How do you grow a jade plant so its stems are thick and strong and it blooms with flowers all over?

The jade plant (Crassula ovata) has a tall, upright and elegant crown, with jade-green stems and leaves and white flowers, looking + refreshingly elegant and distinctive. If you want your jade plant to have lush branches and leaves, you need to master the care methods. Below, the editor introduces the care methods for jade plants!

Jade plant care methods:

(1). Watering:

During the growing season, the jade plant should not be watered too much; water again after the soil dries, watering once every 2~3 days, keeping the soil moist but not overly wet or waterlogged. In summer, control watering and keep it in a well-ventilated place to care for it, preventing waterlogging that causes root rot and leaf drop. In winter, reduce watering and keep the pot slightly dry.

(2). Fertilizing:

During the growing season, topdressing is needed; generally apply 2~3 times of fully rotted, diluted cake fertilizer every 1 month. Before repotting or planting, apply enough fully rotted organic fertilizer at the bottom of the pot as a base fertilizer; organic fertilizer such as chicken manure or bone meal can be mixed into the soil. Fertilizer and water should not be too heavy, as this causes leggy growth and affects the shape. During cultivation, the jade plant generally has little demand for fertilizer; applying diluted liquid fertilizer 1~2 times a year is enough.

(3). Pruning:

If you want the jade plant to be round and full, you can prune leggy branches and overlapping, crowded branches to make the crown complete; the interior needs thinning so the branches are properly spaced. For older plants, you can prune them in the style of a tree-stump bonsai.

(4). Repotting:

Repot every year in spring, preparing fertile soil; you can use a mixed potting soil of 2 parts leaf mold or peat soil, 2 parts garden soil, 3 parts coarse sand, and 1 part limestone gravel as the growing medium. When repotting every year or bringing it indoors in autumn, you can shape and prune it appropriately to make the plant's form more rustic and elegant.

(5). Pests and diseases:

The main diseases of the jade plant are anthracnose and leaf spot; you can spray with a 1000-fold dilution of 70% thiophanate-methyl wettable powder. For leaf spot, promptly remove diseased and dead leaves, and you can spray with 0.5%~1% Bordeaux mixture. For scale insect damage, you can spray with a 1000-fold dilution of 40% omethoate emulsion to kill them. During care, it needs to be placed in a well-ventilated place to prevent pests and diseases.