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We all know that plants need light to grow properly, of course. But guessing or estimating the right amount of light can be tricky for any plant, and jade plant light requirements aren’t any easier to guess if this plant is new to you.
- So today, we will be talking more about:
- how much light jade plant needs
- what kind of light and importance of light
- if jade plant can grow in low light conditions
- and problems that might occur if light conditions are not to jade plant’s standards.
Let us begin.
How Much Light do Jade Plants Need
The proper jade plant care surely has to include sufficient lighting conditions.
As jade plans are plants that love light, giving them a full day of bright light will make them the happiest.
However, the conditions of our homes are never perfect, especially if your Crassula Ovata is grown indoors, so giving it enough light, even indirect sunlight, will be a good start.
On the other hand, if we’re talking about perfect conditions for growing your lucky plant, than giving it at least 4 hours of direct sunlight daily (but not too intense) would be the right way to go.
Where to Keep Your Jade Plant
If you have the option to choose a place, or better yet, a window for your Crassula Ovata, south facing window or a west facing window would be best.
Sunny windows like a south facing window will have light for the longest time, but if the season is particularly hot, pay attention that the jade plant doesn’t start losing leaves.
East facing windows are also an option during growing season, but in winter, the dormant season, the light from the east facing windows wouldn’t be enough.
In these cases, you might need a substitute in form of grow lights to give your money plant enough light.
Right Kind of Light for Jade Plants
Jade plants are tropical plants that originated from South Africa and they do like a lot of bright light.
However, you need to be cautious as staying on direct light will affect the health of your jade plant and its leaves might start to get yellow and eventually dry.
Another thing you should know when it comes to jade plant care is that jade plants prefer to stay in one place and moving them around from direct to indirect light and vice versa might also hurt them in the long run.
Therefore, it is always best to keep your jade plant in a spot with a lot of bright indirect light.
Importance of Good Light for Jade Plant Care
Just like any other living being, jade plants also need light to grow and flourish.
No wonder.
Plants, as you know, use light for the process of photosynthesis during which they turn the water, light and oxygen into food.
In other words, if jade plants don’t get the proper amount of light, they won’t be able to “feed” and develop nice and strong, so finding the right balance would be the key to a happy plant.
When jade plants are in the matter, finding the balance between the direct light and indirect light would be the right way to go.
To Keep in Mind
When you look at jade plant with its woody stems and bright green leaves, the first thing you probably think is “what a sturdy plant”.
And it is, there’s no doubt about that.
But, this might lead a lot of people to think that they can and even should change jade plant’s location to follow the indirect and direct sun throughout the seasons or even days sometimes.
Please, don’t do this.
However sturdy your money tree might be, it does NOT like being moved from one place to the next every so often.
Moving your plant from a place of low light to a place where it’ll get full sun might get its oval shaped leaves to start developing brown spots.
Instead, keep in mind to always keep your jade tree in a place where it will be getting indirect or filtered light aplenty (especially early morning and afternoon sun), and just a bit of full sun – no matter if its a growing season or if you’re in winter months.
Can Jade Plants Grow in Low Light Conditions?
Jade plants are tropical plants and they do like a lot of light.
However, they can live and maybe even grow in low light conditions but that growth would be slow and the plant would definitely not thrive.
If you, on the other hand, want to propagate jade plants and want to know whether young plants should stay in low light or go to full sunlight immediately, it is better to keep them at lower light conditions in the beginning.
Mature plants, on the other hand, like to get a lot of light on a daily basis, especially in the growing season, starting from early spring and until autumn.
Jade Plant Problems Occurring Due to Bad Light
If you start noticing that there are some problems with your jade plant, there’s a possibility they’re caused by improper lighting.
Here are the most common signs:
Yellow Leaves
If you notice that leaves of your jade plant are starting to go yellow, that should be a sigh that the plant is not getting enough light, causing nutrient deficiency in the entire plant.
This can easily be solved by moving your jade plant to a place with better light, but keep in mind that you should do it gradually.
Brown Leaves
Brown leaves on jade plants often mean that they are getting too much direct sun and that the leaves are getting burned.
If this problem occurs, you should move your plant to a place with better light – bright but indirect.
Even curtains on your windows might do the trick for your plants.
Leggy Growth
Leggy and slow growth is a sign that your jade plants are not getting enough light.
They are trying to grow toward the light source, causing stems to become thinner and spaces between leaves bigger.
If you wish to solve this problem, move your jade plant to a place with better and brighter light.
Leaves Pointing Towards Window
Leaves that are thin on a mature plant and pointing towards window are a sign that your jade plants are not getting enough light.
Again, they are trying towards the light source, and to fix this problem, just move your plants to a better suited location with bright indirect light aplenty.
FAQ
Is jade plant a succulent?
Jade plant belongs to succulent plants which means that they store water in their tubular leaves.
Already having water in their leaves, jade plants really don’t like too much moisture in their soil, as excessive moisture can cause root rot.
What soil is best for jade plants?
Jade plants can grow in just about any potting mix labeled as potting mixture for cacti and succulents. However, the best potting mix for jade plant would consist of 3/5 sand, 1/5 peat moss and 1/5 organic soil.
How often to water jade plants?
Jade plants don’t like excessive moisture, so you should better let the top 1-2 inches of potting soil dry before you water your plant again.
Depending on the climate, this can be somewhere between 5 and 10 days, so proper care in this case would mean watering it more often in spring and summer and not as often during winter seasons.
What if I accidentally burn my jade plant?
If you accidentally leave your jade plant in a place where it gets too much of too strong light, it may burn its leaves.
In this case, you should prune your plant and move it to a place with lower light.
Final Word
Growing jade plants isn’t at all that difficult if you know what to pay attention to.
These plants like a lot of bright light, so putting them in a place where they will be getting about 4h of direct and a lot of partial sun will be perfect to make these indoor plants thrive.
