A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The House Plant Forum Cacti and Succulents Indoors Drooping branches on Jade

Hi - I work in a church, and a member, about a year ago, donated a Jade plant she had in her home that she no longer had room for. It's huge, and beautiful with two strong, thick trunks - I think she said she'd had it 20 years. It was originally placed in the entryway of the church (not the Narthex) which is the only place in the building where it will get plenty of sunlight. At some point it got moved to another room that gets less sun. Our custodian asked me yesterday what would be causing the plant to loose its leaves and branches. When I looked at it I found it had rot, a symptom of overwatering. I told him to cut back all the branches that were decaying beyond the decay even if that meant cutting them away completely from the main trunk. I also noticed that the new growth on the ends of the branches is drooping or hanging instead of sitting upright like the other older ones. Is that a symptom of overwartering as well, or is that normal? It doesn't look normal! Any suggestions on how to keep this beautiful plant from dying? I'll try to take a picture of it to post.

The entry gets drafty in the winter. I know most plants don't like drafts. Would that be the case for jade as well?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

In general, jades resent change (showing it by dropping leaves and sometimes minor branches), and you know this one has been moved and overwatered. You said exactly the right thing about cutting it back beyond the rot. As for the drooping branches, it could be caused by getting significantly less sun than it used to get, the overwatering, or most likely, both. When any plant is overwatered the roots rot. After the roots rot, the plant can't get enough water up into the trunk/stems (which got too much before the roots went and started to rot, too). At this point, parts show signs of overwatering and other parts of underwatering. The best you can do is get it into as much sun as you can in a place where it can stay. Cut it back as far as you need to, and don't water it for a month or more. You will certainly need to do some judicious pruning over the next few years as it recovers and grows from where-ever, but jades are resilliant. It should make it ok.

Thanks for your responses. I did take some pictures on Friday, but I haven't had time to do anything with them. I also found, when I went to take some photos, that the drooping branches had perked up. I think Margaret was correct about it getting more sun. In less than 24 hours it has started to show signs of recovery. I did some severe pruning, cutting branches, and in one case one of the lesser trunks, until all the rotting limbs were eliminated. Thanks again for your advice.