I would repot it, using mix of soil + min. of 50% sifted perlite or pumice...it may be in peat that became hydrophobic. When taken out of the pot, get rid of all original soil. Inspect the roots, and cutt ooff any rotted - dryed or broken.

I got this gollum jade plant about a week ago

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and youve watered it twice since then?? ... thats a lot of water for a jade ... though i doubt that that caused what you are seeing now ... god knows what happened to it.. before you go it ... stuff like this usually doenst happen or show in about a week ...

ken

i am very new to caring for plants so please forgive my lack of knowledge - i have repotted the plant and turns out it was actually three cuttings put into one pot! i have now separated the three cuttings into their own pot with new well draining soil, and pruned off all the damaged leaves. the rest of the plant seemed healthy so i’m hoping they should improve in their new pots. it seems that the plant was already damaged from the shop i bought it from, and the three plants were struggling in one pot together. i have been told to water whenever the soil becomes dry, it is in a south-facing window so the soil seems to dry out easily. i’m still not so sure whether to keep watering whenever the soil dries out or to wait more between watering? thanks for your help!

Fee Bee - While your plant won't like going completely dry, it will tolerate a medium that is overly dry far better than one overly wet. For your plant, it is best to water just before the grow medium is completely dry. The advice to "water when the top inch or two of soil feels dry" is pretty much a recipe for over-watering unless the pot is around 5" deep or less. What is most important is the moisture level deep in or at the bottom of the pot. Since your finger isn't useful for determining how wet the soil is deep in the pot, we need to look to another tool. A wooden 'tell', made from a piece of wood dowel rod (any hardware of home improvement store) is extremely useful for determining moisture levels deep in the pot.

Using a 'tell'

Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need plenty of air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support the kind of root health most growers would like to see; and, a healthy root system is a prerequisite to a healthy plant.

Watering in small sips leads to avoid over-watering leads to a residual build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil from tapwater and fertilizer solutions, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor.

In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water.

Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'.

One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue.

Al

Wow, thank you so much for your responses and advice! I have learnt a lot from your post, Tapla, and will definitely start using a ‘tell’. Watering has definitely been the area I am most unsure of.
rina_Ontario your plant looks amazing! Mine are very much looking like yours did at the start, though i’m hoping it will improve. One of them is quite shrivelled and squishy, which I would think points towards needing water even though I feel as though I am watering too often. I used a well draining sand mix specialised for succulents, the pots are pretty small and the soil dries quickly as they’re in a south-facing window. Does this mean I should water a bit more often? I have added some photos of them in the new pots, and also a photo of the one that I am a bit concerned about. I know that the tips of the leaves turn red in the sun, but I also notice the stem to be reddening too. Other than this they seem to be a lot happier in the new pots, thank you so much for the advice!

Feeb Bee

Wrinkled is one thing, but 'squishy' doesn't sound so good. BUT it depends what you mean by squishy - I use that description for sickly (usually waterlogged or rotting) plants.

As for watering, use 'tell' stick. Soft & shriveled plant could be also overwatered, so make sure you check the moisture.

I don't use any sand in the mix. I add lots of sifted perlite or pumice, and some grit. Together, abt. 60-75%. Rest is the soil.

All my succulents spend summer outside. They get rained on, I water them if no rain. And they get full sun, most of the day. They are in relatively small pots because of the space. But huge pots are not a + IMO - they hold too much soil, & unless it drains well it takes long time to dry up.