How Often Does Jade Plant Bloom?
Jade plants, also known as the lucky plant or money plant, is a common houseplant that is easy to grow, even by the most novice of gardeners. This pretty plant of the Crassulaceae family is popular for its thick, glossy, succulent leaf pads. Read on to know if and how often jade plants bloom.
Do Jade Plants Bloom?
Indeed, they do bloom. Not only can they flower, but they can also produce seeds. Although, they typically grow for many years without flowering.
The native conditions of jade (originating in South Africa’s rocky hillsides) include an arid, ambient environment, with nights that are cool and days that are bright and sunny. Interior conditions are often humid, making it difficult for buds to grow on the plant.
The springtime blossoms are clusters of pink or white, star-shaped flowers that grow from buds. Technically, the plant (rather, a tree) must be at least 35 years old for it to bloom.
When Do Jade Plants Bloom?
If properly cared for, a jade plant will bloom in late winter or early spring. However, it is important to note that only a mature jade plant will flower. Even in its native habitat, a jade plant may grow for many years before it’s ready to bloom. Once mature enough, the next deciding factor would be its exposure to sunlight.
While it is highly unlikely for indoor jade plants to bloom, owing to the lack of ample natural sunlight and the increased humidity indoors, outdoor ones that are mature have better chances of flowering.
What Does it Symbolize When A Jade Plant Blooms?
According to Feng Shui, the flowering of jade plants is a compliment to its keeper. It symbolizes great friendship, prosperity, and good luck. The green leaves of the plant signify positive energy, friendship, and enthusiastic life, while the flowers represent the fragrance of great friendship.
How to Make A Jade Plant Bloom
A bunch of factors is involved in getting the blooming of a jade plant. If you’re willing to wait it out patiently, here are some ways you could help a mature jade plant bloom:
Maintain The Right Watering Schedule
Succulents are prone to overwatering; owing to their natural arid, desert environment, the leaves of a jade plant can store water for prolonged periods. This is why they don’t need to be watered often. A good rule of thumb is to wait for the soil to dry out before the next watering.
Overwatering and underwatering are detrimental to the plant’s health as the root system is negatively affected. This leads to the roots not being able to absorb sufficient nutrients to provide the plant with the energy to grow and produce buds. Reducing watering frequency causes the plant to lose its deep green color and change colors, mostly red.
A good watering schedule is vital to help a jade plant blossom. It is strongly recommended to avoid misting a jade plant as it’s a succulent that thrives in an arid habitat; it might lead to rot or mildew.
Dormancy
While jade plants don’t have a dormant period, if buds are to appear, they do require a period of rest. The growth usually slows down or pauses around fall and winter. These are the times when the plant needs a lot less water than it does in the months of summer when it begins growing again.
With shorter days, watering should be less frequent, and fertilization should be avoided. Fertilizing the plant in the dormant months is known to cause more harm than good. However, it’s a good practice to add it just before the growing season begins.
Shorter days with infrequent watering will encourage the plant to bloom.
Location
A jade plant kept indoors is highly unlikely to bloom, even one placed by the window. This is because it doesn’t get exposure to sufficient sunlight to reach its full flowering potential. If you’ve got one outdoors, though, provided it’s in a brightly lit place of your garden, with plenty of sunlight, it’s more likely to bloom when mature. Cold areas will not see a jade plant bloom since the natural conditions for this are just the contrary to what it needs.
These plants are native to South Africa and Mozambique and do best in extreme temperatures and scanty rainfall. It is quite adaptable to varied environments and will be healthy, but not enough for it to bloom, apart from when it’s in a natural habitat-like environment.
Temperature
Being native to South Africa, jade plants thrive in hot climates. The blooming usually happens around late winter or early spring. Hence, maintaining the plant with temperatures of 60 degrees Fahrenheit (12 degrees Celsius) during this time will prompt the appearance of its buds. Extreme winters or freezing temperatures work adversely on a jade plant and must be avoided.
Sunlight
This is the most important factor to help a jade plant flower. On average, about 4-6 hours of exposure to sunlight keeps it thriving. It doesn’t get that kind of exposure when indoors, making it almost impossible for the flowering of an indoor jade plant.
Even for an outdoor one, you’ll have to ensure it has been placed such that it gets sunlight for most of the day.
Additional Tips
- Jade plants like being crowded, so they seldom need repotting into a larger container. However, they do need new soil once every three years.
- For indoor jade plants, use a good cactus mix and for outdoor ones, add a bit of humus-rich soil.
- Between spring and late summer, add a diluted, balanced liquid fertilizer every month. Withholding fertilizer applications causes the plant to turn a reddish color.
- The plant requires time to store energy for a bloom; it isn’t going to bloom annually.
What Should Be Done After A Bloom?
Once the blooms have faded and the stalks supporting them have browned, you can cut off the flowering stem. Follow this by watering more, with warm temperatures setting in after spring. It is important to ensure not to overwater the plant as it could cause root rot. Maintaining a relatively moist to dry texture is suitable for the soil.
Keep the plant outside during summertime for exposure to the sunny and warm days. This helps in transitioning it gradually and getting accustomed to the warm temperatures and increased sun exposure. It is essential to provide sufficient water throughout summer once the top few layers of soil have dried.
If you’re considering repotting your jade, skip doing so till the blooming of the flowers is complete. Preferably, let the plant take a month and settle into its new pot before you move it outdoors during summer. Ensure repotting with a quality mix enriched with humus-rich organic soil.
How Often Does it Flower?
Jade plants do not bloom annually. This is the same for the ones in the wild as well, where blooming is witnessed infrequently and irregularly. With all the suggestions provided, a mature jade plant will most likely bloom between late winter or early spring randomly.
Final Thoughts
These lovely succulent plants, with their thick, glossy leaves, have a good chance of blooming once they’ve matured. With the right care and supporting factors, bunches of little starry white or pink flowers will be in full bloom during springtime. So keep your patience up and keep your efforts on to get your outdoor jade plant blossoming, and you shall experience the ‘fruits’ of your efforts eventually.
