i got a very small jade cutting in November (2008) from a family member in Wisconsin. she had three big jades and i asked for a cutting. what she gave me was very small, but she dusted the cutting with root hormone and put it i a Dixie cup full of vermiculite. i was weary of traveling back to Texas with it but i made it home. i left it in the vermiculite to encourage the root growth for about another two or three weeks. i noticed at that time that it was withering and looked wrinkly. i took action and planted it in regular miracle grow soil. but i planted it into a small pickle jar (not the gallon sized). it seemed to be doing fine but not much growth has occurred. i know its healthy because the leaves are nice, plump and very green. i have been wanting to replant it into a well draining pot and new soil probably wont hurt. the roots have not taken over the pickle jar (i can see some roots through the glass but they are dark and hard to spot at a glance). i was thinking make a terrarium out of it! but i would rather have a nice big plant like most of the jades i have seen. so i was wondering would it be easier to drowned it out? the soil wont make it through the small opening at the top of the jar, and I've replanted plants by not digging them out of the soil (I'm scared of cutting some valuable root system) but by watering the plant until all the soil is loose from the roots and the plant is removed without harm all roots intact. i also made the mistake of leaving the plant in direct sunlight for about an hour (the plant sits by my window with a grow light hovering above it). when i went to bring my plants out of the sun, my jade's top leaves were less plump than ever and somewhat yellowish. its either stress or sunburn. any remedies you know of will be very nice. i attached some pictures of my jade. different stages of its life so far #1 when i fist got it home #2 after i planted it to save it, it perked up. #3 current date in jar stumped on how to get it out #4 the sunburn from leaving it in direct sunlight, the brown/yellowing leaves are on the bottom stem (closest to the bottom of the picture) and are (of the "bunched" four) the two on top left an top right. you have to look hard but i noticed within five feet of it. i love this plant a lot. thanks for your time and reply if you have info or want to share pictures of your own plant.
Jades are succulents and would do better in a small clay pot with about an inch or two of soil around the roots. The pickle jar looks nice, but that's something more for moisture loving tropicals that need high humidity, jades do not. The pickle jar will kill your jade cuttings quick because there are no drainage holes in the bottom, the jar also looks way too large for the size of the cuttings you have and the soil looks a bit heavy and muddy which can suffocate the roots. For succulents, it's bests to use a cactus soil with "Perlite" added to make it even more well draining. Only water when the soil is completely dry all the way down to the bottom, keep watering until you see water flow out the bottom, get rid of any excess in the saucer once it drains. Give jades good bright indirect light and some direct sun, too much sun can burn the leaves.
thank you bluewing. i will defiantly get some cactus mix and transplant it. that wa just a temporary pot while away at college. one i have something to put it in i will move it. but the other question was how. do i water the jar until soil runs out the top so the roots don't get hurt in the move? and one of the larger leafs started to wilt off so i pulled it and places it on the topsoil of another pot i had laying around. hopefully the leaf wont die. but the smaller one has not gotten any better its lost a lot of the water it was holding and is nearly flat. should i cut it off too? hope new foliage grows back? after re potting of course
Also I would think it would be happy outside in your weather maybe not roaring sun but where it gets some. They are bullet proof in a warm sunny climate. Mine grow outside in a garden bed and pots along with other succulents. Just keep some moisture up to it while it settles down as per Bluewing's instructions. Liz
only thing is i live in a dorm on campus i dont have access to outdoor plants. i have a grow light i bought for walmart. all my plants love it. but i did have it out this whole weekend with morning sun for two or three hours but today i decided to put it out in the heat of the day. and paid the price.
No not roaring sun that will make it unhappy. Have you got a safe sheltered spot outside. Morning sun or filtered would be good. Maybe mix that and grow light. I have never used grow light but I do know they get leggy and pale in normal indoor living. Mine are tight compact and dark green. Bit breaks of it gets shoved in soil and up comes another one. You need to be careful about anything you put outside from inside. It needs to be made used to the harsher conditions. Eg buying a plant that has been in the supermarket. One does it in stages. Yours will survive just take it easy with the sun and don't let it cook in the pot if it eventually gets more sun. Liz
confusedfrawg, You probably won't need to worry about watering for quite a while because the jar isn't porous like clay and there is lots of soil which will stay wet. Even a small dixie cup or styrofoam cup using cactus soil/perlite mix would be far safer with holes poked in the bottom than the jar. You can buy a small lets say, 3" clay pot for under about a buck, or less, from any craft store, Lowe's, or Home Depot. I would probably pinch off any leaves that are really soft and wrinkled and hope the others don't follow suit because of rot. I would definitely get it out of that jar ASAP! With the right care, you will get new leaves. I'm not sure the single leaf will root, all you can do is wait and see. If you ever want to root a healthy plump leaf sometime, push the small end down into the soil just enough so it stands upright, water it in sparingly around where the roots will grow, no need to saturate all the soil until it gets going.
thank you i was begging to think no one was understanding my urgency to fix it.. i need to get it out. how?!?!?!?!?!?! was one of the origanal questions and im begging to stress majorly i want to fix the problem because i am going back to school in two days and it will be safe in my dorm i have a 3" clay pot!!!! yaya! i dont have the cactus soil. and i dont have time to get it (leaving in hours literally) wil it hurt the plant that bad if i use regular soil? what if i strain it to get mulch out and replace the mulch with aquarium pebbles (the colored/painted rocks). {i dont have fish never did. the tank came from my pacman frog back in highschool. anyway} thank you for responding with help now tell me if i can just flush the soil and plant out with water... and if my makshift soil mix will work
1) gloves 2) hammer 3) gogles tap litley until it breaks and then be pulling it out peace by peace. ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??
hammer was my very first thought but i thought that would be too primal. lol doing this wont freak it out will it?
Because there is small roots or no roots, can't you just get a spoon or ruler and pry the cutting up from the bottom of the stem and just grap the jade stem that is almost sticking out of the jar? Looks easy enough.....
i used the hammer method. and put it in cactus soil mix. its not yet ready to die. i also while out buying the soil, i bought another jade plant in fairly good condition. i should have luck with these! i also bought a climbing aloe and a (gymnocalycium mihanovichii 'hibotan') moon cactus. i hope i have luck with my new plants. thanks everyone for your help
Glad you were able to take the jade out of the jar ok. In case you didn't know, the "Moon Cactus" is actually two cactus plants grafted together because the top would die from lack of green chlorophyll. The top is a a 'Gymnocalycium', the bottom, a Hylocereus.
You people are incredibly knowledgable. I thought I knew a lot about gardening but you beat me hands down Bluewing
Yea Bluewing, But my knowledge extends only enough for daisy, roses, dahla etc. Not Parenthesis or whatever. Some veg as I used to have an allottment. Some bugs, birds, bees etc. Just enough to hopefully satisfy any new members that stroll into my garden forums. lolol
There you go Katalina! You probably know more about garden plants, bees and birds then some people do:) Experience can help us all out....
Yes bluewing, Its the Botanical names. I know cacti daisy and that earwigs crawl inside the petals. I can even tell you how to catch them the day after.lol Or how manure will stunt the root of a carrot if its fresh but here where questions are more difficult is where I stumble. I will always need my trusty RHS Encyclopeadia, and your postings lolol
