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Crassula ovata is the botanical name of the jade tree or money tree plant. It is a tender evergreen succulent , grown primarily as a houseplant. It is characterized by its rounded, fleshy, shiny, jade-green leaves, which can develop a red tint on the edges if the plant is grown in a very bright location.
How to grow jade tree
The jade tree is a houseplant that needs a lot of light and prefers a southern or western exposure. It can be moved outside to a patio when the weather is warm and sunny in the summer , but be sure to bring it inside before the weather turns cold in early fall. They need a few hours of direct sun each day to grow healthy. The succulent tolerates temperatures up to 10°C in winter.
To make the jade plant grow, in addition to light, it should be watered only when the first centimeters of compost are dry . It should be transplanted every few years, preferably in spring. And in winter it needs much less water.
The ideal soil for the Jade tree should be a well-drained, peat-free compost, specific for succulent plants, or another soil-based soil with the addition of sand.
propagate a jade tree
There are two ways to propagate a jade tree . The easiest way is to take stem cuttings. That is how:
You need scissors or scissors to cut a section of the stem, which should have at least two nodes,
We peel off the leaves from the bottom of the cut, leaving some on the top,
We put it in water and let it develop roots, after which we place the stem in a pot with succulent compost or multipurpose compost without peat and perlite,
let’s water well.
The second method of jade plant propagation involves leaf cuttings , but this is a slower process and the plants will be smaller. That is how:
we gently take some young leaves of the plant,
let’s put them in a warm and dry place for a few days so that the cut ends can harden,
then we put the leaves upright in a container with compost and water
At this point, the plants should begin to form roots within a few weeks, after which they should be transferred to small individual pots.
Jade Tree Growth: Most Common Problems
If you notice that your jade tree has red edges on its leaves, don’t worry, because they only appear when the plant is exposed to too high light levels. But in the case of yellow leaves , however, it means that they are probably due to too much water. In this case, the advice is to reduce watering and not let the plant remain in too wet compost.
As for older leaves, they will wither and fall naturally, but if many of them are falling off, it is a sign that the plant is stressed . Has it moved to a different location? Was it watered too much or too little? These two factors must be considered.
The Jade tree can also be a victim of the foliage mealybug . These are insects that look like white, fluffy spots on the underside of leaves. These should be removed by wiping the leaves with a damp cloth or cotton wool soaked in an insecticide containing fatty acids or vegetable oils. The plant can also be attacked by mites : in this case we can notice if the stems and leaves are covered with a fine spider web. Again, the problem should be solved with a spray containing fatty acids or vegetable oils.