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by Ashley
(Cleveland)

Hello! I have collection containing a 4 year old healthy jade, 20 or so various baby jades about 6 inches in three colors, and a handful of other unknown succulents.

I have a large collection of seemingly healthy plants with constant new growth.

Unfortunately…no idea how to care for them!

I took about 10 cuttings from my big jade, let them callous and them put them in dry potting soil.

They appear to be healthy still. Am I waiting for new growth? Should I water them?

Also, what size pot should my jades be in? Should I put them all in the same pot? (they are in individual pots currently) Should they have their own artificial light in winter times?

Thank you!

Ashley

Hi Ashley, it’s a steep learning curve at times – luckily, succulents are very forgiving of most experiments (except over watering) so you can’t really go wrong with anything that you try.

As long as they continue to put out new growth, whatever you’re doing, keep on doing it!

For your cuttings, as soon as they are calloused (dried out a bit) then you can start to water, or not. They don’t mind if they don’t get water, they’ll be ready to grow as soon as they do. In the meantime, they’re probably busy rooting, where you can’t see it – give them a little tug, and most likely, they will already have roots.

If you want to try something really out there with all your jades, why not make them into bonsai? This is a really fun and different way to grow them, and I’ve seen some fabulous forests made out of Crassula.

Generally, as succulents don’t have a huge amount of wide ranging roots, they don’t need a big pot; they actually prefer to be a bit root bound – which has the added benefit of triggering bloom once they get older (Jade trees won’t bloom until they’re very old, and in a pot that looks too small – this event happens in the winter; what a treat!)

I usually recommend that they have artificial light; they originate near the equator, where the day length is always 12 hours, summer and winter, day and night.

You can see more here about grow lights and succulent care; sign up for the FREE Winterizing Succulents E-Course for more tips about growing your plants over the winter (this is particularly useful for those addicts in northern climates with long cold winters!)

That should get you starting with some ideas!
Jacki

Do you know what this is?

by Angela Webb
(Tulsa, Oklahoma)

do you know what this is 21532858

I have this mysterious plant in my yard. Can you please identify it?
Thank you so much!!

Drought Smart Plants reply:

Hi Angela, that looks to me like a Hibiscus, the Rose of Sharon. I’m not totally sure, but the leaf shape and the flowers with the dark centers are typical. If this is what it is, what a treasure!

They are pretty forgiving of most treatment, they like adequate water and soil, and seem fairly resistant to insects, pests and diseases.

Happy Gardening!
Jacki