The jade plant is a popular succulent plant. It is very easy to care for and propagate. There are two main ways to propagate jade plant from its stem and leaves. Here are a few easy tips on how to propagate the jade plant.
Jade plants are usually dormant during the winter. During this time, plant growth is very slow and limited. Propagation is unlikely to be successful due to the intense heat during summer. You can propagate jade plants at any time other than this period. But I think Monsoon and spring season are the best time to propagate the jade plant. During these two periods, the growth of the jade plant is maximum and many new branches are formed. Moreover, these monsoon and spring season creates a pleasant environment for propagation. The resulting cuttings form roots very quickly and initiate new growth.
How to make a rooting soil mix for propagating jade plants?
The most important factor in propagating seedlings from cuttings is the medium. This means the soil we use to plant jade plant cuttings.
Jade plant cuttings require light, well-draining soil. Cuttings should not be planted in wet soil. Because this soil has a high water-holding capacity. So cuttings will soon rot. If we plant the cuttings in loam soil or sand, there is a 50-50 chance that the jade plant cutting will propagate or may not.
If the cuttings are planted in the following types of medium for propagating the jade plant, then the success rate of seedling propagation will increase.
To propagate jade plants, make the medium a mixture of sand, vermiculite, compost, activated carbon, peat moss, and perlite. This combination of ingredients will provide your cuttings with the right balance of drainage, aeration, nutrients, and moisture they need to root successfully.
Ingredients:
- 1 part sand
- 1 part vermiculite
- 1 part compost
- ½ part active carbon
- ½ part perlite
- ½ peat moss
Mix the ingredients together until well combined. And ready to use it.
Additional tips:
- Create the medium according to your local climate. The type of medium you use will depend on the climate in your area.
- Do not forget to add activated carbon to the mixture. Activated carbon helps prevent harmful fungal infections.
- Do not use peat moss where rainfall is high. But you can use it during spring.
- Make sure that the rooting medium is moist but not soggy. Soggy mediums can lead to root rot.
- You can use commercial rooting soil.
How to propagate the jade plant?
You can propagate jade plants by both stem and leaf cuttings. You can produce new plants by following any of the two propagation methods listed below.
Propagate jade plant from stem cutting:
How to propagate a new jade plant from a stem cutting is given below.
The following items should be at hand when planting cuttings.
- Flat-type pot
- Soil
- Hormone powder
- sharp knife and scissors
- pencil or same-size small stick
- Spray bottle
- Water as needed
How to take Stem cutting?
Select growing and healthy stems for new seedlings. Then, cut from the midpoint of the two nodes using sterile scissors. Remove the lower leaves from the cut branch or stem, leaving the upper leaves intact.
- A small portion of a healthy stem is required to propagate cutting from the jade plant.
- Cut a healthy branch of the jade plant 4 to 5 inches long.
How to plant cuttings?
- Fill the pot with medium prepared for propagation.
- Spray water lightly over the potting media with a spray bottle. Gently press the medium with your hands to remove any air pockets.
- Make holes in the media with a pencil or similar-sized stick.
- Carefully remove the remaining thin stem bark below the nodes with a sharp knife. Cut the end of the stem slightly diagonally.
- Apply rooting hormone to the cut end of the stem.
- Place the cutting in the hole you made in the medium. Press the soil around the hole to make it firm.
- After planting all of the cuttings, thoroughly wet the medium by spraying it with water.
How to take care of the planted Cuttings?
Jade plant cuttings require special care after planting in propagation pots.
Environment:
After transplanting cuttings, it is essential to provide them with a suitable environment. If the cuttings are not kept in the right conditions, they will perish. as a result, the entire propagation process will be vain.
- Place the cuttings in a spot that receives bright, indirect sunlight. Avoid placing them in direct sunlight, as this can scorch the leaves and damage the cuttings.
- Keep the air around the cuttings moist. You can do this by misting them with water regularly or placing them in a humidity tray.
- Monitor the temperature of the environment. The ideal temperature for most cuttings is between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Don’t give up if you don’t see any roots immediately. Be patient! It can take several weeks for cuttings to root.
Watering:
Just like the environment, special care needs to be taken with watering. It is very important to keep the moisture level of the cutting pot media correct. Both underwatering and overwatering can be extremely detrimental to the propagation of jade plants. In fact, in most cases, the propagation of plants is ruined due to under-watering or over-watering.
Before watering, it is essential to determine whether the cutting pot soil needs water. Propagation soil should always be kept moist, but not soggy. If the soil is too moist, the cuttings may rot. If the soil is too dry, the cuttings may dry out.
It is important to pay special attention to the humidity of the medium. You can water regularly, but please be sure to check the medium before watering to make sure it is dry. You can also help to keep the medium moist by misting it with water regularly.
Specific tips for watering jade plant cuttings:
- Water the cuttings thoroughly when you first plant them.
- Allow the medium to dry out completely between watering.
- Mist the cuttings with water regularly to help keep the air around them moist.
- If the cuttings are in a pot with drainage holes, be sure to empty the water from the saucer after watering.
- If the cuttings are in a pot without drainage holes, be careful not to overwater them.
Propagate jade plant from Leaf cutting:
You can easily propagate from the leaves of a jade plant. Follow the steps on how to propagate jade plants through leaves.
- Select mature, healthy, and insect-free leaves from a branch of a mature jade plant.
- Remove the selected leaves from the plant stems using a sharp and sterile knife or scissors. When cutting, make sure to cut from below the junction of the leaf and the stem.
- Place the leaves on a small, clean plate in a dry and warm location for 3-4 days to allow a callus to form on the cut part of the leaf. The callus will protect the leaves from rotting.
- Fill a pot with rooting soil and plant the leaves, ensuring that the lower part of the leaves is beneath the soil.
- Water the pot well and place the pot in a bright and indirect light location for a few weeks.
- How to take care of propagation from jade plant leaves. Please follow the steps mentioned earlier in this paragraph on how to take care of the planted cuttings.
When to repot a jade plant after propagation?
If everything goes well, roots will begin to grow within 14-20 days from the cutting. And gradually, new growth will begin to come on the stem. When the plant has fully grown and its roots are established. Then decide to re-pot it, not before then.
If the plant is planted too early, the new roots may not be able to withstand the stress. As a result, the plant may die soon. Be patient and wait until full growth starts for the plants. The entire process may take up to 30-35 days or more.
When the new seedling jade plants have started fully grown, you can prepare for repotting them. Details on how to collect new seedlings from propagation pots and how to plant them in new pots are given below.
Special care is essential when collecting new jade seedlings from propagation pots. Do not try to pull seedlings directly. Otherwise, all the efforts may go to waste. Before harvesting the seedlings, thoroughly loosen the soil around the base. So that the new roots are not damaged in any way.
Now, carefully pull out the seedlings. Take clean water in a tray and gently wash the plants through the water. You can add hydrogen peroxide to the water if desired. Wash the jade plants once and soak the roots for 5-10 minutes. Then give the plant new pots.
How to transplant new jade plants?
Transplanting propagated jade plant seedlings requires well-drained soil. Jade plants are succulents, so they prefer rocky sandy soils or well-drained loamy soils.
Materials required:
- Potting soil
- Small size gravel
- River sand
- Medium size pot
- Mosquito net cut piece
- Plastic tubs & water
- First, take a medium-sized pot (5-6 inches) and check the bottom holes. If the holes are less in size or number, increase them.
- Take a few small pieces of mosquito net and cover all the holes in the pot with them.
- Then, make a layer of small gravel (1.5-2 inches thick). Top it with a light layer of sand and shake the pot gently to set the sand and gravel.
- Now fill the rest of the pot with a little less than half of the soil.
- Lightly press down on the soil with your hands to help the air inside the soil escape as much as possible.
- Now, take a sapling of jade plant and place it in the centre of the pot. Fill it well with soil around it.
- Gently press down on the soil again with your hand to expel the air that may be trapped inside.
- Submerge the pot briefly in a water-filled plastic container, then remove it. This will help the potting soil absorb the water. You can wet the soil by spraying it with water if you prefer.
- After planting the jade plant in the pot, keep it in a shady place for 7-10 days, in the same location where the propagation pot was kept. Monitor the plant and water it as needed.
How to prepare jade plant soil?
By following these steps, you can easily prepare loose, sandy soil that is perfect for your jade plant.
1. Gather your materials. You will need:
- 1 part garden soil
- 1 part sand
- 1 part compost
- 1 part vermiculite
- 1 part active carbon
- ½ part perlite
- ½ parts of mixed fertilizer
- A mixing tray
- A trowel
- Water and spray bottle
2. Mix all the ingredients in the mixing tray.
- Before mixing, thoroughly dry the soil in the sun and break the pieces of soil up as small as possible.
- Use your hands, a shovel, or a trowel to mix all the ingredients until they are evenly combined.
- After mixing, remix by lightly spraying water on the soil and moistening it until it is evenly moist.
3. Test the drainage of the soil.
- Fill a small pot with the soil mixture.
- Pour water into the pot until it is saturated.
- If the soil has absorbed all the water, the excess water will quickly drain from the pot. This is good.
4. If the water does not drain away quickly
- Add more sand and perlite to the soil mixture. That will help the soil drain more quickly.
5. Allow the soil mix to sit:
- Cover the mixed soil and keep it in a cool, dry place for at least 2 weeks. Stir the soil every few days.
Additional tips for preparing jade plant soil:
- If the soil is too sticky, reduce the amount of soil and increase the amount of sand.
- It would be great if you prepared the soil mixture at or before starting the process of propagation of jade plants. This will give the organic matter in the soil time to decompose, making it more fertile.
- You can add a small amount of worm castings to the soil mixture to help improve drainage and nutrient retention.
What problems can occur with new jade plants?
A jade plant is a plant that has a lot of water in its leaves. Because of this, most of the problems with this plant are water-related. This is due to both overwatering and underwatering.
Overwatering problems:
Overwatering problems occur in jade plants during monsoons. During this period, it rains more often and the air is also humid. If the potting soil is not porous. Various problems can occur in the plant, Such as root rot, rounding of stems, black spots on leaves, black spots, and leaf drops.
We bring jade plants indoors during the monsoon season to prevent overwatering. As a result, it’s often seen that the density of leaves on the stem of the plants is decreasing, and the stems becoming slender and fast-growing.
The main reason for this problem is the lack of adequate lighting. Plants grow their trunks rapidly to compensate for the lack of light. As a result, the stem becomes thinner and longer, and the distance between the two leaves increases. If the plant is not transferred to a sunny location, leaf drop may become a problem.
Leaf Shrinkage Problem:
In summer, the problem of jade plant leaves can shrink. Water regularly during the summer. During this time, the amount of moisture in the air is less. As a result, jade plants cannot absorb much water from the air. Therefore, the plant has to depend on watering. Irregular watering can cause leaf shrivelling problems.
Insect attacks on jade plants are rare. However, mealybug infestations can sometimes occur during monsoon season. If the plant is less infected, you can wash the infected area with a water sprayer. However, if the infestation is more severe, you can use pesticides like neem oil.
Finally, I would like to reiterate that the propagation process of jade plants can take time to complete. Propagate depends on the weather conditions. Please take care of the cuttings and be patient.
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