A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2007 my poor jade

Thanks for asking, Lynne G'daughters are doing very well. I just pruned Gran'father twin and cried when I had to chuck the cuttings. I just have no more room... I will try to get a few pics snapped but I'm swamped with work. Took time out to reply here so you wouldn't think I'd dropped off the face, you know? LOL! Aside from your measley bugs (haha), I'm so glad your jade is doing well

Cheers to all!

Not to take the focus off the jade plant, but here is the diffenbachia that was infested this morning - it's about 4 1/2 feet tall, and really not movable to a shower! I've moved it to another room - it will get morning light instead of setting afternoon light, til I see that it's ok.



I've had it for many many years, and would really like to save it!

Oh, Lynne, that diffenbachia is so gorgeous and healthy looking! !

Now, don't you go dragging that huge plant up the stairs!

oh, boy!! that's a fantabulous dif!!!!

i agree, it IS to big to put in the tub (especially if it's upstairs)...wouldn't happen to have a second bath (with a shower stall) on the first floor, wouldya?!

just take a cloth and some clean water and wipe the leaves down.

and i wouldn't worry about it going anywhere...you managed to get the jade back to good health, i'm sure you'll do the same with the dif!!

if you only saw a few mealy's on the jade, i'd just keep an eye on it...i doubt it's fully infested at this point, so probably no need to do anything with the soil (or to give it a shower either - poor dear's been through enough already!).

i'm wondering why this happened now...in mid-winter...did you bring in any new plants recently??

if so, check it and any other plants for signs of the buggies!

Thanks Mel and Joclyn!

That diffenbachia is actually several stems - it keeps getting very tall, so I cut it back and put the cut end in the soil. No more room now!!! I have other starts of it in other rooms, but none as large as this one.

I didn't bring any new plants into that room, Joclyn. The only thing I can think of, is that it is extremely dry in our house when the heat is on, and somehow these bugs manage to survive somewhere in that corner. I don't think they are the root mealies, since I don't really see them in the soil at all, plus they look different.

That is a beautiful plant. How do you take cuttings off of it? Just snip the top???

Are we talking about cuttings from the diffenbachia?

You can take pieces that are 3-4 inches long.
I let the edges dry out for a few hours, and then stick the end firmly into soil.

You can also take a 3-4 inch piece after the first cutting - with no leaves - let both ends dry out, and lay it sideways into the soil - with about 1/2 of the width of the stem sticking out sideways. It will take several weeks, but you can get new plants from that as well!

Thanks, I'm nervous to cut mine. It's getting thin and spindly, I was thinking that by taking a cutting, it would encourage it to grow out the way. What do you think?