Dwarf Jade Help

Frogger05

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My dwarf jade recently started dropping its leaves. Nothing has changed as far as watering or environment. It is still producing nice new shoots on most of its branches. However some of them instead of producing new shoots are dropping the leaves. I am fairly new to bonsai and only have three so I don’t know if this is normal or not.
 

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Carol 83

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Perhaps over-watering. Let the soil dry out some. You can tell when it really needs water, the leaves will begin to shrivel.
 

Michael P

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I am currently having this problem on a 3" pot of cuttings from Home Depot. This is experimental material to see if I want to acquire something more developed. I've had the cuttings for several months, and tried letting them dry out more between waterings but it didn't help. The roots still look healthy.

It is now warm enough to put them outside here, and that seems to have helped. Perhaps this is related to light intensity? I am very curious to hear what other experienced people have to say.
 

PeaceLoveBonsai

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Where are you located and where is the plant currently? Outside, under lights? Also, what substrate is it currently in? A bit more information would help identify the issue.

The plant looks stressed for sure and guessing by the way the shoots are growing straight up from the top of the plant (and not from the sides or interior), I'm assuming an artificial light source right above the plant that is not sufficient for long term growth.
 

Bonsai Nut

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The plant looks stressed for sure and guessing by the way the shoots are growing straight up from the top of the plant (and not from the sides or interior), I'm assuming an artificial light source right above the plant that is not sufficient for long term growth.

I agree with the above comment from @Gdy2000 . Your Portulacaria afra is showing signs of too little light and too much water.

Though they look similar to jade plants (Crassula sp.) they are unrelated. They are an arid plains/desert succulent, and can actually survive a broad range of conditions, from desert sun and heat to light frost. One thing they will not survive is too much water - their roots are particularly sensitive to wet soil and will rot easily.

I have these all over my back yard - in hanging baskets as well as some larger pre-bonsai. They thrive in full sun, but can also do well in partial sun. They are actually more sun tolerant than jade - which at my latitude does not tolerate summer sun well. I water only when they are almost bone dry.

By the way... it is actually an edible plant. In South Africa they serve it in salads :)
 
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Colorado

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This is almost certainly due to over-watering. I wouldn’t water it for at least a week, regardless of how dry the soil starts to look.

If this particular plant is being grown indoors, which appears to be the case, it can easily go 2 weeks or more without water (and should during the winter/early spring).
 

Forsoothe!

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I'm voting for lousy light conditions.
 

LanceMac10

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I water my afra every two days indoors. For a succulent, they take more water than you think......note my soil with this tree is straight in-organic, bone dry indoors in a second!:oops::D:D:D:D:D:D
 

Bonsai Nut

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I just went into my garden and grabbed these two to show you what I'm talking about. They are planted in 100% pumice in large pond baskets and sit out in full sun all summer long. I just pruned them in December and they are already leggy and need to be cleaned up again.

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Frogger05

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This is in a very fast draining inorganic soil. I water it about every two weeks while it is inside and in the summer when it is outside about every week until it gets to the hottest part of the season. I do mist the tree daily once the hottest part of the sun has gone down. It may be light. It’s sitting in a window that doesn’t get tons of light so it doesn’t burn from the sun magnification.
 

Colorado

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I do mist the tree daily once the hottest part of the sun has gone down. It may be light. It’s sitting in a window that doesn’t get tons of light so it doesn’t burn from the sun magnification.

I’d definitely stop misting. It’s not doing this particular plant any favors and is just inviting disease/infection.

Sounds like light is the culprit. It will not burn in a window. I have many p.afra indoors including in a south-facing window, with no screen, at nearly 6,000 feet of elevation. They show no indications of burn whatsoever.
 

Frogger05

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This tree looked great until two months ago when my wife forgot to water or mist it the entire month I was gone. So now when I leave my trees go to my buddies house and are added to his collection.
 

Colorado

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If it really is an underwatering problem, the good news is that it will bounce back just fine, given the proper conditions :)
 

Frogger05

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Would this tree be better off outside once there’s no chance of the temperature dropping way down again?
 

Frogger05

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If it really is an underwatering problem, the good news is that it will bounce back just fine, given the proper conditions :)
I know that is when it started. I will attach a picture of before. The only two I have. One is before I repotted, trimmed, and wired it. It had beautiful lush green leaves that were plump and thick. And since that month about 1/4 of the leaves haven’t looked right.
 

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Bonsai Nut

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Would this tree be better off outside once there’s no chance of the temperature dropping way down again?

Yes. Here's a little one that I planted in a small bonsai pot. I did nothing more than stick a cutting in some soil and leave it out on my bonsai bench. It gets sprinkled water twice per day with my trees... but looking at it right now it is bone dry. It is a solid plug of roots in that pot and I don't see any soil left :) It is not an example of best bonsai practice, but rather how resilient these plants are. They thrive on neglect. They can handle cold temps all the way down to low 30's. This little guy sat outside through several weeks of frost.

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Frogger05

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Yes. Here's a little one that I planted in a small bonsai pot. I did nothing more than stick a cutting in some soil and leave it out on my bonsai bench. It gets sprinkled water twice per day with my trees... but looking at it right now the soil is bone dry. It is a solid plug of roots in that pot and I don't see any soil left :) It is not an example of best bonsai practice, but rather how resilient these plants are. They thrive on neglect.
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Awesome. Thank you.
 

Frogger05

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Thank you everyone for your advice. I don’t currently have a bonsai bench. My two potted trees stay at my neighbors while I’m gone. One inside in his plant stand with his indoor stuff and one outside on a cinder block with his outdoor stuff. In May we are planning to build a nice bench to display everything. We had one but it wasn’t sturdy enough when the two 120+ lbs dogs we have ran into it. Luckily there weren’t any trees on it yet. I plan to make a the trip to Brussels bonsai in May and purchase several more trees. I want a maple grove, a dawn redwood, and I want to buy a juniper that I can put with a nice piece of driftwood to create a nice deadwood piece. At 2 hours away they are the closes bonsai place to me that has any kind of decent selection. We have a couple of greenhouses that sell overpriced terrible looking stuff. Usually have dead.
 

Bonsai Nut

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At 2 hours away they are the closes bonsai place to me that has any kind of decent selection.

Consider buying some stuff online. Not on eBay, but "99 Cent Bonsai" on Facebook. There are often some nice starters to be had for a reasonable price.
 
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