Help 911 Jade Bonsai

Mimimom

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I had fruit flies everywhere in my house from this plant, I called the store where I bought it and they said to use insecticide and follow directions I did and now all my leave are falling will this recover?
 

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LemonBonsai

Shohin
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Those were probably fungus gnats. When you see fungus gnats its usually means that your soil is to water logged or staying wet for a long period of time. Jades and other succulents hate to be wet for long periods of time. Lightly squeeze the trunk at the base to see if its squishy. If it is, the best bet you would have is to cut the tree off wherever the trunk stops being squishy, dry it out for 3 - 4 days then plant it as a cutting. If its not squishy then put a fan on it so the soil dries out as fast as possible, and I wouldnt water it again for a week or two. Jades could probably go months without water so 1 or 2 weeks wont hurt it at all. And for future reference I would only water this after the soil is literally bone dry for a day or two and then give it a good deep watering. Also these plants do way better outdoors if possible
 

SWfloirda

Chumono
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Most likely what you thought were fruit flies were fungus gnats. They come from soil that is moist. Portulacaria Afra are succulents and can be kept dry enough to avoid the gnats. When I used to keep succulents inside I thoroughly watered every 2 weeks at the most and the gnats died off. Depending on where you are in the world your plant will fare much better if you acclimate it to full sun outside and protect it from freezing temperatures. It can be enjoyed as an indoor plant in the winter.
 

ShadyStump

Imperial Masterpiece
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I'll just reiterate what @SWfloirda mentioned: that is NOT jade, it's portulacaria. P. Afra CAN be kept indoors - I do it - but it will need a decent grow light to be happy.
If you've ever kept cactus or aloe vera or other succulents as house plants successfully, treat this the same way. As @LemonBonsai alluded to, these things are so easy to propagate from cuttings, you'll have plenty of opportunity to to keep trying.

To clarify, it's not the insecticide that hurt it, it's probably root rot. Make sure there are open drainage holes in the bottom of the pot. The soil looks like it's mostly or all peat. You'll want it in something that drains much better, and dries out a little faster, and water it less frequently. If you wind up replanting it as a cutting, change the soil.

Good luck!
 
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