Jade is an easy plant to grow, but it’s quite complex to encourage Jade plant flowers. To do so, you need a mature plant, and you need to set up a situation like its natural growing conditions. These include bright, sunny days, cool nights, and very little water.
Setting up this sort of situation can be challenging, but when you do, your mature Jade plant (details on how to care for jade plant) will reward you with clusters of small, star-shaped pinkish-white flowers in the springtime.
This article shares answers to some of the most commonly asked questions on encouraging your Jade plant to bloom.
Jade Plant Bloom Q & A
Does a Jade Plant Bloom?
This pretty, succulent member of the Crassulaceae family of plants comes from Mozambique and South Africa, where it lives on rocky hillsides.
Its hardy constitution makes it a great candidate as a houseplant for even the most inexperienced gardener.
You will recognize Jade plants because of their very thick, glossy, succulent leaves. Although there are many kinds of Jade plants with various leaves, the most common is the Crassula ovata. Crassula argentea is also quite common.
Propagate these succulent plants from stem or leaf cuttings. They may also be grown, with some difficulty, from seeds.
Naturally, the seed comes from flowers; however, Jade plants do not flower in the wild until they become mature. In a domestic setting, they may never bloom.
Even in the wild, Jade plants are more likely to spring up from dropped stems and leaves than from seed. All in all, it’s best to propagate your Jade vegetatively rather than from seed.
They can be grown outdoors in USDA Hardiness zones 10 and 11.
Is It Worthwhile To Try To Get A Jade Plant To Bloom?
It is difficult to get a jade plant to bloom, and you may be unsuccessful. If you intend to get your Jade plant to flower, you must provide it with a desert-like setting, with hot, sunny, dry days, cool nights, and very little water. This is not the sort of environment most people have in their homes.
Related: How Often Do You Water A Jade Plant
If you want your Jade plant to bloom, you’ll need to set it up in a specialized environment. It must be dry, bright, and sunny, and the nighttime temperatures must drop by at least 10° degrees Fahrenheit.
Remember that if you want your Jade plant to bloom, it must reach maturity (2-3 years old).
How Can I Get My Jade Plant To Bloom?
As with most plants, blooming depends upon providing the same environment the plant would have in its natural setting.
For some plants, this means dormancy. For others, a photoperiod is necessary. Still, others need very extreme environmental conditions.
To get your indoor Jade plant to flower, you must provide it with all three of these conditions.
Although Jade plants do not have a dormancy period, they need a rest period before producing buds. So, as autumn days grow shorter, you should reduce watering and refrain from fertilizing.
Keep your Jade plant in an area that is about 60° degrees Fahrenheit during the daytime in the autumn.
Take great care to protect it against freezing. When you do this, buds should start forming when the days are shortest.
Moreover, your Jade plant must receive indirect sunlight or at least 4 to 6 hours of bright, direct sunlight daily.
You can also try placing the plant in a south-facing window.
Late in the wintertime, you may see tiny, star-shaped, pinkish-white blooms begin to open. Find these flower clusters at the tips of Jade tree branches. The pink flowers last a very short time.
What Should I Do After My Jade Plant Blooms?
When the blossoms have faded and the stalk supporting them turns brown, cut them off. Now is the time to begin increasing watering as the spring temperatures start to warm.
NOTE: DO NOT overwater your jade plant. Overwatering can lead to root rot. It’s better to keep the potting soil on the dry side.
In the summertime, put your Jade plant outside to enjoy warm, sunny days. Transition it gradually to become used to the warmer temperatures and more sun exposure.
Throughout the summer, provide ample water whenever the top couple of inches of soil are dry. Moreover, ensure to remove excess water to avoid root rot.
Unless your plant is very crowded, don’t bother with repotting. When your Jade plant is under-potted, it is encouraged to bloom.
When you do need to repot your Jade plant, wait until the flowers have finished blooming. Give the plant at least a month to adjust to its new container before moving it outdoors for the summertime.
When repotting a Jade plant, use a good quality cactus mix supplemented with humus-rich, organic soil.
Also, ensure the new pot that is a bit larger in diameter than the old one
Before taking your Jade outdoors for the summer, give it a feeding of a diluted, balanced liquid fertilizer. Repeat this monthly throughout the growing season.
How Often Does A Jade Plant Flower?
Don’t be disappointed if your Jade plant does not bloom every year. Even in the wild, blooming is infrequent and irregular because the plant does not depend upon flowers to reproduce.
If you follow all the instructions given above, you can expect your mature Jade plant to bloom in the mid to late winter or early spring once in a while.
What Does It Mean When A Jade Plant Flowers?
In the art and practice of Feng Shui, when Jade plants flowers, it is a compliment to its keeper. A flowering Jade plant is a symbol of a great friendship.
Flowering Jade brings prosperity and good luck. The plant’s green leaves symbolize the joy of friendship and an energetic and enthusiastic approach to life.