Jade

Q. I took a leaf off my new jade plant. I let it callous now I put it in the dirt. Will the plant be miniature forever? How long will it take before it makes it first new leaves?

A. First of all remember that jade is a succulent and doe not like a lot of water. The fleshy leaves store liquid for survival without water as in desert conditions.

Therefore when you say you 'put it into the dirt' I hope you laid down the broken-off portion on top or just a wee bit below the soil line. Have it so the tip is underneath but not stuck way down. Otherwise the submerged portion of the leaf would rot and the entire leaf will die.

I have even laid the cut leaves right onto the moistened soil and watched it so it did not dry out totally so that the little roots will form and grow into the medium.

Once you have the leaf cut part rooted the baby plant will arise in about 2-4 weeks. But if it is submerged it may die before it gets above ground.

I have seen many greenhouses where the broken leaves lay underneath the benches root in the air and form babies readily. This is the preferred method as it does in nature. My one pot of jade out back is forever sending up new babies from leaves which have fallen onto the soil in the pot. I did nothing to them and there they are. So err on the sake of less not more water!

Q. We have a jade plant that has white patches. Someone told us it was mealy bugs and to apply alcohol and water. We tried this and they are still coming back. When you pull on this white stuff it pulls like spider webs but we cant see a bug. Any suggestions?

A. What I presume you are seeing are egg nests of the mealy bug. You will not see an adult there but you should see definite little insects nearby which crawl when prodded with a needle. Alcohol is effective on Q-tips only for a small infestation which you caught quickly. If there are much more insects then you will need to spray.

I suggest you use Ortho House and Garden Spray or Schultz Plant Insecticide. If you prefer less toxic apply Safer's Insecticidal Soap readily available in nurseries garden centers or on the Internet.

Keep this plant away from other house plants as the insects can spread. Apply the spray weekly for 4-5 weeks but keep an eye on it in the future to avoid reinfestation. Also inspect carefully any new additions to your collection and isolate them from your collection for a couple months to avoid contamination.

If there are brown shells covering the white cotton growth then you would have scale a completely different insect and much harder to get rid of.

Q. My friend gave me a start of her jade plant. We'll have them as house plants. How much light does it need and how much water. I like the feel of its leaves and the shape of hers so she started me one. She has more direct sun though than I have.  Will it make it in my northwest windows or will I need to get a grow light?

A. Jade make a very good house plant. But keep in mind that it is a succulent a relative of the cactus so needs dry conditions and plentiful light which can come from window sunlight or plant lamp light. GroLux and Sylvania are popular brands. Northwest windows can provide a lot of light depending upon outdoor obstructions or overhangs. But if the plant grows leggy I suggest purchasing a small plant stand or a screw-in grow light bulb.

Use a light porous potting mix with added perlite for aeration so that the roots do not rot. Water only when the soil surface feels quite dry to the touch. Better to give little water than too much to a Jade. Feed lightly with a house plant food at 1/2 teaspoon per gallon water once a month. Allow excess water to drain into a saucer and empty after two hours. Do not allow to sit in water.