Simply snip off or pinch off the newly sprouted leaves on the end of each branch. I know this seems counterintuitive, but cutting off the newly grown leaves will in fact encourage more branching, making for a fuller jade plant!
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.
If the roots can't take up water, the leaves will lose their plump appearance. A convenient way to determine if your plant is rootbound is to water. If the water is slow to drain into the soil or spills over the sides of the pot, your jade needs a larger pot.
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.
Common causes of jade plant branches or leaves shriveling or drooping include underwatering and overwatering, not giving this plant enough light or leaving in the sun for too long, using leaf shining products, or exposing it to wrong temperatures.
Simply select an area where you want your plant to branch out, and prune it off. For example, look at the photo below. Prune each branch just a little bit above a set of leaves (where the red line is). Wherever you cut it off, you will get new branches forming right underneath that point.
To make a Trailing Jade Plant bushy, snip the new leaves present at the tip of the vining stems. This shall encourage the plant to grow longer stems offering a bushy appearance.
Jade plants can be propagated from stem or leaf cuttings. Keep in mind that it takes it takes a while to get a nice sized jade plant from leaf cuttings. What is this? So, if you want to get a head start, and don't want to wait so long, then I recommend propagating jade plant stem cuttings instead of the leaves.
Jade plants do well when fertilized with plant foods formulated for African violets. Organic fertilizers, such as fish emulsion, also provide the proper nitrogen for jades to thrive.
Snip away dead and rotten roots. Re-pot it in a fresh and dry potting mix and not water the plant for some days. This will give enough time for the roots to dry and recover. Keep the plant in bright indirect light and slowly acclimate it to direct sunlight.
Choosing the main stem as the main trunk and then getting rid of the side stems. In the beginning, snip off all the stems that would hamper the growth of the main stem/trunk. Also, prune the lower half of the plant including all the leaves and stem to give it a top-heavy, tree-like look.
Instead of fully watering your jade plant during colder weather, mist your plant with a spray bottle. During the summertime when fully watering the plant, make sure the jade is placed in a drainage pot, so that excess water can escape and the roots do not drown.
The most common reasons for a jade plant falling over are overwatering or underwatering, having a type of soil that doesn't drain well, and overfertilizing it. Your jade plant could also be falling over because of temperature extremes or improper amounts of sunlight, or by simply being top-heavy.
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.
The trailing jade succulent has thick, spoon-shaped leaves in a bright shade of green but they grow to larger sizes than the regular jade plant leaves and overlap like shingles. According to Mountain Crest Gardens, the leaves take on a remarkable hue of purple in winter.
Jade plant care indoors
Pick a good, sunny place to keep your jade plant, like a south-facing window. They need at least four hours of bright sunlight. They also prefer dry, arid environments, so avoid keeping it in the bathroom or kitchen where humidity is higher.
Jade (Crassula ovata) needs bright light and a well-drained soil. Although you may only water when the soil is dry, excess water maybe pooling around the roots causing root-rot. This issue, combined with insufficient light is most likely the problem.
Typically jade plants become leggy from a lack of sunlight triggering the plant's natural defense to “reach” towards the sun. Insufficient light causes the nodes between the leaves to stretch or elongated more than normal. Instead of a compact, full-looking plant, your plant looks spindly and unhealthy.
Jade plants don't mind being root-bound in a small pot. In fact, keeping them root-bound will keep the jade smaller and more manageable. Repot young jade plants once every 2 to 3 years to encourage growth.
It's best to water a jade plant from the top. Watering from the bottom is a dangerous habit to get into. When the water soaks up from the bottom, it's much harder to tell how wet the soil is.