Cold hardiness & minimum temperature

Is Jade plant (Crassula ovata)cold hardy? Hardiness zone & min temp

Also called money tree, friendship tree, lucky plant.

About Jade plant

Crassula ovata · also called money tree, friendship tree · houseplant

Jade plant is a tree-like South African succulent grown for its plump glossy leaves and easy-going temperament. It tolerates drought brilliantly, dislikes overwatering, and prefers more direct sun than most houseplants. Mildly toxic to pets.

Crassula ovata is a succulent native to the rocky hillsides and semi-arid valley thicket of South Africa's Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces, where it grows alongside aloes, euphorbias and Portulacaria afra in winter-rainfall conditions.

It is relatively slow growing as a tree-like succulent, thickening a woody trunk and branching over years; outdoors in its native range it can reach about 6 feet, but indoor specimens stay much smaller.

Cold limit: USDA 10-11 · RHS H1c (frost-free greenhouse, summer outdoors) (15-24°C)

Sources: hort.extension.wisc.edu, pza.sanbi.org, en.wikipedia.org

What jade plant's hardiness rating actually means

Jade plant is not cold hardy. It is a tropical houseplant that dies if it is left out through frost — there is no zone where it overwinters outdoors in a UK or cold-US climate. Its RHS rating of H1c means: Warm-temperate — can summer outdoors but must come in well before the first frost. On the US scale that maps to USDA 10-11 — the zones where it can be left outdoors year-round.

New to these scales? The USDA hardiness zone map explained covers how the zone numbers work, and you can find your own zone with the zone finder.

Minimum temperature — and what happens below it

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly about 5 °C (and never frost). Jade plant has no frost tolerance at all — it is an indoor plant in any climate with a real winter.

Concretely, for jade plant as it gets too cold:

Below about about 5 °C, growth stalls and the leaves start to show cold stress — dark, water-soaked, or yellowing patches.
A single light frost blackens the foliage; a hard freeze kills the whole plant, roots included, and it does not recover.
Even a cold, draughty windowsill or an unheated porch in winter can be enough to damage it permanently.

Can jade plant go outside or overwinter — and where?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above 5 °C, in shade or dappled light, hardened off gradually.
Bring it back indoors well before the first autumn frost — do not wait for a frost warning, move it when nights drop toward 10-12 °C.
It will never overwinter outside in a temperate climate; the indoors is its winter home, full stop.

Work back from your local frost dates with the frost-date calculator: the last spring frost and first autumn frost are what really decide when jade plant can be outside. US growers can check USDA zones; UK growers should use the RHS hardiness ratings, which match the H1c figure above.

Jade plant hardiness — frequently asked questions

Is jade plant cold hardy?

Jade plant is not cold hardy. It is a tropical houseplant that dies if it is left out through frost — there is no zone where it overwinters outdoors in a UK or cold-US climate. Indoor-only in almost every home. Jade plant can only live outside year-round in genuinely frost-free climates (roughly USDA 10-11); everywhere else it is a houseplant that summers out at most.

What is the minimum temperature jade plant can survive?

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly about 5 °C (and never frost). Jade plant has no frost tolerance at all — it is an indoor plant in any climate with a real winter.

What hardiness zone is jade plant?

Jade plant is rated USDA 10-11 and RHS H1c — Warm-temperate — can summer outdoors but must come in well before the first frost.

Can jade plant survive winter outside?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above 5 °C, in shade or dappled light, hardened off gradually. Bring it back indoors well before the first autumn frost — do not wait for a frost warning, move it when nights drop toward 10-12 °C. It will never overwinter outside in a temperate climate; the indoors is its winter home, full stop.

What happens to jade plant below its minimum temperature?

Below about about 5 °C, growth stalls and the leaves start to show cold stress — dark, water-soaked, or yellowing patches. A single light frost blackens the foliage; a hard freeze kills the whole plant, roots included, and it does not recover. Even a cold, draughty windowsill or an unheated porch in winter can be enough to damage it permanently.