Pruning and Propagating Jade Plants

With spring coming around the corner, I need to get some house plant duties done.

Three years ago, I rescued a Jade plant which was abandoned in an office corner - covered in mealy bug. (Here's the post on it: Taking care of Mealy Bug). The plant's habit was quite distorted and funky looking when it was brought home. Once the mealy bugs were gone, I just let it rest and recover first before pruning hard.

Now that it has fully recovered, too many stems are meandering and jutting out here and there. I would prefer to get it back on track.

Tiny buds started to emerge from the stem about 5 months ago - now growing upright, towards the light. Yes!  I was patiently waiting for these to grow.

A little pruning and staking will give a better shape and tighter habit. I prefer using a budding knife, or like in this case - a sharp kitchen knife to make the cuts. I just cleaned the blade with rubbing alcohol first (to prevent bacteria or pathogens entering in the stem). Leaving about 1 cm of the main stem to the right of the new green shoot (as seen above). What ever you do, don't cut too close to the shoot.

Even if you only have tiny shoots standing straight up, you can cut off the main stalk to your desired shape.

Finished first step of pruning. I left that wonky stem on the left side, planning to cut and root it once I get better growth, so it remains for now.

With Jade plants - they tend to be slow growing in our environment at home. Patience is key. Pruning will have to take on several stages before the final desired shape will be achieved. But, I love plants and will wait for proper pruning results. Now I can adjust the stake and wait until those new shoots develop into sturdy stems.

But wait - what about all the cut off bits?  Don't chuck them in the compost. Save and restart the process by making new plant-lets. You can give them as gifts - it's so easy to do!

Jade plants have to be one of the easiest to propagate. As seen all over the main stems, little aerial roots are developing at bud axils. These are what you want to reserve.

The trick with propagating succulents, when you take cuttings, you MUST callouss them off first.

This just means, you make and take cuttings and allow the fresh cut ends to seal off and dry completely.

This prevents pathogens and bacteria entering in those cuts when you root them on in potting soil.

Freshly cut.

Here I've placed them by the window, so the light and air movement from the radiator and window will help to dry them out. They've been drying out for about 15 days.

2 weeks old.

Two weeks later, the leaves and stems are still plump and are not shrivelled. Tells you what reserves these amazing Jade plants have built in! And as you can see, the cut off blunt end is all callused. Sealed over. Roots are still white and firm. Good sample.

Now, don't throw out any leaves that have fallen off, until you have a good look at their base.

The right side are the kinds of leaves you want to save. 

Here's why:

Jade plant leaves are great to start new plants with. But you need to know a trick. Don't tear off the leaves by damaging the basal part of the leaf that was attached to the stem. They must have wings as shown above. New buds and leaves will emerge from these undamaged ends. So be careful removing them from the stem.

With propagating cuttings and leaves, you need to use succulent or cactus soil. The soil must be porous and loose.

Or make your own:

Make sure the pot you use is not too large. Or too much moisture will dominate and mould and rot will take over.

On this cutting sample, I removed many leaves so that the cutting won't suffer from lack of root development. You see, when propagating, roots should equal the amount leaves. When there aren't any roots, reducing the amount of leaves - the cutting is less stressed. 

In removing the leaves, sometimes little leaf axil bits still stick on the stem. Use a clean spoon to scrape any bits from the bud. They flick off easily from the stem, now that they were calloused over. Leaving these green bits attached would attract decay. And we need to make sure that roots develop with ease. You can use rooting hormone if you wish, but since I have small rootlets already, this isn't necessary.

This pot is about 3 inches high, slightly taller than the length of the cutting. I just used a metal prong to pre-dig a hole and then...

...inserted the cuttings, without firming the soil around. I placed two cuttings in each pot and used a larger pot with a shallow insert to root on the leaves. Here I situated them next to the window, close to a radiator beneath. Perfect spot. Warm base, sunny top.

I only gave a 1/4 cup or so of water for each pot and lightly watered each leaf separately. DO NOT OVER WATER at this stage. Let the little bit of moisture from the damp soil and the air pockets help draw out new roots.

Some folks add grit/course sand to the top. You can, but I find I can't tell how wet the soil is at this stage. In a month or so, I may go ahead and add grit to help trap in moisture, that way I don't need to water as often. Until then, I can easily see damp soil and know when to prevent overwatering.

Wait a month or two and new leaves will emerge from the base of each leaf and new terminal buds will developed on the cuttings. I can't wait! It's so easy!

UPDATE:

Four weeks later.....success!  Here are the tell-tale signs that the cuttings have taken root.

Before: just placed on the window sill. No visible leaves or buds at the terminal axil.

Up Close After:  New Leaves! Yay!

Shiny new leaves emerging from the leaf joint.

Now you go and try it yourself!

Common Houseplant Pests: Part 4 Mealy Bugs (Update)

I continue to get messages and comments regarding my mealy bugs on jade plants post. It's a sad reality, but a common ground for those of us who love our houseplants and want to save them.

Here is an update of my previous post regarding that sad jade plant that we rescued.

After spraying with water, dabbing with alcohol and repotting; the jade plant is starting to really bounce back. It's been over a year since any mealy bugs have been seen. It was a labour of love. Staking it now - we are trying to regain a balanced growth habit. I just wish we had more light to get tighter stem growth.

No more distorted leaves and white flakey bits in the leaf axils. All clean.

Interesting enough, 3 months ago, a huge jade plant was gifted to us and on close inspection, it too was covered in mealy bug.

I didn't even take a picture of the before, as it went straight into the bathtub and got a spray down. I wasn't going to allow mealy to take over the house. This plant was worse. However, while trying to spray the plant down, the tightness of growth habit didn't allow for a thorough job. Instead, the power washer was used on a softer spray setting and all the nooks and crannies were blasted.

 This is the result. After a thorough blast, a heavy prune (to thin out and expose the inside of the plant) and the removal of nearly all the top portion of soil - it's starting to come back.

 All the pruned lesions are showing new buds and growth.

As you can see, some of the spray from the power washer made damaging holes. No worries. Once more leaves emerge, I will pinch this leaf off.

With healthy new leaves and tons of new growth - within a year, this jade plant will begin to look as good as when it was gifted to us.

Who needs chemicals?

Common House Plant Pests - Part 4: Mealybugs - Planococcus citri

I was asked to rescue this Jade plant (Crassula ovata) for a friend. They were wondering what the white stuff was covering the base of each leaf.

This Jade plant has seen better days. Leaves are distorted, the growth is weak; becoming susceptible to attack. Every leaf axil was invested with Mealybug. Their typical white, powdery coating is a dead giveaway. Female adults are hidden beneath, sucking sap from the host plant.

A close up, showing white fuzzy cotton insects at each leaf node (joint).

I hate using chemicals. High pressure water is by far my favourite control for Mealybug. Don't worry about damaging leaves. The spray from a garden hose is not that harsh. Don't use a pressure washer, just a hose attachment for the garden.

* Note: Be sure to spray on a driveway or area where the Mealybugs cannot transfer to another plant. In the summer months, Mealybugs can easily survive and find other hosts in your garden.  Treat your plant in this manner on a hot summer day. The Mealybugs will fall to the pavement and because their food source is gone, they will die in the hot sun.

Use either the Jet or the...

Flat setting on your hose end sprayer.

Liberally spray the plant in all directions. Under the foliage, on the top of the foliage - reaching all the nooks and crannies. This pressure will help dislodge leaves that need to come off anyway. Not to worry.

After you've sprayed the plant thoroughly with water, make sure any dislodged Mealybugs that have fallen on the top of the soil in the pot is also sprayed out.

Soil is generally compacted enough in pots. Spraying this hard won't wash all the soil away. Spray on an angle and tip the pot if necessary.

Spray the saucer on both sides thoroughly. The more thorough you are, the less likely the Mealybugs will return.

Spray the pot, under the rim, beneath....EVERYWHERE. Mealybugs are persistent and they hide in any corner, nook or crack.

Remove any damaged, old, wrinkly leaves. Be sure to spray with water at the leaf axil after leaves have been removed. Eggs or small, in-star Mealybugs may still be there.

Use rubbing alcohol as an additional control after you've thoroughly sprayed the plant. Apply with a cotton swab and paint the leaf axils, buds, bases of the leaves/stems.

Be sure to get all the leaves, axils and any where you may have noticed Mealybugs before the treatment. It's an arduous task, but worth it. You can actually kill off the Mealybug by painting alcohol over its body. It kills them on contact. The alcohol removes their outer white coating and makes their exterior skin dry out.

After painting all the leaf axils and other areas you may think the Mealybugs have been, wipe the pot down with a cloth drenched in rubbing alcohol or a bath of 1 part rubbing alcohol to 3 parts water and 1 tsp dish soap. This will prevent eggs or crawler bugs from surviving.

An alternative is to repot with a sterilized/clean flower pot. If you do so, be sure to clean the former pot and store in an area where if any Mealybugs were to survive, they would soon die off from lack of any food source.

Once you've treated your plant, resituate in a bright area, away from other house plants until you know the infested plant is clear. Add a layer of fresh potting soil and use houseplant fertilizer every two weeks when watering. Monitor your plant every other day for re-infestations. Retreat until no more Mealybugs are to be found.

In the winter, Mealybugs don't like the cold. If you can't spray as I did on the driveway but you want to kill off the Mealybugs; bring the infested plant towards a cold window sill. The Mealybugs will move away from the coldest side of the plant to the warmer leaves. Once they congregate, remove with a cotton swab doused with rubbing alcohol.

Hope this helps.

Check out my updated post on the results!