If it rains often where you live, jade plants might not be the best outdoor plant. Since they are from the desert, they like dry conditions best. They require very little water and instead store water in their plump leaves. Too much rainfall will cause root rot, fungal growth, or even death.
Traditionally, jade plants grow well as indoor plants in bright but indirect light or outdoors in full or partial sun, but they cannot survive freezing temperatures. If you live in cooler zones, you can still grow these succulents outside, but they must be brought indoors before any chance of frost creeps in.
Jade plants can be grown indoors as houseplants, or outside year-round in warmer regions. Houseplants benefit from being moved outdoors in summer, responding to the additional sunlight and warmer weather with increased vigor, growth, and color.
A jade plant can grow in water. However, these plants are usually grown in drier soil. So to grow your jade plant in water, you need to provide it with the proper conditions. This includes clean water, adequate light, and warmth.
Keep your jade plant in bright light for at least six hours per day, according to Almanac. While mature plants can handle direct sunlight, younger plants require a bright space that's free of direct rays. Without proper sunlight, your jade plant will stop growing, or it'll grow tall and leggy.
To encourage health, harmony and thriving business, place the Jade plant in the east direction. And if you wish to promote creativity and children's luck, it is recommended to set it in the west direction. Keeping it either in the southeast corner of the room or your desk is highly favourable and auspicious.
What are the disadvantages of Jade plants. The only disadvantage of the Jade plant is that the leaves of the plant can tend to hold onto excessive water. Due to this, they become soft and mushy and fall off the plant.
A healthy jade has erect stems and firm foliage that points outward, upward, or slightly downward. But when a plant is under stress, the young, soft stems may droop, and the foliage may hang limply, like fallen dominoes.
How to Water Jade Plants. Jade plants are succulents (they hold water in their leaves), so they don't do well when sitting in constantly moist soil, so let the top 1 to 2 inches of soil dry out between waterings. Indoors, this will probably mean watering once every 2 to 3 weeks—but be sure to check regularly!
Never, never allow it to soak in water. I do not recommend watering them from the bottom. This causes the top of the soil to stay drier than the bottom, making it very difficult to tell if you're overdoing it.
Shorten Leggy Stems
If an entire plant is leggy, you can cut up to one-third of each stem just above a node to encourage bushier growth. Avoid overfertilizing and provide bright indirect sunlight. You may also have a healthy stem that is much longer than the others and skews the general symmetry.
Position: full sun or bright ambient light; shade-tolerant. Flowering: clusters of small, pinkish-white, star-shaped flowers. Feeding: use a long-term controlled-release fertiliser sparingly. Watering: water when soil is dry; good drainage is essential; don't overwater.
Jade Plants have a small, shallow root systems. They prefer a smaller pot and could easily be overwatered in a large pot with a lot of soil mass. As your Jade gets larger and heavier, it will need a “weighty” pot as a base.
Indoor jade plants benefit from being outdoors in full sun during the summer. However, they are sensitive to sunburn, so it's important to move them into the sun gradually over several weeks. Sunburned leaves turn brown, the damaged area dies, and, usually, the leaf drops off.
About Jade Plants
It's important to keep the plant watered during the growing season (spring, summer) and drier during the dormant season (fall, winter). However, even during the growing season, the soil should be allowed to dry out fully between waterings, as jade is very susceptible to rot.
Jade Plants Outdoors
Placing a jade plant in the southeast sector of your garden can activate wealth luck and abundance. You can bring positive chi to your porch with a potted jade plant that can be easily moved when the seasons change.
Changes to the leaves are the first sign of an overwatered jade plant. Leaves can turn yellow and droop, and may eventually brown and drop off. Other signs include the leaves and stem becoming squishy and soft. The whole plant may also appear droopy.
It is a drought-tolerant plant that does not require frequent watering and can go without water for days or weeks. Considering their native habitats and growth, they don't need to be watered very often.
As an indoor plant, trailing jades look particularly striking in hanging baskets that allow the stems to hang down. Of course, if you happen to live in a place with a warm climate and plenty of direct sunlight, you can also grow trailing jade outdoors.
How long do jade plants live? One major jade plant benefit is the plant's longevity. With proper care, jade plants can live between 50 and 70 years—sometimes even longer. Because of this, they're often passed down generationally.
Jade plants dropping leaves can be a sign of stress or poor health in jade plants. It can be caused by many factors, including too much or too little water or light, temperature stress, fertilizer, or pests. If you think your jade plant is dropping its leaves due to stress or poor health, don't worry.
Jade plants can also be moderately toxic to humans2 when ingested and contain a sap that can cause dermatitis when touched.
Jade plant placement according to Vastu
Keeping a Jade plant at the entrance of the office or house brings good luck. Jade plants should not be kept in the bathroom or bedroom as they reduce the plant's positivity.
When the foliage on a jade plant is drooping or you appear to have a dying jade plant, the usual cause is improper watering. In spring, summer, and fall, keep the soil lightly moist. The plant takes a rest break in winter and needs less water. Overwatering in winter is the most common reason for a dying jade plant.