Jade Plants are certainly tough succulents and can be grown quite easily but when your Jade plant leaves start curling then that is a sign that you are doing something wrong.
This isn’t natural for the most part as these succulents never really do this in their natural environment but rather due to human error when growing.
So if your Jade plant leaves are curling and you have no idea why then here are some of the most common reasons why curling leaves on your Jade happens.
Lack of light for Jade
One of the very first things you should take a look at is how much light your Jade plant is actually getting.
Chances are if you’re growing indoors and your Jade plant leaves are curling then your Jade is just not getting enough sunlight.
This is why I think it is more practical to be growing Jade succulents outdoors rather than indoors as sunlight is always going to be much more plentiful.
So consider growing outdoors if you can and if you can’t then try moving your Jade to a different window or you can try an indoor grow light if all else fails.
Any of these steps will prevent your Jade plants leaves from curling downwards even though the leaves themselves are still a healthy green.
Your Jade is not acclimated
On the opposite side of things, the reason why your Jade has curly leaves could be from sun damage which is caused by intense heat or way too much sun.
Although Jade plants can handle a lot of light, if you don’t acclimate this succulent to full sun and just throw it on outside right from the start then you can expect sunburn as well as curled leaves.
Instead of doing this, you should gradually increase the amount of light your Jade gets by an extra hour of light every week so you can build sort of a tolerance for your plant.
This prevents the leaves from becoming curled and reduces the chance of your plant get scorched in the process.
You’re overwatering your Jade
Overwatering your Jade plant can cause a lot of issues such as root rot and unhealthy growth, not to mention, curled leaves.
This can be especially true for beginners who don’t know how to properly water their Jade and end up flooding the succulent.
Overwatering can also cause a Jade plant to turn black among other things.
You probably already know you should only water your Jade succulent when the soil has run dry but you should be even more cautious in the winter.
This is where overwatering is much more common as you seriously need to cut back on the watering to just about nothing as Jade plants can store water just fine during this time and watering too much will cause curled leaves.
If you’re not watering all that much but the plant stays soaked, consider using some quality succulent and cactus soil next time.
Pests Causing Curly Jade Leaves
Pests can be a major cause for your Jade plant leaves curling as they can feed on the leaves, causing nutrient loss and dehydration, resulting in curled up leaves.
Pests such as aphids, mealybugs, spider mites and scales are sap feeding bugs and will cause curling one way or another while leaving behind honeydew that turns into sooty mold.
Some signs you have a pest issue on your Jade can include the following.
- Curling leaves
- Drooping leaves
- White spots or white leaves
- Yellow leaves
- Black leaves or spots
- Stunted growth
- Holes in the leaves
- Bumps on the surface
These annoying bugs can be eradicated by using a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol, or by using a solution for pest control such as neem oil, or insecticidal soap.
Can you fix these curled Jade leaves?
Unfortunately, when the leaves become super curled they won’t correct themselves so your best bet will be to either prune the leaves and wait for new growth or try and transplant any healthy parts of the jade and wait for entirely new growth from a new Jade plant.
Hopefully by identifying the reasons mentioned before you can prevent this from happening again to your Jade plant or any other plants.