Over watering or under watering - Portulacaria Afra

goofyboi

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Im sorry if I posted in the wrong section but I've recently purchased a portulacaria afra and its leaves started to get shriveled up is this a sign of over watering under watering or something else completely?

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Definitely a dwarf Jade.

Could you give us some more information on the plant and where it's located, where you're located? If you can get a picture of the pot and soil it's currently in that would help a lot.
 

goofyboi

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Hey I put the plant in 100% turface, its indoors, and I live in NY. My tree is also losing colors in its leaves. Is that another symptom for overwatering or something else completely?photo_2 (2).jpg
photo_1 (1).jpg
 
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Usually its over watering, but also happens if its too cold or not enough light. What are you feeding it? 100% turface is a good way to help avoid staying too wet, unless its over potted.
 

goofyboi

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It could be that its not enough light. Ill find a better spot to put it and I'll see what happens. As for fertilizer I'm using miracle grow all purpose 24,8,16
 

Redwood Ryan

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I still think it's a Portulacaria afra 'Variegata'....
 

goofyboi

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if anything please excuse my ignorance, but is that normal for the plant? and if it is how can I make the leaves look completely green?
 
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if anything please excuse my ignorance, but is that normal for the plant? and if it is how can I make the leaves look completely green?

I'm pretty sure we are looking at the Variegated variety of Portulacaria afra, not the solid green leaf variety.
 

goofyboi

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hey I might sound ignorant for asking this but what is veriagata and is it normal? Also what can I do to have green leaves?
 

GrimLore

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Hey I put the plant in 100% turface, its indoors, and I live in NY. My tree is also losing colors in its leaves. Is that another symptom for overwatering or something else completely?View attachment 30991
View attachment 30992

I live not to far from you and the only Jade that survive here get full Southern sun exposure. Time to get a compass and pick a window ;)
 

mat

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hey I might sound ignorant for asking this but what is veriagata and is it normal? Also what can I do to have green leaves?

You'll need to buy another (non-variegated) plant if you want solid green leaves.
 

tokai

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From the opening picture it is rather hard to tell what the real reason for the defect leaves is. Watering not enough (especially in the growing seasons) will result in shriveling and dropped leaves at the lower sections of the branches. Over watering is really hard with the proper soil.

It is important to threat the plant as succulent. In the growing season one must water it properly and then let it almost dry out again before watering it again. Checking the weight of the pot with a kitchen scale usually helps to find out how dried out the pot is already until you get a feeling for the situation.

Depending on the region where you live the plant might require a dormancy phase during the winter (not enough sun), then keep it a bit cooler (between 10° and 15° C is good, IMHO) and water minimally (I usually only water once every 3 to 4 weeks on warmer days then, depending on the outside temperature.)


The soil should have a very good drain. Extra drainage —e.g. pebbles— at the pot's bottom is very useful too. I use a mineral mix out of pumice, diatomite, Akadama, gritty sand and only around 25% humous material (usually peat and coconut fiber). The structure of the mineral components depends on plant size; bigger plants get more coarse components.

While the plant requires a lot of light one should always be carefully placing it into full sun quickly after it was located in a more dark spot for some time; this will usually result in scorched leaves. Giving it some shading for a week or such until it has acclimated it a good idea there. Assuming it really is a variegated species then it might be generally more susceptible to this. A good airflow might help here too (e.g. with high temperatures in summer outside with wind is certainly better than behind glass w/o any airflow.)
 
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fourteener

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Based on the first picture you have a watering issue. Either it's too dry and water isn't getting to the tips. Or you have root rot which also means its not getting enough water. If your soil is pretty moist it has too much water let it dry out.

The two house plants I had, I killed by overwatering. In the winter you could almost water it once a month in normal potting soil and it would do well. Now I've learned my lesson...free draining soil, water once a week unless its in a growth phase, then twice a week.

You can't do anything with the variegation, sorry.
 
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