days in the open air, then plant it in a barely moist, free-draining substrate. It roots on its own within a few weeks, without hormone or any special precaution.

Simpler still, a leaf is enough. Detach a healthy leaf, simply lay it flat on the substrate without burying it, in a bright spot, and water very lightly from time to time. A small rosette and roots eventually appear at its base, giving a new plant. Spring and summer, the period of active growth, are the best times to take cuttings.

Toxicity

Slightly toxic to cats and dogs if ingested. The fleshy leaves can cause vomiting, excessive salivation and lethargy in the animal. No real danger for an adult, but keep young children away from fallen leaves, which they might put in their mouths.

Month-by-month care calendar

Green Hub tips

• Faced with soft, translucent leaves, stop watering, do not add more: it is almost always an excess of water, never a lack.
• A detached leaf laid flat on free-draining potting soil roots all by itself. It is the simplest way to obtain new plants for free.
• In winter, put it in a bright, cool room with almost no water. It is winter watering in a heated living room that kills it here.
• If it stretches and goes bare, it is not feed it needs but light: move it closer to the sunniest window.