The Jade plant, also known as Crassula Ovata, is a popular indoor plant in the world.
Its minimal requirements make it an easy-to-grow plant for many beginner gardeners.
But does this succulent need sunlight?
Is it possible to grow this plant without sunlight?
Let's dig deep into this topic and find out more about the sunlight requirement of the Jade plant.
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Can Jade Plant Grow Without Sunlight?
No, the Jade plant can't survive without sunlight.
For those who don't know, it is a succulent type of plant.
Since most succulents grow in absolutely harsh environments, the Jade plant also follows the same traits.
It requires full sun to be able to continue its growth phase.
The plant produces lush green leaves that help in the photosynthesis process.
If you don't offer decent sunlight to this plant, it will have difficulties producing food for the entire system.
As a result, the plant will not show any signs of growth.
Eventually, it will not survive for too long.
As for the sunlight requirements, the plant needs at least 4-5 hours of full sunlight.
This is an ideal condition for the plant to produce enough food in a day.
However, the plant will do just fine if it doesn't receive the same amount of sunlight.
In the following section, I have shared a few tips on how you should plan to place your Jade plant at home.
Hopefully, it will solve some of your doubts regarding the sunlight requirements of this plant.
Where Should You Put A Jade Plant?
The Jade plant grows well in outdoor conditions, as these conditions resemble its natural habitat.
However, this doesn't mean you can't have this plant at home.
In fact, the plant can thrive in indoor conditions too.
It's just that you need to take care of a few important things before keeping the plant in your living room or bedroom.
So, where should you place your Jade plant?
Let's find out!
1. In The Patio Where It Can Receive Direct Sunlight For A Few Hours
Do you have a patio or balcony attached to the room?
You can place your Jade plant in places like these, as it will receive enough sunlight throughout the day.
Of course, it won't be a typical indoor environment, but it will be perfect for the plant.
In these conditions, the plant should receive at least 4-5 hours of sunlight every day.
So, that's quite effective in growing this succulent at a standard rate.
However, if you don't want fast growth in your plant, you can surely consider some of the other options suggested below.
2. Near A Window Where It Can Receive Natural Light
The next best place is to put your Jade plant near a window.
This is an ideal place, especially if you want to grow this plant in your living room or bedroom.
Try to place it near a sunny window so that it can receive an ample amount of natural light throughout the day.
This way, the plant will continue to grow at a steady rate without any issues.
3. In The Room Where It Can Receive Partial Sunlight
Don't have a place to keep it near a window?
No problem!
You can put your Jade plant in a room where it can get at least a couple of hours of indirect sunlight during the day.
Now, it doesn't have to be direct sunlight.
If the room is well-lit with natural light, the plant should do alright in such a place.
It may not show vigorous growth, but it will still grow at a steady rate.
4. Shaded Place In The Room
This is the last option for you if you don't get enough sunlight in your home.
In this case, you should try to find a room that generally looks well-lit during the day.
As I suggested earlier, the plant can survive in this type of room.
It may not show the best results in terms of growth, but it should grow at a low rate.
The good thing about the slow growth rate is that you don't have to change the pot every year.
The plant will do just fine in the existing small pot for at least a couple of years.
Overall, these are the best options if you wish to consider planting your Jade plant at home.
In the next section, let's take a look at some of the other important requirements for this plant.
5 Things To Remember While Growing Jade Plant Indoors
Even though sunlight plays a big role in a plant's growth, you should also think of the following points to grow your Jade plant at home.
1. Watering Frequency
Watering is one of the biggest issues in succulents.
Many times we end up watering these plants more than their requirement.
So, make sure you keep an eye on how much water you provide to your Jade plant.
In general, you should water your plant every 10-15 days.
You can water it every week as well if the conditions are too hot.
In case you're struggling with the watering frequency, you can simply check the moisture levels in the soil.
If the soil doesn't seem wet, you can water the plant.
2. Ventilation In The Room
Apart from the watering process, the ventilated rooms help in keeping the plant dry all the time.
This is more important for indoor conditions, as you don't want a lot of humidity around your plants.
When you offer a place with decent ventilation to your plants, it essentially helps keep unwanted fungal and bacterial growth at bay.
These issues won't pop up if the place is relatively dry and airy.
3. Soil Quality
Soil quality is not as important as the other factors mentioned in this guide.
However, you should strive to get soil that has good drainage qualities.
You can also mix some perlite with the existing soil, which will improve the drainage in the pot.
As for the soil, you can use cactus soil for this type of plant.
4. Fertilizers
The Jade plant is not a very demanding plant when it comes to fertilizers.
So, you can fertilize the plant every 5-6 months.
For fertilizers, you may try some of the organic fertilizers available in the market.
5. Pot Size
If the Jade plant gets an adequate amount of sunlight, water, and fertilizers, it can grow pretty quickly.
It may even get root bound if the pot size is too small.
Also, if there isn't much space left in the pot, you will probably see aerial roots on the stem.
These roots often help the plant to receive moisture and nutrients from the air.
So, when there aren't enough resources in the pot, your plant will develop roots above the soil.
Therefore, you should get an appropriate pot for the plant so that you don't have to keep changing it every 6-8 months.
Moreover, these are the five things you need to keep in mind while growing a Jade plant in indoor conditions.
If you can keep up with these requirements, the plant will thrive in your home and will be a great companion for many years.
Now, let's check out the FAQs below.
FAQs
Jade plant needs natural sunlight, but you can also use the grow lights for relatively dark rooms at home.
The only downside of using such lights is that the leaves will have a slightly dark green color in such settings.
If you don't find any issue with such leaves, it'd not be a huge problem to grow your Jade plant in low light.
Yes, the Jade plant can survive in the shade.
With low light conditions, you might not see the optimum growth rate for the plant.
Yes, there are some indoor plants that do well with very low light intensity.
So, even if you don't have a window in your room, you can go ahead and get those plants home.
Still, make sure the room receives at least some indirect light through the doors.
Alternatively, you can also use artificial lights to grow such plants.
Yes, the Jade plant does well in indoor conditions.
Yes, as mentioned earlier, it can survive under artificial light as well.
If you want to see decent growth in your plant, you should go for the lights that offer relatively bright light.
Yezdi Vesuna says
Jade plant requires Morning sunlight when it is mild or afternoon sunlight is hard
Harshad says
Hey Yezdi,
You can provide morning sunlight to the Jade plant, as it's generally not intense and helps grow the plant well.