|
|
Care and Growth of
Succulent Spoon Jade or Gollum Jade
CRASSULA PORTULACEA
 Succulent jade plants are great
choices
for dry
gardens. These plants are
easy to grow in hot dry areas and also make great houseplants.
Their care is similar to cactus (without the thorns).
One of my
favorite succulent plants is named Crassula portulacea, commonly called
Horseshoe or Spoon Jade. Recently they've been called Gollum
Fingers, ET Fingers or Hobbit Plant because their dark green leaves
look like
fingers with reddish tips.
These plants can take full sun to
light shade. They are happy indoors as houseplants or outdoors for dry
gardens.
Water wise succulent plants like heat and sun whether you grow them
indoors or in the garden. They are just as easy to care for as
their cousin, crassula ovata.
Both plants can take up to 6 hours of sun a day. If your jade
plants develop
yellow or brown spots on the leaves, it is either stress or
sunburn. If they are in a pot, try moving the plant to an area
with less
sun. If they're outdoors, try giving them a nice soak and they
should perk up.
Grown in containers, crassula portulacea will remain small and are
often used for bonsai. They grow slowly and can be trimmed
into the shape of trees. In the ground they will eventually reach
a height of 4 to 5 feet tall. Older plants take on a unique
gnarled look.
Gollum Jade is great if you don't have time to fuss over a plant.
Crassula happily oblige and even produce blooms in later winter.
This increases their value as a landscape plant in my book as winter
blooming plants are uncommon.
They produce flower clusters that
look like tiny bouquets of daisies. Bloom color can range from
light to dark pink, some have a salmon or coral tint. The plant I
started as a small cutting two years ago is blooming for the first time
this year. Established plants should bloom reliably each year.
They are called succulent plants because they store their water in
their trunks and leaves. This allows them to get by with little
water. All that stored water can make them susceptible to rot if
they sit in a pool of wet dirt. Let the soil dry out between
watering to keep them happy. 
Rot will show up as warped trunks, sometimes with bubbles on
them. The mushy insides eventually dissolves, leaving a brown
outer crust. This material will not come back, so throw it on the
compost pile.
Crassula are best grown in USDA
Zones 9b – 11. Every year, mine are able to take a light frost
for a few hours. But I'd give them overhead protection in winter
if you are in a cold area. Light frost damage will show up
as tiny brown spots, kind of like
freckles or scabs. Although unattractive, your plant should be
fine, but the spots won't go away. A bad case of frost damage
will freeze the plant solid, when it thaws it looks mushy and soft,
like rot. Anything that is still solid should come back, the
green mush can go to the compost.
Xeriscaping with drought tolerant cactus and succulents has become
popular out here in the southwest where we sometimes have water
rationing and shortages. Crassula Portulacea plants add a
dramatic
touch and look like some sort
of sea plant or
coral.
Crassula are an easy and reliable addition to any
water-wise garden.
For tips on how to expand your collection with
stem or leaf cuttings, visit our succulent plant
propigation
page...
|
