Crassula Ovata (Hobbit-Finger)

Crassulaceae Family

Also known as Hobbit-Finger Jade

Crassula ovata, commonly known as jade plant, lucky plant, money plant or money tree, is a succulent plant with small pink or white flowers that is native to the KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa, and Mozambique; it is common as a houseplant worldwide.

This plant is a

succulent

Dry

Soaked

Make sure the soil is thoroughly dry between waterings. When watering, fully water the plant until the soil is completely soaked.

Shade

Direct

Grow these plants in a bright, southern-facing window, providing at least six hours of direct sunlight.

Starved

Full

Fertilize once per year during the summer.

The jade plant is an evergreen with thick branches. It has thick, shiny, smooth leaves that grow in opposing pairs along the branches. Leaves are a rich jade green, although some may appear to be more of a yellow-green. Some varieties may develop a red tinge on the edges of leaves when exposed to high levels of sunlight. New stem growth is the same colour and texture as the leaves, becoming woody and brown with age. It grows as an upright, rounded, thick-stemmed, strongly branched shrub and reaches stature heights of up to 2.5 meters (8.2 ft). The base is usually sparsely branched. Sometimes a single main trunk of up to nine centimetres (3.5 in) in diameter is formed. The succulent shoots are gray-green. The bark of older branches peels off in horizontal, brownish stripes. Although becoming brown and appearing woody with age, stems never become true lignified tissue, remaining succulent and fleshy throughout the plant's life.