How to Care for Jade Plants: Indoor Growing Guide :- Popular succulent houseplants, jade plants require little maintenance indoors and can live up to 70 years if given the right care. This plant can grow up to six feet in height, although it grows slowly, gaining only two inches in height year.
How to Care for Jade Plants: Indoor Growing Guide
Jade plants have thick, woody stalks with oval-shaped, green, fleshy leaves on top. Although this houseplant is attractive to look at, you should be careful where you place it because all of its parts are harmful to dogs and cats.
Jade Plant Care
Understanding a jade plant’s fundamental requirements for soil, water, and sunshine will make caring for it easier. The following are the primary criteria for jade plant care: Plant in loose soil that drains properly. The greatest choice is a succulent potting mix.
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Install a bright window that lets in indirect light; windows that face west or south are ideal. Water the plant often in the spring and summer to maintain a damp but never wet soil. Watering should be cut back to once a month throughout the winter. For strong growth during the growing season, apply a 20-20-20 fertiliser.
light
Jade plants require a lot of light; they require six hours or more per day of bright indirect sunlight. The kind of light matters because, especially for young jade plants, direct sunshine can be too intense and cause the leaves to burn and shrivel. But insufficient light can also be problematic.
Instead of keeping a lush, bushy appearance in low light, the jade plant will have lanky growth that makes it fragile and eventually topple over.
Look for a window that faces south when deciding where in your house to put a jade plant. Enough light should also come from a window facing west. A jade plant looks great as live decor in an office or as a beautiful addition to a kitchen.
Steer clear of areas like the bathroom that have few windows and are exposed to light. When the edges of your jade plant’s oval-shaped leaves start to turn red, it’s one indication that it’s getting enough light. This pink colour appears when the plant receives enough sunshine to grow healthily.
Soil
Your best chance when selecting a potting mix for your jade plant is a blend designed specifically for succulents. Succulent potting soil is looser than all-purpose potting soil to aid with drainage and avoid moisture retention, which can promote the growth of fungi.
A combination of sand, potting soil, and perlite or pumice is the best potting medium for jade plants. If you’re short on time, you can boost the drainage of your jade plant’s potting soil by mixing in some pumice or perlite.
Using a clay or terracotta pot is another way to avoid moisture retention because these materials absorb water from the soil easily.
A pH level between 7 and 5.5 on the pH scale is ideal for jade plants, which are neutral to slightly acidic. While most succulent blend potting mixes will have a suitable pH level, you can always test the soil.
Water
A jade plant’s requirements for watering change with the seasons. The jade plant typically goes dormant in the winter and develops vigorously in the spring and summer.
Considering that overwatering is one of the easiest ways to destroy a succulent, it’s critical to attend to the needs of the plant. This kind of plant is accustomed to intense soaking followed by dry spells in its natural desert environment.
Thus, overwatering the succulent creates an environment that is conducive to root rot by introducing more water than the plant can manage in its roots.
Summertime brings higher temperatures and increased plant activity, so give the plant more frequent waterings. The soil should be kept just barely moist—it shouldn’t be left soggy or soaked.
In the event that it retains water, insufficient soil drainage can occur. When the soil starts to get dry, water it once more. You don’t have to wait until the soil is completely dry, but you should always err on the side of caution when determining whether to water.
When the plant is dormant in the winter, cut back on your watering to once a month. The jade plant can be watered from below by setting it on a saucer filled with water. But after a few minutes, you should drain off any extra water. A jade plant should never be left in water.
Humidity and Temperature
The typical home temperature range for jade plants is between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Jade plants can withstand temperatures as low as 55 degrees Fahrenheit at night and in the winter, but they should never be kept in temps lower than 50 degrees for an extended length of time.
Choose a location for your jade plant that offers reasonably constant temperatures. The plant may become more stressed if you place it in an area where the temperature changes frequently, such as next to an HVAC system or near a draughty window or door. This is because the plant will find it difficult to adjust to the increasing and lowering temperatures.
fertiliser
Many times, throughout the growing season, people underfeed their succulents. Feed your jade plant once a week with a dilute liquid solution or once a season with a controlled-release fertiliser for the best results. For mature plants, use a balanced 20-20-20 fertiliser at quarter strength; for young plants, use a fertiliser with less nitrogen.
