Jade Plant Care Guide: The Succulent That Lives for Decades

Crassula ovata (jade plant) is the fat-leaved, woody-stemmed succulent that has been sitting on Indian kitchen windowsills and office desks for decades. It grows slowly into something resembling a small tree. It lives for twenty or thirty years in reasonable conditions. And it is killed with remarkable frequency by enthusiastic overwatering from people who cannot believe something so thick and robust can be done in by too much water.

It can. In fact, that is almost the only way to kill it.

Water: The Only Real Variable

Jade plant stores water in its thick, fleshy leaves. The leaves are the water tank. When the plant has enough water, they are plump and firm. When the plant is thirsty, they wrinkle slightly. The wrinkle is the signal to water, not a fixed schedule, not a weekly routine.

Water thoroughly when the soil is bone dry and the leaves are starting to look slightly less plump. Then do not water again until the same conditions return. In Indian summer in a bright outdoor position, this might be every ten to fourteen days. In a cooler indoor position in winter, it could be once a month.

Overwatered jade shows the same plump leaves but the stems at the base start to look soft and discoloured. The roots are rotting and the stored water in the leaves is maintaining the appearance of health while the plant is already dying.

Light

Bright light, ideally with some direct sun. A south-facing windowsill or balcony in India is ideal. A jade on a window that receives two or three hours of direct sun per day and bright indirect the rest of the time will grow well and occasionally produce small pink or white flowers in late winter. In low light, jade grows toward the light source with elongated, spaced-out internodes. Move it to better light and the new growth will be compact.

Soil and Pot

Fast-draining soil is essential. Use standard cactus and succulent mix, or add thirty to forty percent coarse sand or perlite to regular potting soil. Terracotta pots are better than plastic because they dry faster. Jade does not need a large pot. It grows slowly and prefers to be slightly pot-bound.

Pruning and Shape

Jade branches naturally as it grows. Pinching the growing tips back to a set of leaves encourages branching and produces the characteristic tree-like form. You can shape jade over years into something that looks genuinely bonsai-like with regular pinching and pruning. The pruned cuttings root easily in dry, fast-draining soil.

Common Problems

Leaves falling off in clusters: Overwatering. Stop watering, check the drainage, let the soil dry completely.

Wrinkled, shrivelled leaves: Underwatering. Water thoroughly and the leaves will recover within a day or two.

Mushy stems at the base: Root rot from overwatering. If caught early, unpot, remove rotted roots, let dry, repot in fresh fast-draining mix.

Stretchy growth with widely-spaced leaves: Insufficient light. Move to a brighter position.

Frequently Asked Questions