Hey guys, I recently acquired a very young jade plant with stems of diameter no larger than 2cm each. Just yesterday I noticed that there are black spots that look like cigarette burns on a couple of the stems. I repotted the whole thing without messing up the rootball or shocking it too much and found that it has a very healthy root system. I do not know how the last owner handled it (ie. too much water) and I'm afraid I don't have a way of finding out. How do I prevent the spread of infection? And if I can save the stems, how? Here is a picture of one of the smaller burn-like/fungal infection marks. There's a larger one on another stem and it is concave, almost like it's eating into the stem. Advice is greatly appreciated.
Hi .Hannah., You've got a tough one here. Let me ask a couple questions: - Odd question, but, do you have a good, 10x or stronger magnifying glass? - Are the spots on the stems soft, mushy or slimy? - Are there any spots or dis-coloration on the leaves or anywhere else? Peace, poor_old_dad
Hi Poor_old_dad, Thanks for the kind reply. I don't have a magnifying glass. What would I be looking out for? The stems are firm, solid and dry. All the leaves are healthy, green and no strange spots other than the odd black pinpoint dot on one out of every ten leaves. I've always thought of those as freckles that are harmless. I can take a picture to show you if it sounds suspicious. These tiny pinpoint dots are dry, not growing in size and seem benign. The black spots however I'm not so sure. I've had trouble with leaves on plants before but never on the main stems. This is why I was alarmed. On June 17th, I went ahead and made the first cutting. On the 18th I made another cutting. Both are callousing now on my table that has now turned into a sort of plant lab! Tomorrow I pot them both. Here are some pictures I took to help identify what this problem may be as it's still quite mysterious to me. These are pictures off a larger black spot of a stem just at the soil level, after I cut it off the main stem. And here they are, cut and waiting for potting. I really hope they take root successfully.
I tried editing the pictures and it's messing up the link and sizes. This was a double post, and I'll leave it this way for now. Sorry about the large images.
A magnifying glass would be good for monitoring for scale, mealybugs, and spidermites, three of the pests that bother Jade and other house plants. Actually, out in my gardens, three of my main tools are a magnifying glass, pocket knife, and Slip-n-Snip scissors. No, the large pictures are great. See, in 1971 I inherited my grandfather's collection of gardening books and I've been building on the collection since. Your large pictures help when looking at the pictures in the books. Also my oldest son has been working (some) with Google for a few years, so I can do some "aggressive searching" on the WWW. Unfortunately I still didn't find a good answer to your original question. It does seem very likely that it's some form of rot or perhaps, slight chance, it's a a boring insect . Either way, the advice from several sources seems the same, cut out the bad parts and propogate the rest. The best on-line advice I found was : http://www.ext.nodak.edu/extnews/hortiscope/houseplnts/jade.htm Peace, poor_old_dad
I'll keep the magnifying glass in mind. Thanks for the tip! I always have the scissors. If anything needs larger cutting with a knife I take it back to the work table and sterilize the blade before starting. I'm so afraid of something getting infected. Though it's a good idea if the plant is rooted in the ground. Pocket knives are definitely handy. Today, my pockets were weighed down by two scissors, a bottle of rooting hormone and a packet of basil seeds. I've done a lot of aggressive searching, as you put it, and have learned a great deal about my plants online. I've also see the link you provided awhile ago and read through much of it. It was helpful but still can't identify what's going on with my plant. I also emailed my favourite garden center clinic with a picture and they also could not identify. The black doesn't seem to be spreading as mentioned, unless it grows very slowly. For now I'm hoping the two jade stems root successfully. I potted them today in a small container. I'll keep you updated. That collection of books you have there sounds wonderful.
Just a follow up - The jade cuttings rooted!! Both of them. I tried rooting individual leaves that fell off (I didn't pull them) but they didn't work. It also seems that those black marks are something like bruises and nothing contagious or urgent. I didn't need to take those cuttings but this is definitely a valuable learning experience. I'm so happy they rooted. Also, the mother plant is doing very well and the leaves are now about two inches long. Grown at least an inch taller since last month.
I have a jade plant... let me explain the problem... So, I've had it for a year, it is only 3 inches tall. It had 2 leaves, then, two more sprouted. All seemed to be doing very well with the plant, then one day I went to water it, and noticed the plant was leaning a bit. When I went to fix it, the entire plant fell over. Like, the point where the plant goes into the soil had just gone limp. I was SOOOO disapointed, because it is such a cute plant. I removed the two bottom leaves which were healthy, and tried re-rooting them, this didn't work. I cut the point just after it went limp, and attempted to re-root the rest of the plant, and they just sprouted little roots the other day. Does any one know what exactly happened? or have any advice on how to prevent this from happening again? Thank-you!!
Hi PurpleMaple, Sorry I didn't get here sooner. I've not had that happen before but I'm guessing that it was overwatered during the colder months when it didn't have time for it to dry out inbetween waterings. Keep in mind these plants need need need to dry out thoroughly before the next watering. Since you've had it for a year, I think only you would know about how it's been watered. If it was just acquired, then the last owner, or the store, might have not have let it dry out. Are there any bruises or markings on the stem? What colour is the part that went soft? Or is it just mushy green stem? Also, did you examine the roots that were submerged in soil? How were they? If they were brown and mushy this is a good sign of overwatering. The plant seems to have recovered nicely though. Great job! Just a note too - be wary of selfwatering systems. Sometimes selfwatering pots and other gadgets consistently keep supplying a plant with water to keep it "evenly moist". This is not good. Let us know how it goes.
Hi Hannah, thanks for your input. It seems like the plant was over watered. The stem was a mushy green, and at the breaking point it was a green with a slight hint of brown. I didn't even think to check the roots at the time. But, now that the plant is fixing itself, I know not to keep it wet.. because I was keeping it evenly moist. I think what happened was that since I do keep it in a very sunny, the top soil dried out, but the soil you can't see towards the middle/bottom of the pot was still wet. I'd like to keep this plant alive long enough to at least get as big at the one in the picture you posted! Hopefully what little green thumb I have will get by!! haha.
Hiya Maple, Oh good I'm glad that you're still around. I was afraid I'd (or someone else might have) replied a little late. It's good to let the soil of most plants dry out the first 2-3 top inches. Don't be afraid to stick your finger in and feel the soil. Most plants will also tell you in their leaves when they need water. For jade plants, gently press or feel the middle leaves. The top leaves will always be firm and I usually let the bottom leaves lose a bit of their plumpness before I water again. Learn to read the signs on the plant - and then once you've got a feel of it, you'll know faster when it needs water, and when it doesn't. Try not to go by a set schedule. Temperature, humidity, light - these all change every week, every month. So it's best to read the signs, rather than go for every monday morning etc. You'll be fine! I'm so glad that the new roots started growing. Don't worry, I was afraid with mine too when I cut off those stems and the leaves started wrinkling so much. But in a month, the roots were plentiful and it's all plumped up now with new growth on the top. I know your plant loves you already for the sunshine.
Jade plants are easy to clone. Just take a cutting and leave it in a glass of water until roots grow. Then you pot the new plant, easy as that. We have one that came from a parent plant about 100 years old I think. We have made clones and the origional has been around for about 7 years now. Sometimes it tips over because it grows taller than it is wide. Gotta be careful bout that.
Putting them in a glass of water and then transfering them into a soil medium is too much shock for my liking. If I can avoid the water rooting method, I do. At the same time, jade plants are quite hardy and recover quite quickly (as I saw from those cuttings earlier). So whichever way you choose, I'm sure they'll be fine. Just don't overwater when they obviously have no/little roots, and don't overwater, period. If you decide to root them in soil like I did, don't place jade plant cuttings in rooting medium until the cut end has calloused and dried (room temperature in a shady place). They'll rot otherwise. Give it more than a day. I like 48 hours. Try to use sterile soil. Don't use garden soil until it's well-established. After it's wellrooted and flourishing, you can place the plant in soil-sand mixture, ratio about 3:1. Don't repot again for another 2-3 years if you can. Enjoy!
When I re-rooted mine, I kept them in water for two or so days... because I wasn't so sure what to do. Then, I put them in soil, and that is when they sprouted the new roots. The only plant that I like to actually grow in water, and from what I see.. it thrives there, is mint plants. They re-root with in two days, and have a whole new root system with in a week or so. I take a few clippings, root them.. then plant more outside. It's great, and comes back every year. The water sprouting thing has been really win or lose for me though! lol.
I feel the same about waterrooting, but it must work very well since others favour it too. Right now I'm trying to water-root a jasmine stem but it's taking awfully long and doesn't look like anything's growing. It's been 3 weeks at least.
Hi Hannah, I've been working on rooting some jasmine for about 3 or 4 months !!! No roots yet, but the leaves are still alive, so I'm not giving up. How's you once sick jade plant(s)? I think the key to most water rooting is what Ms. P.M.Tree said, as soon as roots barely start showing, into soil they go. Also, I've suggested mint to many folks as the plant to use for learning the whole cutting-rooting-new plant process. Peace, poor_old_dad
Hi Poor_old_dad, I wrote a follow up on the Jade plant on the first page and you replied to it too. lol. Thanks for asking. They're fine, and weren't sick. The bruises, as I refer to them now, are still there on the stems but are not growing and aren't characteristic of mold or anything invasive. All are getting bigger. The cuttings rooted and are growing in small pots outside.
I also don't understand how a plant can take 3-4 months to root - is it even possible? The leaves on my jasmine are still alive also but to be honest, I'd think there was something I'm doing wrong if I were waiting for up to 6 months for it to root. There's literally no root stubs, no breaking in the stem whatsoever. Absolutely nothing but smooth green stem. It's been about 6-7 weeks with mine, so 1.5 months. Usually around this time other plants would have at least some starting of a root. That's just my observation though.
