Tips For Helping A Jade Plant Bloom Indoors

If you've had the same jade (Crassula ovata) plant for years and have yet to see it bloom, join the club. Even seemingly happy, healthy jade plants may not flower, because successfully caring for a jade plant is not always synonymous with getting one to bloom. In order to coax out a flower, you have to mimic its natural growing conditions and that may require a bit of neglect. Meaning it will need a dry location, cool nights, and a lack of water.

There's one other must-know tip to get your jade to flower: you need a mature plant. If it's less than three or four years old, you can forget all about blooms. So, if you've just recently propagated a jade plant from cuttings, patience is going to be very necessary. You could be waiting for years. However, if you have a mature jade plant that you desperately want to see bloom, you're going to have to get serious about replicating its natural habitat. Aim to provide hours of bright, direct sunlight, dry soil during the fall and winter, and cool night time temperatures. 

Jade plants need a rest before they bloom. It's not a true dormancy, but when the fall days begin to get shorter, reduce watering and do not fertilize your jade plants. During this period, only water when the soil is completely dry. You will also need to keep your jade in an area that is roughly 60 degrees Fahrenheit at night. This might be challenging for indoor plants, but if you have zoned heating, consider turning down the heat in the room where you keep your jade. Importantly, they still need bright, direct light during the day and total darkness at night. So, if you can't turn down your heat, consider moving the jade to a basement at night. Bring them back to the window to soak up the sun during the day.

If you get these details right, you should see buds start to form during the longest nights of the year, finally blooming in late winter or very early spring. The clusters of star-shaped flowers will put on a short-lived show, but once it's done flowering consider giving your jade fresh soil. Jade prefers tight pots and very rarely needs to be upgraded to bigger pots. However, if you think it's time to repot your jade, use these tips for the best chance of success.