Question
Hello Darlene,

Hopefully you can help me out and i apologize now for the lengthly description!

The tree is about 2 years old, had been kept indoors w/ moderate light and had been watered to keep the soil moist. The plant has a half dozen trunks and is no more that a foot tall.

4 months ago I moved and now have the plant in a east facing window that gets low to medium light.

In the past month, the leaves at the bottom  of the trunk have begun falling off, and the fallen leaves appear to have shirveled at the tips. The leaves on the plant look ripe and full - but some closer to the bottom look like they are about to drop.

In the last week, the trunks have started drooping over and are lying on the pot and have had to be prop to keep erect.

Prior to this I had had no problems with the plant.

FYI. About a month ago, I topped the soil up with your basic potting soil. i have done a 'toothpick test' and it shows that the soil is still moist..could it be overwatered?

As you can tell, I have done a bit of research and have found that jade trees need full light and are to be lightly watered. I realize that I may have been overwatering it (or under watering it - i can't tell the difference from the symptoms) and not giving it enough light...so the plant has been moved to a sunny area and I am letting it dry out.

But what am I to do now? Should I cut down the plant? Re pot it with new soil? Put it in direct light outdoors? Or just wait and see what happens?

Please help!

Melanie

Answer
Melanie,

Yes, you have been overwatering it. In the summer water it every 7-10 days and in the winter every 12- 20 days.  Mine is in an east window so that is better for it.

Are there any little white tufts of cotton on the plant anywhere? Especially on the baqse of the leaves where they connect to the trunk or branch or anywhere on the bottoms of leaves. If so that is an insect and I will tell you what to do about them, email me at [email protected]

Just be patient. If a few more leaves fall off it will grow new ones. The sunnier location and the less water will help but it will take awhile. Do not repot if, if anything get some sand an put on top of the soil and it will gradually work it's way down through. Don't move it outdoors. During the winter when the sun is lower in the sky you might move it to a south window, assuming you live in the northern hemisphere, but for right now the east window is very good. Just be careful to let it be very dry for several days  between watering. Too much water will kill it faster than anything else. Good luck.

Darlene