Is your Jade plant growing downward?
The Jade plant is one of those indoor plants that can really grow tall if you take good care of it.
It can also transform into a tree, provided you give it enough space in the soil.
However, sometimes, the plant may start growing downward, especially if it's a potted plant at your home.
So, why does it suddenly grow upside down?
Is there any way to fix this problem?
Let's try to find answers to these questions in the following guide.
Why Is My Jade Plant Growing Downward?
There are a couple of main reasons you see such downward growth in your Jade plant.
The first reason is the lack of sunlight.
When the plant doesn't receive enough sunlight, it tries to grow sideways.
It sends out new lateral branches from the stem that look for the source to receive natural light.
This generally happens with indoor plants that are kept in dark rooms.
So, if you see such behavior from your Jade plant, it's likely to be the reason for it.
The second reason is related to overgrowth in your plant.
Once the plant reaches a certain growth phase, it requires more space to spread its branches and roots.
Sometimes, it also outgrows the small pot you may have kept it in.
In such situations, the top-heavy Jade plant bends in a downward direction.
This type of structural change helps the plant to support itself from falling flat on the ground.
However, if the plant continues to grow in this position for long, it's going to fall at some point in time.
Hence, it'd be better if you take the right action to avoid any such mishap in your home garden.
On the whole, these are the two basic reasons why you'd see this type of growth in your Jade plant.
Thankfully, though, you can fix this problem with some essential gardening techniques.
I have shared a few tips regarding this issue below.
So, do check them out if you want to stop the downward growth in your Jade plant.
10 Tips To Fix Jade Plant Growing Downward
Here's how you should go about it -
1. Prune The Outward Growing Branches
Pruning is the ultimate technique to deal with this issue in your plant.
It not only helps in reducing the weight on the main stem but also encourages new growth in the coming season.
For the downward growth, you should try to prune the outward and lateral growing branches.
You should also remove the damaged branches first during this stage of pruning.
Note: While performing this task, you should try to cut the medium-sized branches.
These branches will be useful in the next step.
2. Propagate These Branches In Different Pots
Once you are done with the light pruning, you should take some of the fresh branches and try to propagate them in different pots.
You can also propagate them in water if you don't have pots.
Both these techniques are equally useful when you want to see new growth on broken or pruned branches.
3. Wait For A Few Weeks So That Some Of The Branches Get Propagated
Yes, it's more of a two-stage process!
In the first stage, you should propagate the branches and grow them in new plants.
This is essential because you will have to perform the pruning technique again on the main plant.
So, it does make sense to wait for the propagation of these branches.
It will give you a backup of new plants if the main plant gets damaged and doesn't survive afterward.
4. Perform Hard Pruning On The Main Jade plant
Once the new plants are born, you can move to this section of the process.
In this part, you will have to go back to the main plant and perform another round of pruning.
This time you can perform hard pruning, as you will need to get rid of most of the branches that make the Jade plant lean toward the ground.
While removing these unwanted branches, make sure you give a nice shape to the plant.
It's going to be the only opportunity in a long time where you can make the plant look beautiful again.
So, do keep the aesthetics and structure of the plant in mind when you remove the branches.
Note: If you have already pruned the plant too much in the first step, you can completely skip this step.
There is no need to perform another round of pruning on the plant.
5. Repot The Plant
Done with the pruning process?
Great!
Now, it's time to repot the plant.
In this case, I'd suggest you go for a new and bigger pot to help grow the plant further.
Also, it gives you a chance to replace the soil during this process.
For the Jade plant, you can go for well-draining soil like cactus soil.
You should also add some perlite to this soil mix so that it can improve the water-draining capacity of the soil even further.
While selecting the pot, you need to get the one that has a few drainage holes at the bottom.
Don't place the plant in a pot that doesn't have drainage holes, as the succulents don't like too much water in the soil.
6. Support The Main Stem With Stakes Or Threads
Once you have repotted the plant, you should work on supporting the stem.
Since the plant has been growing in a downward direction, you will have to support the main stem in such a way that it stands upright.
You will also need to ensure that no part of the stem is leaning downwards.
Otherwise, the plant will continue to grow in the same direction.
For the support, you can either use stakes or threads depending on the structure of your plant.
If it's a mature plant, you will need to put more effort into shaping the plant in the right way.
7. Water The Plant
The above step is the most crucial one in this process.
So, it's completely alright if it takes more time for you to get the plant in the right direction.
Once this is done, you can simply water the plant.
Since the plant has already gone through pruning and repotting, you don't want to add more to it by not providing enough water to the plant.
So, water it well and make sure it comes out of the drainage holes.
8. Move The Plant To A Bright Location
Finally, move the plant to a spot where it can receive decent sunlight in the day.
As you know, the leading cause of this issue is the lack of sunlight.
If you have been keeping this plant in a shaded place, you can move it somewhere like a windowsill.
This way, the plant will grow tall and not have any lateral growth again.
9. Observe The Growth Of Your Jade Plant
Now, you just need to observe and see how the plant does in the next few weeks.
If you have followed all the steps correctly, the Jade plant will start growing again.
You should see tiny leaves and branches coming out of the stem in a few weeks.
So, just be patient and let nature do its job for some time.
Note: You don't have to water the plant again for a while, as you have already watered the plant well in the earlier step.
10. Add Fertilizers After A Few Weeks
When you see new leaves and branches on the plant, you can start fertilizing the plant.
You may use any general-purpose fertilizer at this stage, which should boost the overall growth of the plant.
You can also make use of liquid fertilizers if you want.
In the next section, you will find the FAQs related to this topic.
FAQs
To keep a Jade plant upright, you will have to give some kind of support to the plant. This can be done by using stakes or threads.
You can make use of different pruning techniques to make your plant bushy.
You should also fertilize the plant regularly, which provides the right amount of nutrients for the plant's growth.
There is nothing much you can do with a top-heavy plant.
The only thing you can do with such a plant is pruning or transplanting.
I have explained these methods in my guide on the top-heavy Aloe plant.
You can check out this guide for detailed instructions.
Yes, the Jade plant does well in direct sunlight.
However, the sunlight doesn't have to be too intense.
In summer, you will need to think about this factor more carefully.
It's a sign of a lack of sunlight.
You will have to move the plant to a sunny location in your house.
Also, don't forget to prune the overgrown branches.
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