Hi! My name is Maggie & I'm new here! I'm a little lost with succulents and indoor plants, I typically garden vegetables/outdoor plants but I was excited when one of my friends got me this plant since I can't garden for a few more months in NJ. After looking online I think it's a Jade plant... (I could be wrong, so if it's something else please feel free to let me know!)

Anyway, my question is- is it too leggy? And if it is, what should I do? Any help with this little guy is greatly appreciated!
~Maggie

Hi & welcome! It looks like a Jade plant to me too. It does look like it has been in less than optimal light recently.

The plant database on this site has pics & info about them:
Jade Plant (Crassula ovata)

If you have a spot right by an east or west window, where the sun can shine right on it daily, that would help. At this time of year, a south window is also great, but as angle of the sun gets higher, less light will be shining through a S window with each passing day. It's very difficult for those of us with freezing winters to keep something like a Jade looking like one in a location where it can be outside all year.

If you want to take it outside when the nights are safely above freezing, start slow because plants that have been inside can get sunburned when taken outside. If you start with the first or last hour of sunshine and then ease it toward more sun, a little more each week, you can get it back to looking more perky if the available sunshine through a window isn't enough. There is no requirement to do this, I just wanted to help you avoid sunburn if you did want to take it outside later in the year.

Hi and from me too!

I agree, your plant is a Jade Plant (Crassula ovata) and Tiffany has offered good advice. The only thing I'd add is that Crassula are very drought tolerant and as a container plant it will require excellent drainage.

GREAT ADVICE from these ladies!

Thank you for the kind words, Nick. : )

Does that that sweet little pot have drainage holes? If not, it must be changed into a pot that drains, possibly a tad bigger but not by much, using a free-draining potting mix.

I differ with Tiffany's advice about exposure — at this time of year, southern exposure will provide the best light. You can reevaluate that after the equinox.

Yes it does have drainage! Thank you so much for your advice!

Thank you so much for your thoughtful advice! Some things I've read online say that I should cut it down but I'm worried to do that- would you recommend it? Or just try to give it as much light as possible now until it gets warmer and go from there? I appreciate your help!

If it were mine, I'd clip off the spindly growth, which will allow formation of multiple stalks and bushier growth.

Jades are incredibly resilient and wonderfully responsive to shaping and pruning. The two things that are most likely to harm or kill them are insufficient light and overwatering.

As for being too leggy: it depends on what you want this plant to do.

You could keep it short and squat by pinching off the uppermost emerging leaves. This will force the plant to make a bushy form - over the long haul. Or, you could not pinch it back, just let it grow taller as is, to form what will become main trunks in future years, with side branches like a tree.

Look towards the future. Consider the space it will live in, say, five years. How best to fill that space? Short and squat or tall and tree like?

If you do nip off some of the terminal leaves, the jade will grow more side buds, which you can prune again in a few years. So you'll have plenty of choices in the future.

Another huge advantage of jades is, they can go very long time without needing to be re-potted.

I had one in a single pot for over 25 years. It was still happy and strong when I gave it away.

And once I repotted one because I thought (erroneously) that that's what you "should" do with container plants. The roots were not at all crowded. Should have left it alone. Big lesson in gardening: if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Hi Maggie,

Welcome! I learned from other members here that jade plants get leggy if they don't have enough sunlight. I had to buy plant lights because we have a lot of oaks around our house which block the sun. Since jade plants have shallow roots, as they grow taller/bigger, unless the pot is heavy, they could topple over. So clay/ceramic pots are better than plastic pots.

I can relate to your hesitancy to prune/cut back your jade plant. I feel the same way and I need to prune all my jade plants again as they've grown too tall. I give the cuttings away to friends or put the trimmings in our landscape recycling bag. Jade plants are super easy to propagate too. Allow the cut pieces to dry/scab over for a few days and then you can put them in well drained soil to root. There are plenty of how-to videos/articles on propagating new jade plants.