Hi Oam, your Jade is looking a bit sad to me too. But it looks a gorgeous strong green, which I think is much more hopeful than a yellowing plant.

Many of the more experienced growers, plus us regulars, are having problems with the new "upgraded/updated site".

I'll help where I can based on the advice I've received here, and much reading of succulent problems, the advice given in this forum and the many success stories when people follow advice given.

Your potting mix looks too organic, too water retaining for succulents. They don't like their roots staying wet and it can make for an unhealthy plant, or at worst root rot - which will eventually kill the plant if the problem isn't fixed.

The plant and soil needs to be potted much closer to the rim of the pot as they need good air circulation. In part to prevent moisture from hanging arount the bottom of plant and soil.

A saucer under the pot can also prevent the roots drying.

If you think of Succulents growing in their natural habitat, it is usually hot (lots of sun) and dry. They often grow in barren areas with poor soil and lots of rocks, stones, pebbles etc. Many are quite happy to cling onto the sides of rocky, windswept hills.

It's interesting to google a plants natural habitat to see the conditions they grow in. I've never done that with Jades, I must do that.

I hope that helped with some understanding, now for a few questions.

How often do you water your Jade, and when you water how much do you give it. Eg do you give it small amounts or do you keep watering until it comes out the drainage hole?

What mix is it potted in, and how wet is the mix. If you get some cheap wooden/bamboo skewers you can poke it down to the bottom of the pot (or near), leave it for a couple of minutes then pull it out to see if it's wet/dirty.

I'll be back to see how your going, then we can take it from there :-)

Thank you Matt. Your jade's transformation gives me hope. Unfortunately I don't have any type of backyard, but I placed it outside by my front door where it should get a lot more light. I'm pretty new to the houseplant world so I greatly appreciate your advice. Should I just leave the bent stem alone? Do you think I should repot it at some point as well? Also when I came home today I noticed some white fuzzy spots on it, any idea what it might be? Thanks again!

That white fuzzy stuff could be mealy bugs: to check, get some rubbing alcohol. Dip a q-tip in it and apply directly on the 'white blob'. If mealy bug, the white will literally melt, immediately, and you may see small orange-looking bug. I see more than 1, so there may be bigger infestation. If that is the case, use rubbing alcohol to spray over the plant, making sure to get it into smaller spaces where bugs like to hide. You can dilute rubbing alcohol with water (I use it undiluted), perhaps 20 - 50% water and rest r. alcohol. Keep plant out of sunshine while treating.

After it is 'clean' of bugs, you could put it by the door but it should be acclimatized to stronger sun. If not, leaves will sunburn.

What is it potted in (the potting medium)? How often and how much do you water it? If there is any excess water in saucer, it needs to be get rid off.

You can leave plant as is until it recovers, and then do some pruning to get better shape.

Thank you Helen. My friend just told me that it is a standard potting soil and that she had the plant with that soil in that pot for three years before she gave it to me. There are some stones on top of the soil. I used a wooden skewer to test the soil and it came out a little dirty, but did not feel wet.

I usually water it every 3 weeks depending on whether it feels dry, but I will make sure to use the skewer from now on to be sure. When I water the jade, I water it until it drains a bit into the saucer and then dump the remaining water that is there.

Thank you rina_.

I did wipe it with alcohol and didn't see a bug, but I did see a bit of orange. If I treat the entire plant with alcohol, will the alcohol itself damage the jade?

My friend gifted this jade to me and said it is a standard potting soil. I water it when the soil feels dry, which usually turns out to be about 3 weeks or so, and I always am sure to dump the excess water in the saucer.

Any tips for future pruning?

Watering every 3 weeks is way too little. Standard potting mix is probably water retaining. If nothing else, you need to mix in lots of coarse perlite. 60% or even bit more. My succulents are outside, they are in very well draining mix and get rained on. Recently, we had rain for 3 days - there were hours without any, but it rained most of the time. If they were in water retaining soil, they would probably start rotting by now :)

Rubbing alcohol will not cause damage, just keep plant out of the sunlight while wet. These bugs multiply easy and needs to be taken care of ASAP. Spray maybe 2x, about 4-5 days apart. Use magnifying glass/jewelers loupe to inspect there is no more left.

let plant recuperate for about a week, and then consider pruning. I would prune every branch, leaving just 2 sets of the leaves on. Do not worry about pruning, it is best time of year to do it and it will start growing very fast. You'll get branching and new leaves growing.

I'm going to counter just a bit of Rina's advice.
Watering every 3 weeks: With standard potting soil, and specifically with a jade/succulent, I think this is fine. Since you'll be testing with a wood skewer going ahead (let it sit in there for a minute) I think you'll get a good feel for when it actually needs watering. Over watering would be what kills a Jade, not under watering.

Pruning: I don't think your plant has enough energy to really bounce back quickly from pruning right now. If you do, do as Rina's said. It will look better in the long run, but it will look pretty dinky for a year. You should get 2 branches where you prune. Still, I think I'd wait till I saw it start pushing out some good new growth before pruning.

I moved into a house a few years ago with a few jades left here. I thought someone else was taking care of them, but no. They went at least 6 months without water until I noticed they looked a little wrinkly. Then I watered again after another 6 months, when we found out that nobody else was actually watering them.
My jade I posted is actually from a 3" stem that fell off 2 years ago. I had it sitting in a jar of soil with no drainage, and only light waterings, rarely.
These things are tough. But I've learned a ton since then.

If you decide to jump off in the deep end and start making your own or investing in really good potting mix, your plants will be better off. Being able to water more frequently is better for all plants. I water my Jade twice a week because of the well draining mix it's in, and it seems quite happy.

Matt

Totally agree with - while I didn't make it quite clear...but that's why I said: Standard potting mix is probably water retaining. Sorry for not being more specific, and Thank you for clearing that up! I also water much more often than OP, but have them in very fast draining mix - made of approx. same amounts of grit and coarse perlite, with addition of much smaller amount of turface.

As for pruning: the reason I suggested to prune after waiting just for a while and not until new growth starts, is to get rid of etiolated, older growth. Once new growth starts in better conditions, that (new growth) would either have to be pruned off in order to get rid of old etiolation; or it would be too tempting to leave it (older, etiolated parts) since the new growth should (and hopefully will) look much better...Not sure if this explanation makes sense, but hope so :)

OTH, plant could be left unpruned. Bent branch will slowly straiten up on it's own. As plant gets much older, these leaves (etiolated) will get old. They will dry up and eventually fall off. Visible parts would be long internodes on the stems - these will stay. This, ageing of etiolated leaves, will take long time, and obviously I am assuming new growth will be more compact.

Pruning in any stage, besides getting rid of etiolated growth (and that should be done if etiolation is a problem), is important in/for shaping plant. How to prune for shape is more personal - some ppl like overall bushy/full plants, others want particular shape.

Matt made a very important statement: ..."Over watering would be what kills a Jade, not under watering"...

Jades will last very long time without water. They may shrivel - trunks and leaves. They may grow lots of aerial roots - to gather minute amounts of moisture from the air. Many roots could dry up, some may survive. Matt gave very good example/experience with his plant (..."They went at least 6 months without water ...")

Here is a plant that was out of soil, never noticed, fallen/knocked out of the pot by me, for minimum of 4, and perhaps even 5,6 mo. I found it in early Spring, all shriveled. It did have some roots, and grew many air roots. I potted it on March 21:

It was thirsty and bent. Here it is today, June 15th. It grew quite a bit, and branches are much more upright:
I just let it be, growing any way it wanted. Few oldest leaves dried and fell off. It has grown taller, but I didn't take measurements to compare, too bad! (If I wanted to retain bent branches, they would have to be wired).

Thank you for all of the wonderful advice Rina and Matt :)

I think I am going to leave it in the standard potting soil for now while it recuperates and then once it gets a bit healthier I will change it to a well draining mix. Do either of you have any favorites you can recommend for better drainage?

Rina, I had enough alcohol to finish spot treating the jade for mealybugs, but I plan on buying more today to treat the entire plant.

I guess I am just nervous about pruning since I have never done it before and do not want to do the wrong thing. I will probably wait a little bit on that as well, before I try it.

I will keep you all updated as things progress!

Oam

..."I am going to leave it in the standard potting soil for now while it recuperates and then once it gets a bit healthier I will change it to a well draining mix"...

Just to make it clear: if the soil retains water, it is much better to repot plant right away, assuring the growing conditions are better. By recuperating I meant: wait few days after repotting; or: wait until plant is acclimatized to better light...and so on. Changing water-retaining soil for a well draining mix is very easy and solves biggest problem for succulents: drainage. So, and I don't mean it to be snarky comment, if soil is water retaining, plant will not recuperate staying in it. It is sort of backwards: if needed, change to better mix so it will recuperate in it, asap. Otherwise, plant will be just so-so. I hope you understand what I mean :) If not, pls ask.

Btw, don't be afraid of pruning. Get your plant in better condition (clean of bugs; repot into well draining mix; acclimatize to better light). All of this could be accomplished in 2-3 weeks. And then pruning - you will get good suggestions here for that, too. Jades are very easy. They can be 'whacked', completely defoliated - and they will grow, most likely, to be better. As long as they are in good mix, and are receiving good light.

ETA: few threads on pruning-trimming-whacking-beheading-whatever you want to call it:

#1

#2

#3

There are many more threads...few photos are missing, but you'll get very good idea how seriously you can prune a jade :)

Thank you Rina! Sorry for the delay. Yes I understand, I would like to make this change asap then. Do you have a favorite well draining mix you can recommend?

My jade, three planted in a big container, but in the wrong soil! Need to transplant using a succulent soil!

Oam

Yes, I do have favored mix for succulents. I am speaking for myself (but many other ppl use same or very similar mix). I make mix using approx. same amount of grit and coarse perlite (they are approx. same size). To that, I usually add small amount of turface - approx. 10-20% of total mix. It is usually closer to 10%...This mix is very well draining. IMO, it is closer to what most succulents are 'programmed' to grow in - what they grow in in their habitat.

I do not use any soil. That said, others use bagged Cactus & Succulent soil or Cacti, citrus & succulent soil (I am not sure of exact name of the latter - pls. check). They mix it with coarse perlite, in minimum 50-50 ratio, or often higher on perlite. Using just a handful of perlite is useless.

Many use pumice rather than perlite - but I can't get pumice easily, and is also more expensive. You could also use scoria, growstones, and many other inorganic substrates - if available (and often, affordable). There are also ready made mixes such as LechuzaPon. There is Bonsai Jack that sells pre-made mixes - I am not recommending it because I never used it. It is, often, quite expensive to order it - but that is personal decision. Personally, I would only buy ready-made mix if I had few plants; or if I didn't have space to make my own or couldn't get various substrates. Also, if I had lots of money to be spend on mix (I rather buy new plants :)

Some cacti will grow very well in more limestone. One should check plants for their natural habitat, to know what they grow in, in order to supply proper substrate. Many more succulents do not grow in limestone, and while they will not die in it, they will not grow best either. I do not know of succulents that prefer limestone...but many cacti (they are also succulents!) do. I grow only about 5 or 6 cacti, and can't recommend which do and don't. One of our members, Spanish Fly, grows many of them in limestone - search this site for his photos and advice. He has very impressive plants :)

Please, read what I posted carefully. This is my personal choice; works very well, and after over 3-4yrs of growing succulents in this mix, I am not planning to change it. I am talking about using inorganic substrates, many of them are subject to availability and cost as already mentioned. One should also customize hers/his mix to growing conditions they have: in very hot climates, some ppl make mix offering some water retention. That is not temps 75 - 85*F, but higher and also litte rain... I do not, so will not make recommendation about that either. But mix still needs to be well draining. IMO, drainage is most important for growing succulents successfully.