Jade plant spongy growth

[Danielle]

Hi, I have had a jade plant for about a year with no problems, and then all of the sudden a brown growth started forming on the outer, younger leafs. The growth starts on the edges and is slightly spongy. I can't see any pests and was wondering if anyone knew what it was? I've cut back the affected areas but it's still growing slowly. Also, there is a white crust around the outer rim of the pot, I don't know if that's related. Many thanks! Danielle

[FragileWarrior]

"Danielle" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

1. Jade trees grow slowly. I had one that was 35 years old and only about 2-1/2' high.
2. It sounds like you are killing it with kindness. Stop watering it so much.
3. The white rim on the pot is salts from being watered too much. Change the pot or scrub off the salts and stop watering it so much. You might want to even take it out of the pot, gentle shake off the loose dirt and replace it with fresh stuff. You'll get a good idea how wet the soil is that way, too. If you keep overwatering it you will rot the main stems and when that starts there's no stopping it.

[Phisherman]

Back off on the watering. The crust around the rim is from the salts in the water/soil. Jade plants will get a reddish edges on the leaves when they are getting plenty of light. Jade plants must have fast drainage and make sure they don't ever have "wet feet."

[Jangchub]

The white on the pot are dried salts from synthetic fertilizer. Jade plants need very little fertilization and when they do, I recommend fish emulsion or liquid seaweed.

Jade plants grow slowly if they are over watered, have poor lighting or are over fertilized. They like very dry soil with a lot of sand, like cactus.

Thing is, Jade plants grow everywhere in cracks and beside street trees growing out of the sidewalks all over San Francisco! Huge plants, too.

Cut back watering and don't change any soil or disturb the roots till you see improvement, which in this case will be when you see new growth. Put it in a south window, not near a window, a few inches from the window.