I won't say much(because I'm no Jade expert) but that soil looks horribly peaty and water retentive. Other members will expand on what I mean

How long ago did you treat for mealies and repot? And what direction is that window facing?

ez

If no one else responds, I can walk you through how to save it. Please unpot it and let the roots and stems dry, that should halt the dying. I reccomend leaving it on paper towels for a few days

Nicole

There seems to be quite a bit of damage.

I circled few areas of concern: are the ends of the branches soft? How about the larger one on bottom right - is there soil inside?

Can't tell for sure from photos, but the green branches (hanging/droopy) don't look entirely attached.

The soil will not help, it looks like peat and will be difficult to keep watered properly. It also looks like the stems are deep in the soil. How about the roots - did they look healthy?

Get the potting mix out of that branch cup! Pull the plant from the mix, take pics of the roots.

Rhamel, please advise on new mix.

Josh

Oh, OK.

I don't specialize in soil mixes at all, but the soil its in is way too peaty. A easy way to make better soil is to pot it in a mix of 50% cactus soil, and 50% perlite. Any stems that ate rotted must be cut off, to stop the rot. ButI must stress, it must leave that soil, as said above

Thank you everyone so much. The soil is mostly the basic miracle gro mix recommended by a gardener at a home improvement store for Jade plants who said he's been at it for 25 years. But, we mixed it with some organic soil and cacti soil we had at home as well.

My mom treated about 1 week ago and we just repotted. The soil smelled of insecticide / soap which we didn't think was good, hence why we repotted. I don't see any movement of bugs anymore. Not sure if it's easy to spot movement or not, though.

The window is West facing as we believe this to be the best light for our house. We could be wrong. I bought a grow light I've used for my lemon tree who LOVES it. Hoping this will help with light.

Rina - As for the rot, what's left is no longer squishy. That has been scooped out and now the "trunks" are firm. The one trunk has a little soil in it following the repotting. It must have fallen in during the process. The roots did NOT look like they had root rot. They were short. Not sure if that's normal for them. Not a root ball but a few short and thick roots. They are about half way down the pot. Should we bring them closer to the surface? The green branches are attached but so limp and the "attached" part is strained and very weak. They didn't look this way a week ago. That's why we feared the insecticide was killing the plant more.

Rhamel - I will remove from the soil and take pictures of the roots to follow. Plan to replant in 50% cactus and 50% perlite. But, should I let it 'dry out' as you said first?

Thank you all so much, again.

The roots are short most probably b/c it was watered too often in a water-retentive soil mix(this is a generalization based upon a common mistake seen on this forum quite often, so I'm sorry if I've got it wrong). There was always plenty of water present, so the roots never had to grow in search of it, and possibly there was a repetitive cycle of root growth f/b root death due to soggy conditions.

I agree with the soil recommendation, and the west window would seem to be okay. I like the idea of supplementing the light during the winter as you have for the lemon. If you have not cut or broken any roots, I don't think letting the roots dry is necessary. I would plant so the roots are a little higher than half way, but others may have different ideas. As to cutting those drooping branches, I would just for the aesthetics. I would also cut the longer trunk to be closer in height to the shorter one, but that's personal preference only.

The plant will use little water until new leaves start coming on in several weeks, so the need for watering may be much reduced for a while. Once you have new growth and are watering regularly, water thoroughly each time to flush the soil, then let the soil dry out in between.

ez

Nicole

The plant is quite stressed by being attacked and treated for mealy bugs, and subsequent re-potting. But I believe the present soil will not help it, so taking it out of it should be better. Please shake all of the soil out of any crevices - it will keep moisture and may help to start rot.

When getting rid of rotten parts, did you cut-sliced-scooped until healthy tissue? If any of the rot was left, it may continue spreading. Short roots are OK as long as they are healthy. Do not bury plant too deep because of short roots - it would be better to support the trunk until roots start growing and anchor it (use some larger rocks, or it could be tied.

If the roots and part of trunk that goes under the soil is too wet, let it air dry first.

If my plant, I would cut off the limp branches; check for rot - if you find any, cut it off, and let them callus. They should grow new plants.

I would also cut off the parts that look dead (hopefully they are just drying and not rotting) as in the photo - close to the 'collar'. This way it will dry up and callus much faster. Or you could cut lower - where the blue line indicates:

Okay, thank you again!

I've repotted with 50% perlite 50% cactus soil. I've trimmed off the parts mentioned by breathnez and Rina. New pictures below. The only part I wasn't sure about was the thickest trunk. I cut it back, but it's not green. It's not mushy either. A little less firm. Should I cut down all the way?

Also, I raised the plant so it's roots are much closer to the surface.

Please let me know if anyone has any other suggestions. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Best,

Nicole

Nicole, that black stump is rotten. Cut until you see healthy tissue.

Josh

Looks better. Just don't water it for a week or 2

Rot won't go away - even if you don't water. Unless you get rid of it, it may infect rest of the plant. Sorry, but that doesn't look good at all.

It maybe too far gone!

Okay.. and oh no :( I cut back to the part below. It's green at the edges, white around as you can see. The branch going off of this trunk was green where I cut it off. Do I need to keep cutting? What does healthy tissue look like?

There is still some black in there, I am sure you can see it. The green and whitish tissue is OK.

IMO, I would still cut more, and cut off the side branch - if healthy, it could be rooted too (let it callus first).

I use powdered cinnamon on large cuts, it is a natural fungicide. If you want to use it, don't overdo it. Light dusting is enough. But once the rot is present, it will not disappear, it needs to be removed.

Did you water - looks like the mix is wet around the plant. Don't rush things, the plant could be without water for a while, it is better off drier than wet.

Here is a large branch that was pruned off and let to callus -pruned off March 30 and potted up April 11 - it was not watered or misted at all:

As rina says, still a little more cutting. But, strong and brave work on a treasured plant. Hope it makes it! As someone has stated before on this forum, succulents need benign neglect. They don't need as much nurturing as other house plants. Less watering is better than more, too little fertilizer is better than too much. They do want to soak up the sun, though that's not a worry until you have new growth.

ez

You guys are awesome. Thanks for the encouragement. We clearly do not have green thumbs, and I appreciate your patience and continued help. Yes, I do see the black spots. I will cut more until those are gone, add a LIGHT dusting of powdered cinnamon to the large cut, and I will NOT water until new growth. :)

Rina - when you say, "IMO, I would still cut more, and cut off the side branch - if healthy, it could be rooted too (let it callus first)", do you mean I should let the big cut callus first, then cut the side branch? Also - thank you for the photo. That gives us hope!

Digging through trash now, We halted the trashman so we have about an hour!! Meanwhile ---- I cut down the thick trunk but continue to find the black spots.... Should i Cut the entire trunk off?

FOUND the bits. Here's how they look now. Again, about 1w ago they were fine. DId not seem to be affected by bugs etc.

Nicole

I would cut the side branch now since it seems that the main trunk has still some rot in it. (I was suggesting to let side branch to callus before potting it up). As Crenda said, you can just leave it sitting there, without worrying - as long as it is healthy (same procedure - see if there is any black inside. If yes, cut slice by slice until clear. Otherwise, just let it callus). It will survive months without any water as Crenda showed - I am procrastinator too...have left branches without potting for many, many months.

The main trunk needs to be sliced off until no black spots/threads are visible. It would be good if you clean cutting blade with rubbing alcohol after each slice (sorry I forgot to mention this before). You may end up with very short stub, but have nothing to loose - if healthy, short stub will eventually start growing new leaves. If there is too much rot thru it, it will die anyway.

The pot you have them in seems to be quite large, it holds lots of soil that is very easy to over-water. But you could keep it, as long as you take care with watering. Get a long wooden skewer and insert it deep into the pot - about 2/3rds down - when you have urge to water. If it comes out clean and dry (you don't need to keep it in the soil for too long, just a min or two), time to water. If any particles of soil are sticking to it and/or it feels damp when touched to your hand or cheek, do not water at all.

Rina

edited to add: It may take a while - could be few months - before any new growth is visible. Be patient, and just check for any signs of rot - softening of trunks. Otherwise leave alone...

This photo shows new growth just appearing, about 5 weeks after pruning - but the plant was healthy before:

Nicole

The cuttings are too limp, I believe they are water-logged. At this point, I would leave them out of any medium since that still could hold some water/moisture.

See Crenda's cuttings? Without soil and water for more than 2mo. Take them out, lay them on some kit towels and keep where there is good air circulation and some light (they don't need strong sunlight right now). Parts of the stems and some leaves will shrivel, dry up and fall or brake off - that's OK. Whatever is healthy will remain.

BTW, what is your general location - growing zone?

Rina

Thanks Rina! Okay - have removed these from all substances and will do as you say. I am in Cincinnati OH, so the plants are inside. They always have been, actually.

I cut back to a point on the big trunk to rid of black spots... (first two pictures below) and discovered more root rot. I ended up cutting the entire thing off. I did save the small branch that seemed to be okay (cut it off from main trunk - 3rd picture below) but it does not have roots. I just propped it up in perlite. No watering.

Besides the small branch pictured immediately above, what I have left is the other trunk. Is this root rot at the bottom as well? It's not as squishy as it looks. Not as firm as the rest, though.

It broke off from here / this root ball sort of thing.

I would cut the roots off until there is bright clean tissue. Then, root the smaller branch and that larger trunk. Dust the cut ends with cinnamon.

Josh

Thanks Josh!! done :) fingers crossed. It was good to follow the advice to keep cutting... found a great deal of rot in the last remaining trunk. I could only feel this once I took a good hold of it. Cut off rot until only clear tissue was left. this reduced the length by 1/2 and obviously had to cut off roots during process. (I did clean the knife with rubbing alcohol after each cut.) Now I have two rootless, branchless, leafless (but also most likely rotless!!) albeit hopeful pieces left! Dusted with cinnamon on cuts. Planted in mostly perlite. Holding them up with stones around base. No more watering!! I'm also saving the leaf branches on separate towel, not planted. I am so thankful for everyone's help. Sounds like we've done everything we can! But, if there are more ideas, I'm willing to take action :) I'll post when I have more information.

Again, thank you!!!

I can so see you digging in the trash for those cuttings! Good to know another garbage picker! LOL

I'm from up river - Portsmouth. My Uncle Bob was the long-time football coach at Wyoming. They named the stadium after him. I haven't visited the area in ages, but have some fond memories!

Good luck! Sounds like everything is on the right track.

Yep, an official trash digger here :) We literally halted the trashman as he approached. He was nice and came back post-dig. That's so neat!! Thank you for your help!!