My well loved jade i think is dying. Over the past two years branches have become extreemly spongey and pretty much have fallen off. My jade is potted in a very large pot and at one point had 8 branches comming out of the soil. I am no down to 4 branches left and fear these are soon to come to the same fate. I have always taken care of it with succulent fertilizer very infrequent watering. Once a month in dormant life and maybe twice a month in its growing stages. I never over water except once and the poor leaves looked like they were about to expolode so I make sure the soil is completely dry before I water. Never have let it droop or anything. Is there something else I can do to save it or is it just at the end of its life? The branches when they become spongey i have pruned them off and they are just a shell there is almost nothing inside them as you would expect. Do i possibly have some sort of infestation?? However i see no bugs no scales nothing is visiable to my eye.
Could you post a photo or two? Crassula ovata will drop their leaves in response to excess water, sudden changes in environment, soil contamination, compacted soil, and fertilizer salt build-up. Excess water, compacted soil, and fertilizer salt build-up will cause root rot. This is, of course, assuming you are correct that there isn't infestation of mealy bugs. If you do not see any possible causes outside the container, you have to look inside the container.