The main reason for jade plants dropping their leaves is overwatering, explains John Negus. Some leaves may also turn yellow, while the stems of the plants can become mushy. Overwatering houseplants is actually problematic for all succulents.
While jade plants (Crassula ovata) do drop their leaves as a normal function of growth and renewal, sometimes the leaves drop a bit more quickly than usual. The main reason jade plants drop their leaves at a faster rate is due to some form of stress.
If your jade plant losing leaves, check to see if it is receiving too much direct sunlight. If so, try moving it to a location with indirect light. If the plant does not receive enough light, leaves will also begin to fall off. Jade plants need bright, indirect light to thrive.
Overwatering Symptoms
Here are the main signs of an overwatered jade plant to watch out for: Leaves turning yellow. Stems are droopy. Seemingly healthy leaves start dropping off.
Outdoors, jade needs full sun. Indoors, bright, indirect sunlight is best. The leaves may take on a red tinge or begin to droop in direct sunlight, such as on the sill of a south-facing window. With prolonged overexposure and inadequate moisture, drooping may advance to wilting, desiccation, browning, and leaf drop.
How to Water Jade Plants. Jade plants are succulents (they hold water in their leaves), so they don't do well when sitting in constantly moist soil, so let the top 1 to 2 inches of soil dry out between waterings. Indoors, this will probably mean watering once every 2 to 3 weeks—but be sure to check regularly!
Keep your jade plant in bright light for at least six hours per day, according to Almanac. While mature plants can handle direct sunlight, younger plants require a bright space that's free of direct rays. Without proper sunlight, your jade plant will stop growing, or it'll grow tall and leggy.
Lighting. Jade plants should receive at least 6 hours of bright light each day. Young plants should be kept in bright, indirect sunlight; large, well-established jade plants can handle more direct sunlight.
Conforming to Feng Shui, place the Jade plant indoors in the south east direction of your hall or drawing room to welcome wealth luck. The southeast direction is ruled by the planet Venus that is known to increase wealth. To encourage health, harmony and thriving business, place the Jade plant in the east direction.
A drought-stressed jade plant can be saved easily. Just water the plant completely till the soil is hydrated, soaked, and water seeps out from the container's drainage holes. Always water thoroughly. Make sure to use a well-draining and porous growing medium.
You can water it whenever the soil is totally dry. Check this with your fingers before you water. Also, never spray water on the leaves of jade, only water the soil. The leaves might fall off if you water them.
Overwatering and underwatering can both cause leaves to drop from plants. When improper watering is to blame, leaf drop rarely happens suddenly. Plants give plenty of signals that a problem is building. With overwatering, you may see plant leaves turn yellow first.
If your Jade plant is drooping then this is most likely over watering or low levels of light. Overwatering causes root rot which results in stems, branches and leaves drooping. Low levels of light cause the jade to grow spindly and droop as it searches for more sunlight.
Watering so that water trickles from the base of your pot is also the best to to ensure your jade plant has been sufficiently watered and a good way to detect whether the soil is moist or dry at the bottom of the pot to so you know when your jade plant should be watered.
These drought-tolerant plants are happy to go for several days or even weeks without water and prefer their soil remain dry most of the time. The exact time you water will differ based on where the plant is planted and the environmental conditions it is in.
Traditionally, jade plants grow well as indoor plants in bright but indirect light or outdoors in full or partial sun, but they cannot survive freezing temperatures. If you live in cooler zones, you can still grow these succulents outside, but they must be brought indoors before any chance of frost creeps in.
What are the disadvantages of Jade plants. The only disadvantage of the Jade plant is that the leaves of the plant can tend to hold onto excessive water. Due to this, they become soft and mushy and fall off the plant.
Coffee, cool and black with no sugar or milk, is also great for many plants, especially acid-loving houseplants such as African violets (Saintpaulia spp), Cyclamen (Cyclamen persicum), impatiens, Norfolk Island pines, Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera bridgesii), jade plant (Crassula ovata), spider plants, Phalaenopsis ...
The Best Fertilizer for Jade Plants
The best NPK ratio for a jade plant fertilizer is a 10-20-10 mix. The higher phosphorus content helps the jade plant create a strong root system. This is perfect for getting as many nutrients as possible out of poorer soils.
Jade plants can be grown indoors as houseplants, or outside year-round in warmer regions. Houseplants benefit from being moved outdoors in summer, responding to the additional sunlight and warmer weather with increased vigor, growth, and color.
Feed your jade plant once every 2 weeks from spring through autumn with a balanced plant food in which all the numbers of the N-P-K ratio are the same—such as 10-10-10. However, use that fertilizer only at half strength.