When you say supplemented light, can you be more specific? A N. facing window is pretty dark to a desert plant...

yes I have a growing light that is on for about 9-10 hours a day.

What KIND of grow light? And 10 hrs isn't enough... 15 would be more like.

how close is the light???

since i dont see it in the pic.. i suspect its more than the one to two inches above the plant that its supposed to be ... and if so.. its not really doing much .... when i ran plants under lights.. i went with 16 hours min .... and anything that came from a window.. was a bonus ..... in other words.. i relied on the light to provide all it needed ... i didnt reduce hours on a gamble.. that the plants were getting anything from the window .. in winter ...

you might want to also try the succulents forum ... you never know where you will find your jade muse .... though it may have been trained as a bonsai .... it will always remain.. a succulent ....

there was some other observation.. but the boy interrupted me so many times.. i lost it... oh ... besides the water.. your plant is suffering transport shock ... every cultural variable has changed.. from where it was prior ... it simply takes time... for it to adjust... which makes me wonder.... was it carried outdoors in cold... when it was given to you ... or was it safely covered????

good luck

ken

ps: i see you radiators down behind on the floor ... winter heating can be a problem.. especially if this came from some cozy greenhouse setting... its a variable you have to consider ... as it MIGHT affect humidity .... as your little tray is probably not offsetting heat ... welcome to GW ....

Alright first off I like to thank every one for the help.
the light is 10 inches away from the plant. I know it is a CFL, but I don't know what light spectrum it is but it made by Ott-light. I will start leaving it on longer as suggested.

It was transported outside when it was given to me. This was about 6 weeks ago late November early December. An it wasn't covered it was shipped In a box with packing peanuts. How long can I expect it to suffer from transport shock.

One more question I have been use the humidity tray as a drip tray an let it dry out in between since its a tree from Africa I figured it use to dry environments. should I be keeping water in this tray.

Again Thank You

Vital is that the pot does not suck up water in the tray (is the pot up on pebbles?). I wouldn't be too concerned about transport shock, but the diff. between your conditions and the greenhouse (on top of transport time) is the biggie.

It may take weeks, if not more, before things stabilize, so don't try to rush it.

Alright thanks for the help moochinka and ken_adrian . an I'm not worried about that heater since it doesn't turn on

Alright thanks for the help moochinka and ken_adrian . an I'm not worried about that heater since it doesn't turn on

Repotting and anything other than light pruning should be undertaken in Jun or Jul, when the plant has high energy reserves and is growing robustly. Repotting now, whgile the plant is wanting to coast through the winter into longer/warmer days ensures a long recovery and added risk of diseases and/or insect infestations.

Contrary to conventional recommendations, the plant doesn't like to go dry before you water, but it IS better to let it go dry between waterings than it is to keep it in a 'too wet' state. It also prefers temps 70 - 82 or 83*.

Al

ok thanks. so I got I question. I have been letting it dry out slightly between watering. but I still water it abous once a week does seem like to much. and what is a good way to tell when it needs to be watered.

Watering is the trick. Now we would need to know what soil it is currently planted in. Fast draining soils would need to be watered more often than peat based soils. Environment, for instance humidity and temperature would effect when to water. You kinda have got to figure this out for yourself. You already noted that you where over watering. If you start to underwater you will notice the leaves will start to shrivel. Poke your finger in the soil. It should be slightly damp to almost dry near the top before you water. Poke deep so as to make sure the bottom is not saturated while the top is not dry. I use a gritty Soil mix for my succulents. Something that drains well. In little time you should be able to figure what your tree needs. Jade is very forgiving. You overwatering is probably the worst of the evils you could inflict on this species and it looks like it will survive. Good luck and if you still have problems watering, check back and we can diagnose further. For now try to observe and create your own watering schedule.

Nothing affects the need to water beyond the plant's need for water - you water when it needs it. Not before, and not long after. Ideally, you would replenish the water supply in the soil just before the plant starts to experience drought stress. Watering should include fully saturating the soil so at least 15-20% of the volume of water applied exits the drain hole. If you can't water in this fashion, your soil is inappropriate.

Many years ago, during a Ben Oki workshop with Shimpaku as the subject material, a lady asked Mr Oki how often she should water her juniper. With a straight face, he replied, "Wait until plant become completely dry - then water day before." I still don't know if he was making a joke or not, but the advice was spot on.

Al

"Wait until plant become completely dry - then water day before."

Now thats a classic. May have to use that one in the future.

p.s.
as Al mentioned, this is not a Jade plant - this is Portulacaria afra ("Elephant's Food Bush") - and it does not do as well drying out between waterings. Aim to keep it more consistently hydrated than you would a Jade plant.

Josh