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My Dwarf Jade plant has been dropping dozens of leaves (both good and bad leaves) every day for the past few days. It receives bright indirect light. What is the case? Is it overwatering or underwatering or some disease?

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Sue Saddest Farewell TGO GL
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4-K
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2 Answers2

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Looks like over watering. The soil itself looks wet to me. The elephant's ear, like all other Jades, can use very little water, so you can usually just stick to weekly or even two-weekly watering schedules.

This is a very resilient plant, so if this is the first time it happened, just let the soil dry and then water later. If the leaves fall off repeatedly over weeks, it means you have root rot. The plant can recover from that as well, but, it is best to not let it get there.

If you have a sunny spot, put it out for about 5 - 6 hours over a couple of days and the soil should dry out.

Srihari Yamanoor
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    Do Jade like being moved? It was fine some time ago in the balcony, but when I moved it into a room with south facing window, I began to notice the shedding leaves. Now I have moved it back in the balcony. I ask this because I watered it a month ago. – 4-K Sep 27 '16 at 06:24
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    A month ago? The surface definitely looks wet to me. Can you confirm? Because if the plant has been sitting in water for a month, then root rot might have happened. Moving the plant to the balcony is good for now. The plant can be moved around quite a bit. It is a very resilient succulent. – Srihari Yamanoor Sep 27 '16 at 06:30
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    In the future, when you pot plants, mix the soil with something that has compost in it, to allow for better drainage. Here is a guide: https://extension.illinois.edu/containergardening/soil.cfm – Srihari Yamanoor Sep 27 '16 at 06:31
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    All plants experience stress when moved to a new position. This is very common and you should back track and allow some hardening off. Srihari is right; the water evaporates much more quickly outside and the stress and soil too moist will definitely cause your jade to shed leaves. How many hours of bright light indoors versus what it got on your balcony? Yucky soil!! You've got to allow this soil to dry before watering! And with succulents you can water shallowly not deeply. I always use wider than taller pots, clay not plastic, for succulents. You really need good old potting soil... – stormy Sep 27 '16 at 21:17
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    @SrihariYamanoor Yes. It looks wet because a sprayed a little water on the leaves. – 4-K Sep 28 '16 at 06:27
  • Okay, not so bad then. Do please let us know how the plant looks after a few days in the balcony. – Srihari Yamanoor Sep 28 '16 at 06:42
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I have raised almost every kind of cactus and succulents in my sixty years of loving them. In almost every case I have found that watering once a month is plenty and you will never have one rot, or root rot. If you’re somewhere very hot you can step it up but it’s been a never fail rule for me. I use the first day of the month so I don’t forget.

Jeff5229
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