justwondering
Northeastern US
Posts: 1
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| Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 3:30 pm Post subject: Jade Plant help? |
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Hi everyone. I'm new here. I love my houseplants and am always looking for some new ones.
I have a jade plant that is about 5 years old. The problem with it is that it has a main stem, which is only about 1/2 inch thick, it's over a foot long, and then at the top it has 3 branches that have branched out. I usually put it outside during the summer and that is when it started to grow the branches (over the last 2 years) However, with this years growth, it can no longer stand by itself--I need to fasten it to a pole to keep it upright. What can I do about this? I'd like to have a bushy jade plant not this long leggy thing that can't stand on its own!!
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Pauline
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fish_4_all
Zone 8-9 Washington
Posts: 547
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| Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 7:26 am Post subject: |
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I had this problem and this is what I did.
I used poles to hold the stem upright and straight and then I simply stopped watering it until it completely dried up and was almost too dry. This caused the trunk to get really big and thick and it is now solid as a rock and close to 2 inches in diameter at the base.
I also eventually cut off the longer new sprouts so that it could stand easier. It is so thick now though I could probably let all the branches grow that can get a foot hold and it would stand on it's own without a problem.
Possibly try adding some plant spikes to the soil. I have done this with all of my jade plants and they thrive beyond belief. I use them with all of my houseplants now and have nothing but good results.
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EJ
Essex
Posts: 2863
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| Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 11:34 pm Post subject: |
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You could support it, but what I do is cut it hard back. It looks frightening, but mine had all lovely new shoots within a couple of weeks. I started by just taking back the top heavy areas, but once I could see it was happy and was going to carry on growing, I got rather scissor happy and cut it quite hard. It is now a shorter, but much stockier plant, growing quickly and I reakon within 6 months it will be almost as big as it was before it's haircut, but chunkier and much more full of leaves and branches.
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