Well I've always used fans to help jades/ cactus that are thick to callous faster. It's not an exact science, but I've got tons of jade plants. I just let the fan hit the bottom of where the cut is and it lets them callous faster then just leaving them out. Usually I let the fan hit it for 1-2 days at most if it's a large cutting (3 inch trunk or more) then I let it dry for another week just sitting around. Also make sure you sterilize your cutting equipment well. And don't reuse the same soil when you replant if there was rot in it. And don't water it for a week or so after planting I usually callous/ dry them for a week if not more before planting them. It seems like what you are doing is right, but if the rot is in the stem you have to cut above it (healthy tissue) because any little bit can keep spreading it I've got tons of jade, but I'm also in a very good environement for growing them (sunset 24 /coastal los angeles/ USDA 10b) This post was edited by yorkiemiki on Mon, Sep 16, 13 at 13:49

Hey Houzi, I just saw your post. Thanks a lot, yes my trees seem to have survived. I'm starting to believe the Japanese Maples are much tougher trees than I thought earlier. This will be my 3rd summer with many of them and despite all the negative factors (deep planting, too much watering, hot weather etc... ) not even 1 died on me. I had little hope for many of them last fall as I had removed a major portion of their root system. Some of them I had even bare rooted and it looked as if it wouldn't survive with such a small root system. Now with better conditions hopefully, (hey at least they are planted closer to the "right way" this time with the visible root flare and raised bed) I have much higher hope than before that they will be present in my garden in the long term. The tree marked as Corralinum seems to be like a sango kaku although it is probably a seedling rather than a true type. I still enjoy it, with its shape and colour. The bark was much more pink in winter though. Here are a few before & after photos of only some of my trees which I had posted in this thread

If it's going into an attached garage, just throw it out there. You'll find elaborate instructions for getting plants ready to change circumstances, but I've never had anything bothered by moving that isn't a ficus. Plants go in, out, into below freezing temperatures, into hot, dry houses - they don't care. Now the coldest my garage ever gets, is low 20's F. And that's with -20°F and serious wind chill. Below freezing is relatively normal, but it has a hard time getting much colder than that. The roses in the garage have started to leaf out. I need to start watching them, and get them outside fairly soon. My current problem is that there isn't anywhere to put them that isn't covered with snow and isn't in the direct path of cars. I have to at least find the back walk before they can come out. During the spring, they do a fair amount of moving in and out depending on the weather. Our current forecast is for above freezing temperature until Wednesday night, so they could definitely go out for a couple of days. If the forecast low is below around 28°F, or I have reason to believe it is going to get colder than that, they have to get moved back in for the night. If a cold spell comes, and they have to spend a couple of days inside, they just have to. The strange thing, at least IMHO, is that while they start growing so much earlier than the in the ground roses, they don't tend to start blooming that much earlier. Mutabilis has a very hard time beating R. hugonis, and it should be working with a several week head start. There is a definite learning curve with this.

what is your plan with this thing.. will it be going on mother earth.. or remain potted forever??? as you can see here.. they are not small plants for pots: https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffcm&q=Podocarpus+Gracilior&iax=images&ia=images the potential lifespan for this conifer.. is counted in decades ... i suspect you have some instant gratification issues with wanting to prune it.. to shape it ... whats the hurry ... lets figure out why it lost its leaves previously ... how you can do better ... and lets leave the pruning shears in the house for a year or two ... and best of all ... lets figure out how to plant it in mother earth.. or how to properly get you set up with it living in a pot long term ... more facts please ken