Al,

Thanks so much for the prompt reply! And the super detailed article. I will definitely be studying that -- and sounds like, focusing on soils -- since my poor plants have had a rough go at it lately. :P

As for the jade, unfortunately there isn't a drainage hole. I got the whole shebang years ago at a plant store and basically just left it as-is. What would you recommend doing at this point? Should I re-pot the little guy with appropriate soil and a draining container?

I'm not Al, but yes, you have to if you wish to keep the plant. A hole in the pot is not negotiable, sorry, it's an absolute must.

This pot's too big & I can see the uneven water retention from here, so the soil definitely needs correctly as suggested. Also, FYI that's not a Jade, trailing or otherwise. Not sure what it is, maybe a Sedum.

There IS a plant called a trailing jade plant, Senecio jacobsenii, aka Kleinia petraea. And the subject looks very similar although etiolated and stressed.

You won't know if the plant is salvable unless you try, but it's a pretty good bet you'll not be able to achieve success if you try to start plants in the existing soil. I'd probably get 2 or 3 opaque foam or plastic cups and start 3 or 4 cuttings in each. Then, if you find a viable root system anywhere in the old pot, you could try transplanting the individual plants. Make sure anything with roots is bare-rooted before you transplant. I'd also discard the old soil, then sterilize the old pot with a 10% solution of household bleach in water. Allow it to soak overnight in the dark. Then, drill a hole in the bottom of the pot before you use it. Sometimes pots have a crown so the center of the bottom is higher than where the bottom meets the sidewall. If this is the case, drill the hole through the lowest part of the pot bottom. It's easy.

Drilling holes in pots

The 2 types of drill bits most appropriate for drilling holes in pots are a diamond core drill for the highly vitrified (hard material - baked at very high temps - glass, ceramic, ......) pots, and a drill with several names for drilling clay pots fired at low temps, such as terra cotta. That (carbide) drill is called a 3-point drill, spear point drill, or a spade drill, seen here:

For the hard stuff, diamond core drills are best, though the 3 point drill will drill the hard stuff, too.

You can buy either type at big box stores. They're not that expensive, and they last a long time if you take care of them. They are best used with a steady stream of coolant from a squeeze bottle (contact lens solution bottles work great for this) or with the work surface barely submerged. IE, put the pot upside down in a tub and fill the tub with water until it just covers the work surface. If you use a spritzer or squirt bottle, a 50/50 mix of antifreeze and water is an excellent coolant, and soapy water is better than plain water but not as good as the antifreeze mix. The coolant keeps the tool from over-heating, and in doing so, increases the life of the tool substantially - like triple or quadruple the number of holes you can drill.

Regular masonry bits are "ok" for drilling terra cotta or cement (you can make them work), but inappropriate for anything harder. The right tool makes everything easier.

Al

i wonder if it would be better to just repot, get some new soil, the soil might be tired and depleted. If you pull it out, you might get a better sense of what’s happening.

Thanks again, everyone, for the advice!

I removed the plant from its pot yesterday and it was quite the horror show. Most of the trails broke off in removing the plant -- we had one survivor, which I repotted in new (more appropriate) soil and a pot with a drainage hole. As for the others, I'm hoping I can propagate them; I trimmed them further up the line and the cuts are currently forming callouses. Fingers crossed they won't all be lost! If so, well, I guess at least I've learned something.

With those casualties, I felt emboldened to do major, Civil War battlefield-esque surgery on my severely neglected African violet. So .. fingers crossed for him, too.

Thanks again! This forum has been immensely helpful.

Kim