Crassula Ovata
Jade Plant / Money Plant
Care Guide

Show me the Money, where’s the money growing on this plant? Well as your probably aware that Crassula Ovata “Jade Plant, Money Plant” doesn’t actually grow money. However, it was believed that growing this plant would bring your household prosperity and good fortune. This belief has made it one of the most popular succulent plant for both beginners and experts. It is also known as the friendship tree and has distinctive fleshy leaves. 

With this guide we will show you all the information that you will need to know about Crassula Ovata Jade Plant care, pruning, propagation, potential pests and diseases.

Jade Plant Bonsai. Source

Crassula Ovata – (Jade Plant / Money Plant) Overview

• Common Name: Jade Plant, Money Plant, Friendship Tree, Money Tree
• Scientific Name: Crassula Ovata – sometimes listed as Crassula Argentea
• Family: Crassulaceae
• Origin: South Africa and Mozambique
• Flower Colour: White or Light Pink
• Ultimate Height: 1.5 – 2.5 metres / 5 – 8 ft
• Ultimate Spread: 1 – 1.5 metres / 3 – 5 ft
• Time To Ultimate Height: 10-15 years
• Leaf: Evergreen
• Plant Hardiness: UK = H2 / USA = 10b
• Temperature: Will not survive being frozen (5°C = 41°F Lowest Temp) If growing outdoors.
• Light: Full Sun
• Water: Low
• Soil Type: Well Drained Sandy / Loamy Soil – Or a good Succulent potting mix
• Fertiliser: Only needed during growing season.
• Propagation: Leaf or Stem Cuttings, by Seed, or by Offsets
• Pests: Mealybugs, Spider Mites (Usually disease free when grown as a houseplant)
• Poisonous for pets: Toxic to cats and dogs.

How to Care for Your Crassula Ovata /Jade Plant / Money Plant / Friendship Tree

Crassula Ovata (Jade Plant / Money Plant / Friendship Tree) has a unique mini tree-like aesthetic, with oval-shaped leaves on woody stems similar to a bonsai tree. The jade plant is an appealing plant to have at home since it’s quite easy to care for once you know how, and what they need. They can grow to six feet or higher if given sufficient root space. Or if you choose you can bonsai them as they are a slow grower.

6ft high Jade Plant , Money Plant Source

9ft high Jade Plant, Money Plant 

Jade plants can be a wonderful indoor plant, and can live a long life, they can live up to 100yrs or more, but only if you take the time to care for them the right way.

Your Jade plant / Money Plant can be grown outdoors, but most of the time they’re grown indoors. Outside, they can be grown as landscape plants in regions with a dry, mild climate all year-round. They’re susceptible to the cold, so if you live in a region where it gets to freezing temperatures, it’s best to grow them indoors. If it gets to 5°C / 41°F or lower where you live, grow them inside.

How much light does it need?

 Jade plants require quite a bit of light in order to grow big and healthy. If they aren’t given enough light, they can start to become weak and frail. Find a sunny spot, they need at least 4 hours of direct sunlight or indirect sunlight every day. Pick a spot that gets bright light in a sunny position.

In bright sunlight your jade plant’s / Money plant’s leaf tips will begin turning red, moving them away in a spot with less direct sunlight the leaf’s will be a dark green colour.

You can move your jade plant outside during the summer if you want to give it more light. Just keep in mind that they are sensitive to “plant sunburn” and can become damaged if given too much light too quick. You should gradually acclimatise them to sunlight exposure over the course of a few weeks.

You can tell your jade plant is getting too much light or have been scorched if the leaves begin turning brown. The leaves can also begin to fall off. If overexposure to light continues, your jade plant will die.

Crassula Ovata / Jade Plant / Money Plant – Sunburned by the sun

Its a good idea to wipe down the smooth leaves every couple of moths to remove any dust with a damp cloth, this will allow it to gather all the available light.

How much water does it need?

 They require less watering than other common household plants. Crassula Ovata (Jade Plant / Money Plant) is a succulent, a member of the Crassula family. It’s important to note that excessive watering can lead to root rot and the death of your plant.

So how often should you water your plant ? Jade plants don’t like to be overwatered. Always check your jade plant’s soil before watering it. Only water it when you notice the soil is completely dry. You can check the dryness of the soil by sticking your finger an inch into the soil. Is the soil damp? If so, don’t water it. Is it dry? Then it’s okay to water.

When in doubt, it’s always best to lean on the side of under watering your beloved plant. During the spring and summer, they require a bit more watering than in autumn and winter. In winter, you can usually get by with only watering your jade plant once a month. Just remember to always check the moisture of the soil before watering.

Another tell tell sign that your plant requires watering is that the leaves will wrinkle up and start to wither. Just like when your hands look prune like after sitting in a bath for ages.

Do not mist your plant, they don’t like being over watered and secondly they just don’t need misting and will be totally fine without it. Jade plants are well suited to the dry conditions found in most homes.

Ideal Soil for Crassula Ovata (Jade Plant / Money Plant)

Due to fact that it’s a succulent you should use a well-draining soil which is porous as well. Normal soil tends to retain too much moisture, it hates boggy wet soil.

You can buy succulent soil or cactus soil from most garden centres or just make your own by mixing normal potting soil, sand and perlite together.

• 1 ½ bucket of soil
• 1 bucket of sand
• ½ bucket of perlite

This is the mixture I use to make my own succulent soil; it stops the soil from losing all the moisture whilst still allowing it to compact, keeping the roots in place.

The pH for jade plants should be neutral to slightly acidic soil, but they can be grown in any type of soil. Remember to choose a container with drainage holes before planting your Jade plant.

Fertilising Your Plant

Jade Plant doesn’t need fertilising that often, every 2 months during spring and summer is fine. This is the plants growing season. In the winter months you don’t need to fertilise it as the plant goes dormant during this period.

When fertilising you should be using a well-balanced liquid fertiliser diluted with water.

Getting your plant to flower?

It’s no easy task getting your jade plant to flower while growing it indoors. The trick to getting it to flower is to make sure that the plant enters its resting period as it would outdoors over Winter. Place the plant in the coldest part of your home (but not freezing) where it will still get its minimum 4hrs light.

Try and make sure that you give it complete darkness at night, stop giving it fertiliser and make sure the soil dries out before watering.

If you have been successful then your will be rewarded with White flowers that have 5 petals when it flowers, if your really lucky your Jade plant could produce pink flowers.

For people that live in warm climates they are much easier to flower and will do so naturally.

Repotting Crassula Ovata “Jade Plant”, “Money Plant”

Several plants from the Crassula genus, like the jade plant, are happy to grow as a potted plant in the same pot and soil for years on end. You don’t need to keep re-potting them throughout the year, which can make it much easier to take care of them (especially when they get bigger and heavier).

You should re pot younger jade plants every 2-3 years to allow it grow stronger and fuller. For older jade plants, make sure you re pot every 4-5 years. When replanting, make sure you do it at the beginning of spring, right before the growing season starts.

Once you re-pot or replant your jade plant, wait at least a week to water it and a few weeks before you fertilise it as the roots need time to settle in.

How To Prune Your Plant

How to prune your plant, If you think that your plant requires pruning, you can prune it anytime of the year, however pruning is best done in Spring or Summer. If you have any dead or dying leaves, feel free to pick them off.

• Look for the brown rings on the stem
• Ensure that you use a clean, sharp pair of pruning shears
• Be aware that 2 new steams will grow from the area that you have just pruned, this can lead you to having a bushier plant. If this is not what you want just prune the new growth.
• When pruning, do not take more than 20 cuts.

How to Propagate Your Plant

Are you wondering how to propagate a jade plant? It’s a wonderful way to grow more beautiful jade plants in your home without having to purchase another plant. There are a few steps to follow in order to make sure your cuttings turn into a healthy new jade plant.

When trying to figure out how to plant jade cuttings, the first thing you need to remember is that it’s best until you have a well-grown jade plant before attempting to propagate it.

Here’s how to propagate a jade plant from either a Leaf Cutting or Stem Cuttings:

1. Take a stem cutting (or remove a single leaf) from a healthy jade plant. You want a stem that’s 2-3 inches long with at least two pairs of leaves on it. Once you have your stem cutting, place it in a warm area of your home for a few days. You will notice a callous forming on the cut area which helps encourage rooting (while preventing rot).
2. Grab a container with succulent potting mix. Remember to use soil that isn’t completely wet, but just a bit moist.
3. Next, take your stem cutting and stick it upright in the soil like a tree. You can use a few rocks or weights to keep it in place if it can’t stand on its own. If you have a leaf, simply lay it horizontally on top of the soil. Cover the cut end with a bit of soil.
4. Take your pot and place it in a warm area with indirect light. Don’t water it yet.
5. After 1-2 weeks, you’ll notice the cutting or leaf will begin growing roots. Another 1-2 weeks later, gently touch the cutting or leaf to see if the roots are established. If they aren’t yet rooted, wait another few days, and test it again.
6. When you notice your new jade plant is firmly rooted, you can water it gently. Don’t pour water all over it. Be very light with your watering so you don’t displace or damage the roots. Make sure it waters all the way down to encourage the roots to grow deep.
7. From here on, treat your new jade plant with much care, allowing the soil to completely dry out between each watering. Test to check that the soil is dry before watering again. Once the plant is more established, you can move it to a window with direct sunlight.

If when propagating your jade plant, you notice the stem is rotting or slightly mushy from over watering, simply cut the stem off a few inches above the rotting and try to propagate it again.

You may notice your jade plant will propagate naturally. This can often happen in the summer, as more leaf’s break off naturally, growing roots in the soil of your jade plant pot.

Propergating Crassula Ovata / Jade Plant / Money Plant Videos

Bonsai Jade Tree Crassula Ovata / Jade Plant / Money Plant

It’s one of the most popular plants to bonsai for beginners due to the fact that it’s easy to care for as mentioned above. Also considered by many as one of the few bonsai that’s actually a true indoor tree. It’s easily trained to many forms, good choices would be upright formal and clumps.

The “Jade Plant”, “Money Plant” bonsai easy to work with when wiring and has been known to adjust to its new formed shape within a few weeks

If you are trying to encourage the growth of new branches at the bottom of its Stem (Trunk) then you should pinch out any new shoots.

Any forming or pruning on this bonsai should be done during its growth period in Spring and Summer, you should also let the plant rest after repotting it.

When pruning be aware that usually 2 new stems (trunks) will grow from the pruned area.

Pests

Growing Crassula Ovata “Jade Plant, Money Plant” indoors is usually pest free however saying that, it’s still susceptible to common houseplant pests:

Mealybugs

Spider Mites

Different Types of Crassula Ovata “Jade Plant”

There are many different types available here are just a few of my favourites for you

“Gollum”

This type is similar to “Hobbit” type and gets it name from the “Lord of the Rings” it has long finger like leaves which are tubular and tipped with a suction cup.

“Hobbit”

This type is similar to “Gollum” type and also gets it name from the “Lord of the Rings” has small tiny curled yellow-green leaves.

Crassula arborescens “Silver Jade” “Silver Dollar Jade”

“Ripple Leaf”

A unique looking Jade with you guessed it rippled leaves.

“Variegata” Known as “Lemon and Lime Jade”

Jade Plant Care FAQ

Here are a few questions you may have when caring for your jade plant:

We hope that you have found this Jade plant care guide useful, if we have missed something let us know and we will be more than happy to add it to the guide.