How would you rate the plant's vitality level before the repot? Did you bare-root & root prune when you repotted? How often, would you guess, are you currently watering? What ingredients did you use in the gritty mix?

Al

I'm using Bonsai Jack succulent soil. I've only had this jade since September but I never noticed it being this brittle until after the soil change. It's only been potted in the gritty soil since early November. Maybe it's just a transitional thing and I'm jumping the gun. I have noticed quite a bit of new growth lately so I'm hoping it'll be fine. I cleaned the old stuff off the roots before repotting in the new soil but I didn't trim any roots. I love the concept and the looks of this soil and everything about it. I've purchased a ton of it so I'm really hoping it works out. I just need to get the watering schedule figured out. Before I was always afraid of over watering and now since I've got all of my plants in this mix I seem to be afraid of either over watering or under watering. The one in this pictured was first watered when I put it in the mix. I waited 2 weeks then watered again and then I thought I'd try weekly watering on Monday's. Idk! I have several different plants in different size pots so maybe weekly watering would be to long of a time for some and to short of a period for others??? Am I over thinking this to much? They say jades are extremely hardy and easy to grow, but they also say that about spider plants and I can't keep those things alive for the life of me. By the looks of the picture what do you think is going on?

I'd asked about the plant's vitality level (health) before you repotted, and it was a question that needs answering if I'm to offer an opinion as to what happened. If the plant's vitality was faltering, that + the impact of the out-of-season repot could easily have caused the shedding of some foliage and some small branches. There is no doubt the plant has a long history of being deprived of light. Long internodes are evident in all the old growth, though the new growth near branch ends is considerably better, so good on you.

I think you should prune the plant back hard around Memorial Day, and get the plant outdoors and acclimated to full sun ass soon as temps allow - that would be when night temps are reliably above 50*. When I say prune hard, I'm thinking about 75% of the mass should go. This will force profuse back-budding. Then, get into the habit of pruning ALL winter growth off the plant around Memorial day each year. That habit ensures there will be NO long internodes on your plant - only growth the plant puts on in summer months will remain. This ensures your plant will be very full and tight. Pruners are your friend. I can't tell you how often to water. The gritty mix I make allows you to water almost whenever you like (just not too long between intervals) because it doesn't hold perched water. Many of the other soils sold that are close to the gritty mix contain ingredients that weren't screened. When that's the case, the soil is probably still very good, but you still need to be careful about avoiding over-watering. Too, intervals change markedly with weather patterns, season, and light levels, so it's something you'll need to work on on your own. Invest a buck or 2 in a 5/16" wood dowel rod (hardware or places like Lowes/ home Depot, etc). Cut it in half and sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener. Use that as a 'tell'. Stuck deep into the soil, it will 'tell' you how moist the soil is/isn't, and when it's time to water.

Both jades and spider plants are easy, but neither appreciate being over-watered. Spider plants are also very particular about fluoride, which is accumulative in their tissues, so using rain water/ snow melt, distilled or otherwise deionized water, or water from a(n) r/o filtration system would be very helpful when it comes to keeping foliage pristine. They also don't appreciate high fertility levels in the soil solution, so fertilize often at low doses and use a soil that allows you to flush the soil each time you water. Avoid watering in small sips that ensures a build-up of the dissolved minerals in tapwater and fertilizer solutions.

Al

Thanks Al. I've read many of your posts and really admire your knowledge and talent. You would get my vote for President. ;o) It scares me to prune the crap out of my jades because they seem to be such slow growers but I will give it a try with this one around Memorial Day. I'm new to growing jades but I've become obsessed with them and I have several. My house looks like a jungle right now because I brought everything in for the winter. I'll have to do some research on how to prune the thing. Especially 75% of it. I'm assuming by the "tell" method for watering your talking about sticking the wooden dowel in the soil and removing it to see if the dowel has any moisture on it. I've done that with some small wooden skews but sometimes it's hard to tell. I've also heard that jades were winter growers and go dormant in temps above 90 so I would've thought the winter growth would be good. I know Iowa isn't the best place to grow jades due to the weather here but it is my new addiction so hopefully I can figure it out. Thanks so much for your advice Al. You are awesome!!!

The key to hard pruning is timing, making sure the plant is in a high state of vitality (health) when you prune, and knowing how far the plant will let you go. Some plants, like jades and cousin Portulacaria can be cut back very hard in the summer after some luxury time outdoors and be expected to back-bud profusely; and, they'll grow a lot faster than you might think if you can manage to keep cultural conditions in something closer to the sweet spot than struggling at/ near/ beyond the limits they've been genetically programmed to tolerate. Every plant you own has the genetics to be a spectacular representative of the species, which means that your/my abilities as growers are defined by how well we recognize what is limiting our plants and to the greatest degree possible, eliminating the limitations - nothing more than that.

Thanks for the kind words, too, BTW.

Al