Re-pot it, and give it maximum light in the office.

Dropping limbs is not a good sign, though it's a common occurence on Jades that
are either not receiving enough light to support the foliage...or Jades that
do not have enough roots left to support the foliage. Either way, new mix and
more light will correct it.

I've noticed that in the UK the term "compost" is used often.
I've interpreted that this is your term for "potting soil." In the US,
"compost" refers to organic scraps (like old salad, egg shells) that are piled and
turned and aged (composted) to eventually make a garden soil.

I can't advise on brands of potting soil/compost in the UK, but I'm guessing that they're
as bad there as they are here. If you have perlite, rinse the dust and small particulate out,
and then use that as your base - maybe 70 - 80 percent of your mix.

Good luck!

Josh

Hi Rich

I would re-pot it using John Innes no2 mixed with perlite to help with drainage.

Wilkinsons sell perlite for �3.18 for 10 litres.

Good luck with the plant :)

Josh: Cheers, I hope so. And yeah, we tend to use "compost" for both the potting soil and stuff like composted organic waste.

Nikki: Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately I don't have any Wilkinsons near me (a pain since I don't drive), only a B&Q and Homebase. Their website seems to have some almost as decent prices though.

Cheers to you both!

If it were my Jade, I would do major surgery on it, to reinvigourate the plant. I would cut it back to just above the first branch, and repot it in a well draining potting mix in an unglazed clay pot. Place near a window with maximum sun exposure.

Christopher

Cheers all.

I've decided to start the operation tonight and, having snuck it away from work, have so far managed to wash off most of the old soil (that was tough, very compacted stuff). I'm probably going to leave what's left on the root ball to dry out overnight before repotting it tomorrow, hopefully that'll discourage rot...

I'm not really brave enough to do any major whacking on it at the moment (since its not really my plant, I've just adopted it I guess). Once the existing growth recovers I might venture that way a bit to try and make it a bit more bushy but for now I just want to keep it alive!

Rich,

It really would be beneficial to the plant to remove the excess (etiolated) growth that Christopher speaks of, so if that's all you need for a shot of courage, I'd heartily encourage it (at least the ill-grown limbs) - no special knife needed, just go at it with the office scissors and you'll please the plant, yourself and we colonists both north and south.

Thanks, I've seen the successes other have posted here about whacking them, but is there any risk that it might kill it though? I'm just concerned about putting too much stress on what may be an already fairly weak plant, unless I'm just over thinking things...

You won't kill it, I chopped mine right back and was scared of killing it and now its grown back nicely.

Good luck :)

Rich,

No, just withhold watering it heavily - a light drink every week or so and I should think, even with the summer in your neck of the woods, if you give it warmth, more and increasing light, and some water, you'll see new leaves in a month. There's almost no chance of killing it, unless you leave it outside in the snow and sub-freezing temps or put it in a blender.

As soon as it stops raining it'll have plenty of warmth and light!

Thanks to all of you, I will try giving it a whack when I pot it, probably tomorrow evening once I get home from work. I'll try somewhere along the lines of here: {{gwi:581119}}
just above where the stems have been dropping (and stumps have further fell) a bit higher than point originally suggested by Christopher way above but so be it...

On the flipside though, if I am unlucky enough succeed in the almost no chance stakes, plenty of cuttings to replace it with!

Many, many thanks to you all! I'll post updates as stuff happens, and will hopefully have an unrecognisable plant to take back to work in a month's time!

That seems like a pretty good place to cut to me. I would also put it in a terra cotta pot as opposed to plastic, to aid in keeping the soil dry. Good luck!

Christopher

Well,
it'll have signs of new growth, but it'll take more than a month for it to fully re-leaf.
The more sunlight you can provide, the faster the recovery and the better the new foliage will be.

Josh

Cheers! The operation is now done and its sitting in my east facing window.

Unfortunately I don't have any terracotta pots and won't be in a position to get any for a while (the blue pot is only ornamental...) so instead I put in a layer of perlite only at the bottom, hopefully that'll help with drainage at the very least...

And I will be very happy even with signs of new growth! At the moment it feels like all I've done is pot up a big stick! Hopefully it and the cuttings will appreciate the work I've done and you all have advised with and, even though the conditions may not be ideal, grow into some awesome plants!

Or at least not as rubbish as it was before...

{{gwi:581120}}

Many thanks again, I really appreciate it! :)

~ Rich