I just wanted to thank everyone from my previous post. It seems that my beautiful jade plant of 10 years is on the rebound. After taking repotting and pruning suggestions things are doing well.

I have included one photo of what the plant look like before the repotting and pruning just to give you an idea of how things were looking. My only question is am I pruning this thing properly.? I have always wanted a nice thick stocky jade plant that would stand on its own and not be stringy and have heavy branches that wouldn't support themselves. Which is what I had in the single picture attached to this post.

I am waiting on some suggested 20-20-20 orchid food in the mail and just applied some stakes yesterday to keep everything more upright. I definitely welcome your suggestions!! The only thing that I wanted to point out is that even though my jade plant was not clipped in some areas the branches are still spreading out and dissecting themselves. What's that about?

I think it is just the jade plant trying to get some more sun. Just let it be for now, it is adjusting from all the clipping and repotting.

Your jade looks nice..actively growing new little ones up and down the stem At this time of the year, in my area at least, my jades are thirsty, so I give them a good deep watering and allowed to dry. This is the time of the year you can really see them thicken their stems.

Looking good!

with Tarev. Everything looks good and you'll have a stronger, healthier plant, one with better shape.

Some people will just water their jade on a regular schedule and there is nothing wrong with that as long as you don't overdo it. Your jade will "tell your" when it needs water though. Just watch the leaves. When they are plump, everything's well. When some of the leaves begin to shrivel a bit, the plant is thirsty. I often am so busy with my tropical plants that the jade and aloe vera plants get neglected. When I see those slightly shriveled leaves I take all the jade and all the aloe vera plants and plunge them in a large tub filled with water. I will actually leave them all completely submerged until no more bubbles come up. That might take 5-10 minutes, depending on how dry the soil and roots were and how large the pot. Then I let them all drain completely and back on their perches/shelves they go.

Very nice job, mmgsport. I'm glad it went so well.

drdawg said: with Tarev. Everything looks good and you'll have a stronger, healthier plant, one with better shape.

Some people will just water their jade on a regular schedule and there is nothing wrong with that as long as you don't overdo it. Your jade will "tell your" when it needs water though. Just watch the leaves. When they are plump, everything's well. When some of the leaves begin to shrivel a bit, the plant is thirsty. I often am so busy with my tropical plants that the jade and aloe vera plants get neglected. When I see those slightly shriveled leaves I take all the jade and all the aloe vera plants and plunge them in a large tub filled with water. I will actually leave them all completely submerged until no more bubbles come up. That might take 5-10 minutes, depending on how dry the soil and roots were and how large the pot. Then I let them all drain completely and back on their perches/shelves they go.

Thanks for the advice. I actually try very little to intentionally water my jade because I'm so worried abou the foot rot from before, however I have the right soil in there and a TON of perlite so it drains nicely.

Please talk to me about this "submerging" of the plant. Are you putting the whole plant in the pot in the tub? Are you pulling the plant out? How does this go?

If I did need to put my jade on a water schedule what would it be?

Watering depends on your growing conditions. I have my jade outside (in shade from 11:00 AM till 4:00 PM), in a greenhouse (which during the summer months will often get up to 110 F even with a large fan running and the doors/vents wide open), and a large plant on a porch where the plant gets about 4 hours of early morning sun. The ones outside get watered when my in-ground irrigation system is running and when it rains. These plants get more water (by far) than the others that are indoors. Needless to say, the ones in the GH dry out really fast and the ones on my porch moderately fast. Those are the ones I will occasionally do the submersion on. I submerged them yesterday in fact. Like you, I am using an almost "desert" mix that drains rapidly and retains only a bit of moisture. I try to water my greenhouse/porch plants every week, and I am watering them heavily. But when they are neglected and show those shriveled leaves, it is submersion time.

Yes, I completely submerge the plants, though the large ones might be tall enough that the top 1/3 of the plant doesn't get submerged. The tub is approximately 30"x18" and 12" deep. I have actually left plants submerged in the tub for an hour (I get busy with my other plants ) but when I remove them and let them drain, all the water is going to run right out. I have never lost a jade plant as far as I know. The tub might be impractical for many, but since I keep one filled with water outside one of my greenhouses just for this purpose, it is handy for me.

Well, Ken is right about that...we all have different growing conditions. In my area I never do submerging for any of my succulents. They just get watered a bit more frequent in summer, if I know they are actively growing at that time. Like once a week frequency than every two weeks. All depends on your temperature, humidity, media, and location where you grow the plant (indoors year round or outdoors ).

What is more important is to keep that media very well draining, to avoid root rot. I also try to avoid overhead watering for the succulents, just direct to the soil, their stomates are closed during daytime anyways.

I do not know if you notice the seasonal change with the jades..as with some of the other succulents, after winter, as spring comes they begin to lose the outermost leaves, they wrinkle badly, makes you think they are dying, but they are just actually shedding the older leaves. Then pretty soon the newer growth in the middle comes about..or maybe it is attempting to make new blooms. Either way they do that. And I think that is the stage that most people overwater, thinking it needs more water. As summer comes in, jades begin to be thirstier, fattening up the caudex. As the older leaves fall off, the stem just got taller. As summer now starts to go into fall, they love the cooler temps, so it will make more leaves, either from the center or anywhere up and down the stem. Come winter time, it will slow down a bit growing. But it is not dormant. It can take the stress of the winter cold, as long as they do not get damp and too wet. Gets those rosy colored chilled leaves. And then Spring comes about..cycle continues..etc. etc.

as well. One needs to know how to care for the succulents they grow, but after growing succulents/tropical plants for four decades, and having hundreds of them at any given time, growing them becomes second-nature. For me at least. I just "know" when they need water and when they don't. But one thing is always constant. All my potting soils/media drain well.

You could establish a schedule to water your jade plant if it is indoors all the time, with relatively constant temperatures, low humidity and light only varying a little from season to season. It is always best to water thoroughly, then let the plant dry out rather than watering just a little bit, more often. I used to put mine in the kitchen sink and run room temperature water through it and over the leaves (use the sprayer) until it was thoroughly soaked. This is an alternative to Ken's submerging technique. Bigger plants can go in the shower.

If it is outdoors, you must watch the plant and water when you begin to see some shriveling of leaves. As seasonal conditions - temperature and humidity - change you would need to water more or less often. Also watch that it doesn't get too much if you have a rainy spell of weather. (move it under an overhang or into a covered area).

Keep in mind guys, I ONLY submerge my jade/aloe vera when they have been terribly neglected and the soil is bone-dry, and perhaps has been for several weeks. This happens (at most) 2-3 times, spring-fall. Like all my other plants, I prefer a watering/fertilizing schedule. Sometimes, since I have perhaps 600-700 tropical plants, a few plants that I keep on the porch year-round (large jade and aloe vera) don't get that regular watering, since all the other plants are outside, mostly under trees. Those are watered/fertilized with a hose.