What's going on with my jade plant?

[CarterBeatsTheDevil]

I've rescued this very small jade plant from a dark shelf and a non-draining pot, repotted it in a terracotta pot with proper drainage, and watered it. It did once have more leaves but by the time I found it it had two. That was a week ago. I'm very confused about what it's doing. The leaves have definitely improved since it was watered as has the stem. It is alive. But what is going on at the top? It looks like a segment of stem has been damaged and is dying. I have no idea how this happened. It hasn't fallen over or been knocked. How can the leaves be taking water with the stem in that shape?

if it's dying, can I propagate it from the leaves?

Grateful for any and all advice!

Edt: photo below

Photo!

Bless it, that’s a stick not a plant. I’d chop it off just below the manky bit and see what happens next.

claps hands over jade plant's ears DON'T LISTEN TO HER DARLING

(I wondered about that too but waiting to see if anyone else has tried it)

I’d do that too and also try to root the bit that’s flopped over either by putting it in water or just pressing it into the soil.

Make sure it’s out of drafts, not in direct sunlight.

May the force be with you.

Yeah, the brighter green leaf bit is now your plant. Chuck away the bit that's in the soil now, it's dead and it ain't coming back.

*I have successfully grown all my jade plants just from leaves though! Picked off in passing from garden centres and laid on their sides on some bare soil

Love this! OK. I'm going to snip away at the line just below the manky bit on the stem, and put the leaves into water to see if they root.

PS also very impressed by the ninja leaf nabbing

Have a google of how to leaf propagate a jade plant. As @Mementomorissons says you can just press the leaf lightly into the soil lengthways so it can have a lie down and take root.

I’ve got 3 jade plants propagating in water but I had more to work with, a small branch snapped off and I cut it into 3 pieces.

No!!! don’t put it in water! It’s a succulent, adapted for dry places. It’s not a bog plant.

Just lie it on the soil a few days, let the base callous over, then position it without burying it so the base is on the soil and wait for it to root.

What do you think about the stem, @MereDintofPandiculation ? Is it a goner?

It’s harder NOT to grow jade plants from spare parts than it is to grow the buggers.

I’ve been really brutal with my main one, playing a long game to thicken up the trunk, and I now have circa eleventy billion mini ones about the house. Chop it off well below the mankiness, see what happens, and plant the green bit.

You'll tell when you cut it. If it's mushy, that bit of stem is dead. So cut from the top, and cut again until the stem is nice and firm, and you stand a chance of new growth.

As to what happened to it, sounds like a combination of wet and cold causing cell breakdown. Though not, of course, if it was a shelf in a warm room.

Thanks everyone! Hugely appreciated

Best of luck, plucky little plant!

I do have a couple of succulents with similarly dead looking stem segments and flourishing growth above, so I think the innermost portions of stem in some circumstances can continue to transmit nourishment. (might try to post a pic later)However, as others have said, propagating from the leaf is also a good solution (particularly if you don't appreciate the undead-vampire-on-a-stick aesthetic your little darling is giving off).

I've snipped it! The stem is a nice bright green and snapped nicely under secateurs so I am hopeful. The leaves are chilling on some fresh succulent soil. Fingers crossed!

I also considered leaving it, but the dead grey bit was just looking deaderer and greyerer!

Well, the stalk died. But the leaves have scabbed over and produced some roots so the legend lives on!