Adding on to what Rina said, you probably need to repot your plants in better soil, a planting mix which drains faster than what you have there. Also, it's hard to tell, but it's possible the red pot is too large for the plant, and it looks to be potted too low.

You will need a bag of cactus and succulent mix and a bag of perlite (or pumice) from your nursery. Mix them together 50/50. When you repot, get all the old potting mixoff the roots, then repot in your plant in new proper mix and don't water for a day or two.

When you water, let the water run out the bottom holes, then don't water again until the plant is dry. No "sips" of water. Gradually transition your plant into the brightest light you have.

If you have more questions, just ask. The plants you have are not tricky to grow, but they do need certain conditions as described above.

It looks like damage from the oral dentation of a Homo sapiens (photo #3)

Do you have a toddler? Or a boyfriend? Either are likely culprits.

Hahahaha, Raychel!
You don’t think “dog” first?

Some of my succulents are in this 'soil' and are doing good. All of my plants are in the brightest room in my house, I'll try to get a light for them. All the Jades I've seen look like this...? Even some in stores......

All of my succulents and Cacti are planted in cactus and succulent mix. I'll grab a bag of perlite next time I go to the store (within this week). Also the red pot has different plants in it (along with a small jade), this specific jade plant is in the white/blue pot with the flowers on top, it also has jade babies in it (which are doing fine, unlike the big one).

And I do not have a toddler, or a boyfriend. I have a cat who likes to eat my Cacti (yes he EATS my cacti, well ate, he doesn't do it anymore), but he's never been up by my jade plants.

Thank you all for your advice!

April

If you don't mind me asking, what do you mean exactly by: ..." All the Jades I've seen look like this...? Even some in stores"......Are you referring to shape of branches? or downward turning leaves? or?

If you add lots of perlite, it will improve drainage issues of the potting mix. As I asked before - is there a drainage hole in that white/blue pot?

I have quite a few jade plants of different sizes, and branches grow rather upright. Here is an example of what I mean (plant was not pruned at all for few years now - recovering from being frostbitten - and will need some pruning for better shape). Branches are growing straight, and you can see that leaves are not drooping downwards. Plant is in west-facing window, and I still think leaves could be closer together:

They will twist if they are looking for light - and it may be difficult to know what conditions they are growing in stores.

I don't have any pets, but have bite marks on some plants made by squirrels and chipmunks - I know for sure since I have seen it happen :) Some ppl had birds pecking the leaves too, even pets. So that is not unusual, and typically will be only cosmetic damage. Leaves won't grow back, but heal as yours did.

Your plant could be better quite easily. We try to offer advice - not to criticise.

Mostly shape of branches. No drainage hole, but lots of rocks on bottom...I suppose I should repot it into a pot with a hole...

I see what you mean with the leaves and branches. Mine are in a west facing window too. My house is a bit more chilly inside tho...Could that have anything to do with the leaves too? or just light.?

(((This 'tree' came from my cousin, and I'm not sure where/who she got it from. It broke off of the original plant, so she gave it to me, so I'm not sure about bite marks from anything)))

I understand its advice and not criticism. Thank you,

I have one other question.... I was given a jade leave and I've been trying to get it to root...its callused, but it hasn't produced any roots....right now its been sitting on soil, for about 1 month.., with some sunlight...it still looks really healthy (nice green and plump) Is there something else I can do to get it to grow roots? Or should I just be more patient with it?

(My Mom always tells me to be patient, they'll bloom when its time... my problem is I LOVE seeing my flowers and garden grow and produce food and flowers...)

Again thank you for your advice and helping me out.

April

I think everyone here will say to get pot with drainage hole, and not to use rocks for drainage. They really don't help, since water just collects slowly in-between them, and gets easily reabsorbed back. If that happens, roots end up in soggy soil, even if it is not all the way to the top. In soil like that, they can't breathe, and slowly deteriorate (often just rot off).

I don't know how low are lowest temps where you keep plants, but most succulents won't have any problem with temps around 50*F (approx. 10*C), even bit lower. It is important to make sure soil/mix is not wet - colder it is, drier it should be. Wet and cold soil could kill them (or cause serious problems). Leaves will not get damaged, unless temps get close to freezing.

Even if in colder temps, they still need good light. I have same problem - not enough natural light indoors. Many of my succulents are under supplemental lighting. Light coming thru the windows looses quite a bit of 'potency' even if it looks bright enough to us. And if plant is further from the window pane, it gets even worse.

Leaves of jades root quite easily, usually fast. But it may take a while. I just leave them and generally try not to pay any attention :) Less I look at them, better and faster they start growing. But there is occasional leaf that just doesn't want to do anything. If it was damaged, it may not grow. Very part where leaf was attached to stem should be intact; if it is broken off, it may not root. Here are few that I never paid any attention to - old leaves are dry and shrivelled by now. I usually just leave them until they detach on their own:

Jade plants bloom, but may take some time. I had first blooming in 2016, and they bloomed again in 2017. There is a current thread- click here - showing some photos, and some ideas about when they finally bloom. Another thread - here - has photos of some variegated jades growing from leaves, and another succulent also growing from leaves (first 2 posts with photos). They took some time to get to this size.

April, you are correct, you need to repot the one with no holes. Long-term, it's a recipe for disaster. And do repot with the perlite you mentioned. You and your plants will be glad you did! (You could do them all while you are at it.)

Mom always knows best! You cannot hurry a leaf. Maybe when spring comes, longer daylight hours, it will sprout. Jokes are made here about "looking" too much--like watching a pot for the water to start boiling. Maybe you are looking too much, just kidding, of course. Carry on!

Yeah true, I thought about the water collecting between the rocks....but stupidly still did it., I will definitely find a smaller pot, this one may be too big... because this 'tree' just started producing roots.

I live in WI, so with it being winter and snowy, its pretty cold....like 10*F. I do have them closest to the middle of the room, but still by window for sun. My other plants are closest to window.

Can you recommend a good light to use? would a lamp light work? (highly doubt it but that's about all I have and all I can afford right now)

I do tend to look at them a lot...maybe less attention will 'help'. ha:)

Do the little pebbles help with the plant? or is that just for decoration?

I just repotted a bunch of my plants, do you think this one will last til at least Spring? I don't want to shock any of them, specially this Jade by repotting it so soon...

I probably sound so dumb asking all these questions.. But THANK YOU so much for your help/advice! It means a lot.

April

As for light, more is better :) So as close to the window; every inch makes a difference. If you can using extra light, that will help too. You could make it as simple as using a CFL bulb that should be min. 23W and as high kelvins (k) as possible; 6500k is great. Try for that, not really much lower than around 5000. That info is usually on the package and/or bulb socket.

You could use it in floor lamp, desk lamp or hanging or clip on fixture. Start with light further away and move bit closer every few days in order to acclimatize plant to better light. There are many other lights you can use, LED bulbs are even more efficient.

Repotting is generally better in Spring or early Summer, unless plant has big problem with roots. If they are OK, and you are very careful about watering, it should be OK. While repotting is bit of shock, sometimes that is better than keeping plant in bad soil. Overpotting is quite common problem: big pot = lots of soil. It will take much longer for it to dry up, and will keep roots in soggy soil longer. Try to get container approx. 1" or so bigger all around the root ball.

White gravel you see in my pots is mostly part of mix I use - it is made of grit, perlite and little bit of turface (photos you see are older and have small pieces of bark, which is OK to use too). Here is photo of it:

You could make fast and easy mix as socks suggested in previous post, by mixing Cactus and Succulent soil with perlite in 1:1 ratio. It should looks like this (photo is borrowed from Crenda, one of our members):Ask as many questions as you may have :)

I went out and got some perlite, and a light bulb... Couldn't find a bulb like you suggested. So I got one that is LED and 5000k ....I hope that will be okay...

I will be repotting my plants in the morning (14/2).

Again, thank you for your help.

When you repot it, don't water it right away, give it several days for the root damage to dry up and scab over.

April

That bulb should work well. Maybe you can take photos or the roots when you unpot it and post. Plant can stay out of any mix for a while, especially if roots are wet. Old soil should be taken all off before putting into new mix. Don't forget pot with drainage hole(s) :)

So its almost been a month....some leaves are wilting/'wrinkling'...some came off then I went to gently look at them..
and A LOT of aerial roots.
Posting some pictures... I have quite a few...so I tried choosing the best ones to show...
these are just 4 pics. I have 18 more... (I will try and post more...) but not all 18, unless you wanna see them all...not sure if that would help or not tho...

Lol, its rooting from the green part (becaude its easier).

I didn't see any wrinkled leaves in the photos, did I miss them?

I am looking thru my photos right now to find them. I only wanted to post the 'best', non blurry pictures...so trying to find them. lol. I should have them all posted in about 10 minutes tho.

Sorry for rushing you!

1st picture, very wilted leaves....

2nd picture, just to show some of the droopy leaves...

3rd picture, The single leave has very tiny roots (I think), I'm afraid to wipe the soil away to see if it actually is roots. then the 2 little leaves, basically the same as the single leaf. The tiny branch, has very small roots, but I don't think their growing anymore....its been in this pot for about 2 months now, and the roots look exactly the same.

Its been about a week since I last water the 'tree', and it is now dry. And it does have roots, when I repotted it, it had 1 long root, probably about 1-2 inches...and a few little roots.

Like I said, if you wanna see the rest of my pictures, let me know and I will add them (slowly seeing as you can only post 4 at a time)

Laticauda, oh its totally fine!

I think it's just saying it needs to build some roots. Maybe these photos say something else to someone? I don't think the lost or shriveling leaves are anything to worry about unless you add too much water to that equation.

I think I will wait a day or two and then water it again. I wont worry about them then., unless someone tells me otherwise.

Do you have any suggestions for the 3rd picture? the one with the single leaf, and the small branch in blue pot...

What kind of soil/mix did you repot the plant in? Did you use pot with drainage hole?

How did the roots look like when you took plant out of original pot? Did you take off old soil off the roots?

Its cactus/succulent soil with perlite. 50/50.

lol, Yes it has a drainage hole, I made sure of that.

When I repotted it, it had 1 long root, probably about 1-2 inches...and a few little roots. Yes I took all the old dirt off when I repotted it, I made sure to do that too.

Suggestions for 3rd photo is keep it warm and don't mess with them lol

Lol, done! Giving it a new warmer home..spot...

and since they are so small, I'm assuming I should water it less than the others...

April

Jade leaves usually root very easily and faster than 2mo. I wonder if they were healthy enough to begin with.

If you are interested, look at photos in this thread . I just potted new plants of Tricolor jade that grew from leaves (photos toward end of hat thread). You can see there are still original leaves attached, still looking quite healthy and plump. There is photo of them just out of the pot they were started in, and you can see the size of plantlets and roots, and the mix I use for succulents. I am not exactly sure of date they were started, I'll keep looking if I can find date on some photos. They didn't get any extra heat or any other special treatment. I usually don't water leaves until there are roots and plantlets growing - there is plenty of moisture in the mother leaf.

'Regular green jade' leaves grow even faster (Crassula ovata).

Eta: few more photos of leaves that just randomly fell off (or may have been broken off by me handling plants) and are growing now. They were just left and I don't even look at them - as the saying goes: watched pot never boils :)

Curious - when jades produce air roots is the plant asking for anything in particular?

@Laticauda I know you said it was likely easier for April's plant to make air roots. Just wondering what their function is. I've always assumed that those parts would be good for cuttings.

Those air roots could grow into 'soil' roots - most likely. There are suggestions that plant will grow them if the roots have difficulty taking in enough water. I have some growing occasionally, and have checked root balls of plants without finding any problems; meaning that roots were in good conditions. I think that air roots grow also if there is some extra humidity. I don't think they signal huge problem, and never had a plant suffer because of air roots. But if plant is not looking that great, I would definitely heck its roots (that is the reason I asked April about condition of the rootball, and if she took off old soil). I just leave them, they often eventually shrivel up and dry up. I do not check plants roots anymore.

There are plants that naturally grow air roots; one of the well known succulents is Adromischus cristatus, that has lots of them as plants mature. Aeoniums grow air roots, and some Kalanchoes too - those roots will grow into soil mix and get more woody. There are more succulents

Other plants grow air roots that have different funkcions: anchoring, feeding, propagation etc. (orchids, ficus trees, vines/climbers, strawberries...) and they have 'proper names'.

I've started to notice that, my Aunts and cousins Jades don't take nearly that long to root. But, this leaf ^ took more than 2 months..., probably closer to 3 months.

The ones in the blue pot, they were all healthy, with small roots (on the little 'branch', and the 2 tiny leaves), when I put them in their soil., but they (roots) haven't grown much or at all since then...

If you look closely, at the 2 tiny leaves, they look like they're starting to shrivel:/

'Regular' I wasn't sure what you meant by that, but now I do. lol.

My leaves seem to only fall off when I look at it, or lightly touch the leaf to look at it closer. A watched pot never boils is my Moms favorite quote to say to me about my plants. (I'm just a little impatient when it comes to plants.... but I have gotten much better about that)

I read the air roots are looking for soil and water. But after reading more threads on this site, and in a plant book I was given,, I'm not sure how true that is., seeing as my Aunt and cousins Jades are in a great environment for them, and they still have air roots.

April

Leaves of jades should not fall off so easily - you said that they fall off if ..." I lightly touch the leaf to look at it closer"... I occasionally break leaf off when handling plants - there are many and perhaps too close together. Some plants have leaves that fall off very easily, like Sedum morganianum or xSedeveria 'Harry Butterfield', but jade really should not. Maybe those leaves that fall off easily for you are the ones that are old and drying up?

Yes, the leaves that fell off were recycled by the plant. Nothing to worry about IMO.

As for the aerial roots, they would make great cuttings if someone wanted to break them off and plant them but I think they are helping the plant overall reestablish itself at the moment. Sorry if you've told us as I've forgotten but do you use a wooden skewer to check the moisture level? I believe *we* (*the GWF community*) may have discussed it in one of your threads? If you do use one, I'm curious: what does the stick say today?

IMO, April didn't make it clear enough (at least for me :) if the easy falling off leaves are old or not. If they are, there is nothing to worry about. If they are not, there is a problem. Hope April will make it clear :)

April

Do you have photo of whole plant so we can see the size of it? Do you have photo of the roots after taking it out of old soil? You said:..."it had 1 long root, probably about 1-2 inches...and a few little roots"...and that doesn't sound as enough roots. BUT, if they were healthy, your jade will grow many new ones under good conditions.

Here is one of the jades I have that was repotted about week ago, showing part of the root ball:

here is same plant, just taken out of previous pot. Maybe you can see that there are roots within all of gritty mix:

The leaves were definitely older and drying up. I will take a photo of the whole plant (will post photo right after this comment), but unfortunately I do not have a picture of the roots. When I was given this Jade branch it was callused over (with no roots), it broke off my cousins Jade. When I re-potted, the roots looked really good, and healthy. I knew rocks/pebbles could go into the mix, but I did not know it could be mostly pebbles. (I also think that would make a cool pot)

If you don't think there's really anything to worry about, then I wont worry...too much. lol. Definitely wont be making cuttings from those anytime soon. Gonna let it grow bigger, get better roots and leaves.

I am using a wooden skewer to check moisture. We have discussed it. The skewer say's its just barely wet all the way at the bottom of the pot.

The whole Jade

If the leaves that are falling off are ones in photo you posted before, no wonder that they are falling off. But your statement:..."My leaves seem to only fall off when I look at it, or lightly touch the leaf to look at it closer"... suggest they are not. I am sort of confused...

I wanted to see how big the plant is since I posted photo of rootball of my jade (which is likely not much - if at all - bigger than your plant. But mine could be longer established. I didn't want to compare apples and oranges :) BUT now you are saying it was a cutting/rootles branch and that was not mentioned before IIRC. You didn't say how long you have it since first potted, so I can't judge if I has enough roots or not. These 'details' cold make all the difference...

Sorry, I need to be a little clearer when posting/commenting.

The leaves were shriveling up, and not looking too good, I lightly touched them and again lightly lifted them up to see under them (for bugs), and they came off in my fingers.

I thought I did mention that...

""(((This 'tree' came from my cousin, and I'm not sure where/who she got it from. It broke off of the original plant, so she gave it to me, so I'm not sure about bite marks from anything)))""

I mentioned it broke off the original plant...but forgot about mentioning that it did not have roots when she gave it to me.

If you're asking how long have I had it? I would say since the beginning of Winter... so probably since..... November.

I would show you but I'm not gonna remove it from its pot, so soon after transferring it to a new pot... At least not until its healthier...

(I'm looking thru all my photos to see if I did take a picture of the roots... I highly doubt it, but I'm looking anyways.)

If you potted it only sometimes in November, than roots as you describe are probably OK. And yes, you did say where it came from but I had no idea if it was rooted or not at the time. Do not remove it, I was just repotted. I only wanted to make sure that you understood that roots on my plant are of the plant that rooted some time ago. Those are kind of roots you want on your plant as time goes on.

As leaves age, they will dry up and fall off. But it shouldn't be many leaves at the same time - even on much older plants, there is a leaf once in a while. Mostly just one, seldom 2.

April

I forgot to comment on the mix you see in the photos: it is made of gravel (not rocks - they are too big), coarse perlite and small amount of turface. They are no bigger than 6mm. Here is photo of grit I use (granite chips):

What is this white stuff?
its kinda soft....and not that easy to clean off... Any help?

Powdery mildew, I think. Use fungicide to get rid off. Is it very humid where you are?

I would also suggest to add much more perlite to your potting soil to improve drainage (or go further, by adding not only perlite but some grit or pumice, whatever available). Not sure, but it looks like plant could be potted higher in the pot - using more mix to plant it higher. That would also help to increase air circulation, that should help against the powdery mildew.

The passed 2-3 weeks its been humid...hot, humid, with a few rain storms.
So I should repot it....adding a lot more perlite. ((There's a few other Jades in the same pot...all different little plants...but all Jades.))
It's alittle leggy, but this is a smaller plant (probably not even 8 months)

April

I am not going to read all previous posts, but believe it was suggested to keep succulents in fast draining mix (what I see in photos looks like just lots of peat with very little perlite to help drainage). Soil level is too low and plants are too deep inside of pot. Unless you improve these, you may have continued problems with plants.

Many photos were posted already showing fast draining mix. You don't need to use exactly same mix, but you need to make improvements to help your plants. These are basics for all succulents and need to be looked after ASAP.

I agree with Rina, the soil looks very dense and packed, I think the plant is having trouble establishing roots. I’ve lost a few plants in dense, soggy packed soil.... I used to pack it in and then water it down, but I’ve learned that cacti and succulents do very poorly when this happens.

Maybe the plant is taking energy from its existing leaves and depleting them and that’s why they’re dropping? Hmmm.

Easiest way to amend your soil is to mix half/half soil and perlite, makes it light and fluffy and the roots can easily grow. You can use some rocks at the base of the cutting to keep it standing in the fresh soil while it’s establishing itself :) When a new cutting starts to send out roots, I like to water around the edges of the pot/container rather than directly at the base. I feel like it makes the plant send out roots to get at the moisture.