Jade in my mind is one the easiest plants to grow.  With a  basic understanding of care  and a few helpful tips, you should be ready to turn that mediocre house plant into a stunning accent container  grown tree  that draws everyone’s attention.

  Tropical plants have been a passion of mine since the mid 1970’s.  It wasn’t until an interest in bonsai started to sway my emotions that Jade became something I wanted to grow.  Trail and error over the course of a few years taught me a few things about my climate and how best to grow this plant.


  When in doubt, don’t.  Over watering probably is the number one killer of Jade.  During the growing season outdoors with a good amount of sun, this plant can handle being watered on a regular basis.  Allow the soil to dry some before watering again.  The top 2” or so of soil can dry completely before being watered again.  More conservative cactus and succulent growers say let it dry completely.  That works fine, but in my opinion, that slows growth.   

  In winter, be it indoors or greenhouse, allow the soil to dry completely before watering again.  Winter is a period of time in habitat where jade doesn’t put on a lot of growth, but will spend it’s resources flowering.  Water is not as important as providing good light.


  Wintering over this plant is best done in a greenhouse.  If that is not an option, getting it as close as possible to a good south window will do.  Remember that winter is the flowering period for jade and sun is important to support that kind of growth.

  I personally believe all tropical plants love and will thrive if given a period of time outdoors.  Here in Oklahoma, that starts around the second week of April and ends around the middle of September.  

  Before I built a greenhouse, I had to acclimate my plants when moving them outdoors from the house in spring.  A location with a few hours of morning sun is best.  Slowly expose it to more sun over a period of a few weeks.  

  All of my jade are grown under shade cloth here in Oklahoma to protect them from our spring hail storms.  Being under cover on the edge  of deck or patio will work just as well.  Those of you in the great white north might find full sun will be ok for your jade.  I prefer morning sun and  filtered sun through trees or shade cloth the rest of the day here in zone 7.


Here again I deviate from the regular cactus or succulent grower.  I like fertilizer and use it on a regular basis when the plant is in a growing phase.  A slow release pellet in the soil along with a periodic  supplement about once a month of a water soluble like a Peters 20-20-20 works just fine for me.