image of two jade plants in water bottles

The Last Ditch Effort For Saving The Rotted Jade Plant

The is my last attempt at saving the Rotted Jade Plant. My daughter and I had discovered stem rot in it several weeks ago after we had done a pruning of the Jade Plant. (See My Video: Stem Rot in Jade Plant – Can We Rescue It? ) We concluded at the time we found the rot, that the weight of the too-heavy branches had split the large trunk and allowed bacteria inside.

Whether that is the case or otherwise, we have had this Jade Plant for so long, we wanted to try everything we could to save it. In my video, we had trimmed up to where we thought we might be out of the rot, but it doesn’t appear that was the case. Sad!

image of rotting stem of Jade Plant

Unfortunately, went we pulled the stem out of the pot of gravel I had “planted” it in, the stem was still rotting. No sign of callousing at all. As you will see in today’s video below, the stem was very mushy and oozing . This was so disappointing.

But I wasn’t yet ready to give up. We tried trimming more off. Can we successfully root it and save our Jade Plant?

image of two separate branches of Jade Plant to be rooted
After cutting even more off the rotting stem, this is all that’s left. See more in the video.

Final Attempt At Saving The Rotted Jade Plant

After considering all options and telling ourselves that one more try might do it, we decided to try a Water Propagation for this Rotted Jade Plant cutting…well, actually there are now two cuttings.

When I tried severing off the rotted portions, the natural branching contained rotted areas, so now we have two branches which may or may not be healthy. It is hard to judge when one is hoping so hard to save it.

So each of these branches will be sitting in water waiting for roots to form. I sure hope we are not waiting in vain. We must rescue this rotted Jade Plant that we’d had so long!

ROT or ROOT - My Final Attempt to Rescue Jade Plant - Will This Work?

My Method for These Jade Plant Branches

I am putting these surviving branches into a medium-size water bottle. ( I think these are for hyacinth bulbs but they should be a great size for this purpose.

Watch other YouTube videos, I have seen gardeners put cling wrap over the top of bottles and punch a hole in it to slide the cutting through to let the end go into the water. But I am not satisfied with that method.

image of hand holding bird netting
I want something besides cling wrap for the top

It seems to me that this would seal off the air to the water and to the rooting end, so I prefer to use something that supports the stem but allows air in.

Solution? My trusty old bird netting. I use it to deter squirrels and chipmunks over the winter months if I notice them getting into my hypertufa pots.

You can see how great this works wired onto the top of the bottle in my video.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
image of stretching bird netting over bottle opening
Secure bird netting with wire, hair tie, rubber band, etc

I did use a little rooting hormone or Rooting Powder on the ends of the branches I was rooting. I thought they needed every chance they could get from me, because this is truly my last attempt at saving this rotting Jade Plant.

double image of supplies for this project  rooting hormone & water bottle

Now Begins The Wait For Roots

Putting the propagation vases right back in the same place, I will expect some roots to form in a week or two. Maybe that is too optimistic, but I think I should be able to tell if it is Root or Rot pretty quickly.

I did add just one drop of Schultz Cactus Plus Plant Food . Perhaps that will help them get a great start in that water or a small snack as they…rot away. Let’s hope not.

I will keep you updated. Meanwhile here is a PIN for your houseplant board!

image of lady in blue holding Jade Plant potted in gravel

2 Comments

  1. Lili Sahm says:

    Hello dear Hypertufa gardener.I just stopped by to say you can spray the stems with a fungicide to prevent infections after pruning.I have 3 jades and a schefflera and it’s been a while that I’m trying to make them bonsai and I prevent roting and infections by using fungicides. I have read somewhere that you can rub some cinnamon or activated charcoal to the injured areas in case you don’t have fungicide but I haven’t tried them as I always use Mancozeb or Carbendazim after pruning (I mix a teaspoon of it in 1 litter water. and spray it all over the stems. I also use fungicides after root pruning and when I want to propogate a plant before putting cuttings in water). I hope you find this helpful and I wish your jades survive

    1. Thanks for your help. I have used cinnamon on my cuttings, but it didn’t help with this one. Maybe too far gone? It didn’t make it unfortunately. But I do have some surviving cuttings from a previous pruning. So she will live on! I will get some Mancozeb and/or Carbendazim to have in my arsenal. Thanks again.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.