Wow Puglvr...now, that's a whack job!! I'd be terrified to do that much whacking...but, such gorgeous results! It looks so much nicer afterwards...congrats!! Patrick

Nice job! Now you know you can't kill it by pruning, and that once you get going, it's hard to stop. It looks great, and should fill out nicely in just a few months.

Brad

Hi puglvr,

That's a great job you did, even if just accidentally. The trunk looks so nice and even. And I LOVE the new baby leaves!

Never tired of whacked job picks... Please keep us posted with update pics.

Sandra

Looks like it is going to turn out great!

Well you made me laugh out loud, that sure is a wack job, or an amputation but the result is great, I will try this myself this spring, I would have been afraid before but now I know its ok I will do the same. I guess u had lots of new cutting to plant then. How many did u get ?

Thanks everyone for the kind comments. Although I have done this to one of my regular jade, I was still very nervous as I really love Hummel sunset and was afraid it wasn't going to turn out or worse. I ended up with cuttings to fill a 4" pot, some of them didn't root but some did. I don't have the best luck rooting Jades here in our humid climate.

Patrick, definitely a total "whack" job,lol...

I'm very impressed! It's very, very difficult to be successful with these guys and the high humidity & monsoons of the south.

Today I was watching HGTV and they were showing a make-over, by the front entrance of the courtyard of the house was a HUGE jade tree, it was at least as tall as the host. I only caught a couple of glimpses of it and some other cacti in the yard. Designing for the sexes! Hey, the brain cell fired!
Tally HO!

Here in the San Fernando Vally Calif. it almost stops growing in the summer, I would wait and wack it off in Sept. Crassula for the most part of them are Winter growers, and I think the picture tells it all. They love cool, cold, dry winters. Norma

I am curious about the color. How do you get the wonderful colors of the Hummels sunset like that? I have one that is almost identical to yours but the leaves are all green.

Mary

Very nice, pug! The leaves on the right look like little hearts and the branches are getting a nice tan too.

Pug!
I never tire of the Jade stories...especially with pics...and especially when the Jade is a 'Hummel's Sunset'! Great job on the courageous pruning! Your plant is much more colorful than mine. The leaves on my plant are dark, dark green - only the stems are a ruddy tan right now. We'll see what happens in the Spring....

Tally,
a great deal of Pug's success (in Florida's rainy, humid conditions) is due to the gritty, free-draining mix which she assembles and uses. Not only do cooler temps help color a Jade, but also dryness. I daresay that most mixes (those with compost and random mulch) simply won't allow for the healthy, dry conditions to promote coloring.

Josh

Pug the Hummel looks awesome! You did a great job! The new leaves are even more colorful and it will fill up nicely :) How long between the whack job ;) and the new growth?

Ashley

Mary,

I would guess the colours you so admire, as do the rest of us, are due to the usual suspects - full sun, even such as it is in the winter, and a non-water-retentive soil doth maketh the prettiness.

Watch that plant trun out beautiful within just a few weeks, if not days, if left up to Nancy and her green thumb.

Everything she grows looks amazing!

Mike

Even with a fast draining mix that retains no water at all jades are hard in the south. Our humidity is rarely below 90%, which is enough to rot them. Then add in fog for days on end, the plants never dry out.
Tally HO!

Thanks everyone...you're all too kind. Definitely not all that deserving, but I thank you.

Josh, I figured you would be the one person that wouldn't mind the pictures,lol...I'm like you, I love pictures of Jades.

Dan, still waiting on more roots on the cuttings...slowly but surely. Still looks good though.

Mary, Cactusmharris is right. I have it in full sun and a very porous potting mix, but I think what pushed it over the edge this month was the VERY cold unusual 2 weeks we had. During late spring through early fall, my Hummel looks just like yours and Josh...mostly green. You can't even tell its a hummel during those months. For me I have a short maybe (3 months) if I'm lucky to see the really pretty colors.

Ashley, it took about 4 weeks before I saw a couple of very tiny nubbins...and another 5-6 weeks after to get it to this point. Its been a slow process but I'm hoping it will keep growing in the next couple of months. My Jades/Succulents goes dormant when my weather hits 80°.

Mike,lol...I think its going to take much longer than that. :o)

Well that is the problem here then..there is just not enough good sun in the winter, we have been overcast for weeks on end now. Would putting it under a grow light help with the color? I have it in a really well draining mix. Its not a big Jade but it is a hummels and I would love to see the nice colors.

Yours is just beautiful, you have done a great job with it!

Mary

Thanks Mary :o) I'm afraid I won't be able to answer your questions about grow lights, as I've never had to use them. Hopefully someone here will be able to help. But in my humble opinion I would guess that lack of sun is the main problem why you're not getting the pretty colors. Also how cold is the room that they are in? I def. need the combination of sun and cold to bring the colors out. I have them outside all year unless the forecast calls for frost/freeze. In summer, I have all the sun I need...but NO cold weather...so my Jades stays green and practically dormant.

Mike, you're absolutely right about Nancy and her plants...they all look tremendous, especially her hoyas. She says it has to do with living in Florida...but, the truth is that it's due to her great knowledge of plants and all the hard work she does, and much less to do with her location. She's just too modest...but, all of her plants are stunningly beautiful...as are yours, too!! Patrick

Jades are pretty darn resilient aren't they?

Puglv,

Can I ask how tall your Jade is? I have one that looks so much like yours and I am thinking they are about the same size.

I just put mine under a new grow light so hoping that will help color up my hummels. Mine is about 7 inches tall.

Mary

Thanks Patrick! Bunnygirl, so I've been told...but I've had a few issues growing them here in such humid climate. The potting mix I'm using now def. had a lot to do with my better success. I'm still learning though.

Mary, You certainly have a good eye...you are very close to guessing 7" on my plant. Good luck with the grow light, I'm sure that will help a lot. Keep us posted.
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Look at that beautiful red color coming on your plant Pug!!

That is so pretty. And look at the new growth! It makes such a great Bonsai.

MIke..:-)

Mine is very much like yours Pug thats how I knew. Only the branches on mine are a bit longer is all..but I am thinking of cutting them back some and starting over...not sure yet.

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Cut it back, cut it back, way back.

(my two pfennigs worth - see the leafed branch? Make it gone, or a whole other cutting - you'll thank me for it).

Okie dokie I will cut it back:)

Mary

I should have suggested, Mary, that not the whole branch should go - wherever you think symmetry is not served is the place that should be cut, but I'm Crassula-cuttin' tyro in these matters.

I made the cuts on both branches leaving just one section of branch left. Thanks harris:)

Mary

Nice Jade Mary...good luck with your "whacking",lol...I'm sure it will turn out just great. Cactusmharris wouldn't steer you wrong.

Thanks Mike!

Here's a few update pics 6 weeks later...Won't be too long now it should start losing the pretty colors and become all green. We hit 80° today. Would you believe the last picture (red cutting)is from the same plant when I pruned it in Novenber?

Clickable thumbnails

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Puglvr, would love to see any recent pics of this 'Sunset' jade. I just finished "Succulent Container Gardens" by Debra Lee Baldwin and I've been bitten hard. Doing a search of all the "jade" posts and really wondering how your 'Sunset' has progressed so far.
Pat

Very nice awesome pictures!

puglvr1, nice job and very pretty Hummel's Sunset you have!

I'm about to order some, can't wait to get mine.....I love

the color ;)

Nat

Thanks everyone!! Appreciate the nice comments.

My sunset Jade hasn't grown a lot from that picture(a little). Since I live in FL where it is hot and humid my Jades pretty much goes dormant from late April/early May till November. It also loses its beautiful colors about the same time...once we start getting cooler nights(below 59°) consistently at nights my Jades will start growing again and I start getting the NICE colors...peaking around Feb. My Jades seems to grow best when the day time temps are in the 70's in full sun. Right now my Hummel looks like a regular green Jade.

Taken this morning...(Hummel sunset)
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I will update next year around Jan/Feb once its grown and changes colors.

In the meantime, here's another one of my "whacked" job from almost two years ago...this is the regular Crassula
Ovata Jade....

Taken 10/08
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Taken last month...will be two years this October after the hard prune
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As you can see it took me almost a couple of years to get the growth I'm after. Slow, but not too bad.

Nat, best of luck with your new Sunset! We'd love to see pictures when you get it.

Wow! Can I ask how you figure out what direction/angle to slice?

I am so jealous of it all, especially your hummel. Mine just don't seem to be rooting. I have it in partial shade, and I am NOT to give it any full sun or water until its rooted, right?

Smoochas,

Rooting takes time & patience. Right now in NYC, w/ the heat we've had in the last 2-3 wks, I doubt they're doing anything at all, it's too hot. Just give 'em time.

Smoochas,
you need to make a flat cut.
Do you see the various rings on a Jade branch?
Those are the nodes. The smooth section between the nodes is called the internode.
When you cut, you want to cut above the node (which is where new growth will emerge).

Josh

Thanks Smoochas!! Honestly, I really don't know what I'm doing,lol...I'm one of those that cut...and then wonder if I've done the right thing? Josh is giving you the right advise. I really need to follow his advise for the next "whacking"...He knows what he's talking about.

PG is right about rooting taking so long especially in this heat. I had a small cutting that took over four months to start putting out a "few' tiny roots and that was in the fall/winter(which is the best time for me to root Jades) ...its very hard to have patience believe me I know. I wasn't blessed with much. Don't give up and good luck!

puglvr, what an incredible specimen you have created. Your trimmed Jade filled out very nicely, complimenting that big fat trunk. Great plant. A terrific example of the benefits of a good 'wackin'. :)

Brad

Hey, Pug, good job. I learn many things from this site...Your jade is beautiful...
I will try out one of my jade.
Last month after I read this site, I moved one jade pot out in full sun and some leaves got burned so I moved it back to front porch.

Thank You Brad and Ltran!

Lran, Sorry about your sunburned leaves...you will need to slowly acclimate your Jades or any plants to full sun...especially this time of year when the sun is very intense. I've sunburned a few plants myself (accidentally)! During the summer my Jades don't get 8 hours of sun in the summer...they get a few hours of shade especially during the hottest part of the day...I have them under some palm trees.

Pug,

If I got as good as you and Josh at pruning, and with apologies to Ini Kamoze, I could be the Daddy of the Whack Daddies.

Here is a link that might be useful: Here Comes The Highstepper

Thank you Nancy, I didn't think of that. (slowly moving it to full sun) I just moved it from 100% shade to 100% sun. No wonder many leaves got sunburned and drop.
Marie

I always wonder if I you make a few cuts to 1 stem shaping it like a triangle with a pointed tip instead of a flat cut. Do you get more new growths and new branches?
I noticed the new growth always comes out of the corners of the cut. Any tried if making more corner cuts helps to bring more new branches?
Normally, if I make a straight cut, i will usually get 2 new growths coming out from the cut, never more.
Looking at the pics of puglvr1 last picture filling out, it seems there are more then 2 new growth per cut.

No, it does not work.
The internode through which you cut will always shrivel and die. You cannot carve Jade.
The cut will generally produce two new branches from opposite sides of the node.

Josh