The jade plant adventure finishes

Well, my adventure with the jade plants has come to an end. The very last of the little cuttings has gone to its forever home and my plants are looking happy and healthy.

I am becoming quite the regular at delivering plants by bike.

I can’t believe I went from absolute panic that I was going to lose my plant, and I really believed I was, to having so many healthy jade plants that I was having to find new homes for them as they had taken over the house.

I ended up giving away 6 plants from my smaller cuttings and one of the larger ones and I smile when I wander around work and see them on people’s desks.

It has been an amazing adventure and I have learned so much about taking care of my plants. Here are my top tips about taking care of your jade plants, learned from my experience:

1. Watering
   You can so very easily over water your plant and it will have a huge impact so be very mean when it comes to watering. I have found that you absolutely cannot tell if the plant needs watered just by the soil alone, even sticking your finger deep into the pot. I repotted a plant recently to give to a friend (remember the weird looking stick of a cutting) and found the soil was bone dry until a couple of inches form the bottom of the pot where it was soaking wet. So be aware of that.
   
   Instead I have been leaving the plants until the leave feel slightly soft to the touch, then I water by giving the plant a good soak. A really good soak, but then leave it until the leaves go slightly soft again. This can actually be a couple of months.
   
2. Feeding
   Jade plants need feeding just like any other potted plant but sparingly. Depending on the size of the plant and how long it has been in the pot, every 4 to 6 months. The difficulty though is that feeding on dry soil is complicated as the feed doesn’t permeate the soil as well, so I have found the best way is to water the plant as normal with about half as much water and then once the soil is damp, then add the feed. This has been working well and I can see the result in the plants leaves. All shiny and glossy.
   
3. Light
   These plants need A LOT of light, but don’t sit them in strong, direct, sunlight if you can help it. I have a filter on my window which was a bit like sugar glass. So not coloured but just defused the light a little. The plant really didn’t seem to like this. So try to find a nice bright spot.
   
4. Pruning
   The last thing I have learned is to be brave and prune and train your plants to look the way you want. The plants will give you so much please as a beautiful thing to look at. They are hardy when it comes to pruning and even a little bit of wiring to encourage them to grow in a certain direction if you want.

Mostly my biggest tip is to just enjoy your jade plant, they really are beautiful plants and a little bit of love goes a long way.