u/jradh20s

I put my jade plants outside for the summer months (South East Michigan) and their leaves looked like this by the end of July or so. Very textured, somewhat scaly, discolored with patches of brown and white.

I initially chalked it up to leaf burn and that the sun was too intense for them, especially considering that the newly sprouted leaves appeared healthy, green, and glossy.

However, some of jades that have not been outside or that I recently acquired are developing this same leaf composition (see last picture of the small plant). This leads me to suspect either a fungus or potential parasite. Indoors, I do have some grow lights to supplement poor window options. Could the grow lights be causing this?

Can anyone diagnose what’s going on with my plants?

I’ve had this Gollum Jade for 2 years and it’s grown quite consistently. When the weather is sunny, I have it outside in direct sunlight the entire day - otherwise, I have it under grow lights. I only water it when the leaves begin to feel spongy and can be easily folded or bent.

Over the past few months, the leaves have been developing a scaly kind of texture (which I suspect may be too much water or some condition like a parasite or fungus) and there are several leaves dropping with each passing day. I’m at the point where I’m considering giving it a drastic pruning to help it reset and regrow.

The new growths seem much healthier, green, and glossy. All of my other jades are doing beautifully (the traditional crassula ovata), but this one really seems to be struggling. Can anyone give a diagnosis as to what’s going on? What can I do to save this jade?