It looks fantastic!
Great trunk thickness in relation to its height...and look at those leaves all the way to the lower nodes! It's obviously receiving good light!

I would remove that single out-reaching branch at the top. In the first image, it points to the right...in the second image, it points to the left. Leave the upward growing branch for your "leader."

Turn your Jade periodically, if you aren't already doing so, in order to keep the growth upright and balanced over the central trunk.
Great job!

Josh

Yikes, I was going to say it looks nice, don't cut it, just turn it, that's how to keep the plant from leaning. Turn it a quarter turn every week or so.

Nice Jade, looks like it likes its growing location. Good luck! If it were mine, I would also cut that piece off, but your talking to a "Jade Whacker",lol...but its really up to you of course!

Just for a visual....

{{gwi:488603}}

As in 'red mark=cut here'? Good call.

Yessir! ;)
That's where I'd set my snips...

Josh

I made the cut, thanks for all the input. I do think it's getting alot of sun in that window, so much that I bought some sheer white curtains to help difuse the sun a little bit when Summer arrives. I noticed that the same Jade in these pics did bad last year inside around summer time. I think the AZ sun is so intense that if you don't diffuse it a bit at a South facing window, it's too much for most plants, even alot of Cacti.

You are correct - Crassula ovata needs some protection in the Arizona sun, and diaphanous curtains should do it. You'd likely want to water more often too, though I think you won't see much growth until it cools down.

You also could put it in partial sun - it would do fine there, too.

Josh,

This next song, 'I Cut the Crassulas that make the Succulent Girls Sing' is dedicated to you.

Hi Roots,
I'm in Tucson, :)

Do you have AC in the summer? The reason I ask is it removes all the humidity from the home. Could this have anything to do with the jades not doing well inside?
And yes, our sun is intense!

I am new to Jades, and this will be my first summer with them. I have a spot in the yard that gets morning sun, dappled mid day and shade late, i'm hopping it will be good for them.

JoJo

Thanks for the dedication, Cactus! ;)

Roots,
during the peak of Summer, my Jades are pretty much dormant. At this time, I water *less* often.
If I water my Jades while dormant, the leaves turn yellow and fall off. Happens every year, June-July.

In AZ, you'll have no shortage of strong light.
As Cactus said, partial sun will be just fine. Introduce it to the sun gradually...a few hours a day,
over the course of a week or so. This holds true even in places without the intense AZ sun.

You might need to protect the container from becoming too hot, as well.

Josh

Josh, what a great point. I am so glad you brought up the watering part about June to July! Thank you

By the way, how in the world did you get a red mark on that picture?

Are you a computer geek too? I too would of cut my Jade right there!

Mike..:-)

Hi, Mike.
Believe it or not, I learned the "red mark" trick here at GardenWeb...but I can't remember who pointed it out. It's pretty easy.

First, I saved the image - and then I cropped it down.

Next, I opened the image through my Paint program (standard Accessory on my HP). I simply used the line tool to make the mark, and then saved the file.

Then I uploaded to photobucket. And the rest is history.

Josh

That red mark tool is very helpful!!
Jojosplants, I do have AC, but at the time this Jade was struggling last Summer in the South window, I was keeping th AC off in that room. I was also shutting the door and vent to that room, so I believe the heat was too much for it. My plan for this summer is to leave the door and vents open and use the sheer curtain to reduce the light intensity.
I would think your Jade will do good outside in a semi shady spot in Tuscan. Here in the San Tan Valley, I found last year that it was too hot for my Jades to do good outside in the Summer. They seem to do well in the Winter, but when it's Summer, i'm bringing mine in this year. I've already planted a few Portulacaria Afra to replace them and love how they look.

Josh...What? lol

Have a great day man..You are a big help here in this thread. You validated my ability to know where to cut a Jade too..Thanks

Mike..:-)

What kind of watering schedule does everyone use for their indoor Jades? I've been trying to let them dry out more this winter since I know a little more now.
The last time I went 3 weeks between watering, and that is in the South facing window. I do think that may have been a little too much, most of my Jade leaves were very soft and one or 2 fell off. Luckily they perked right up when I watered them. Should I move my watering up to once every 2 weeks in Winter, or does this sound ok?
In the Summer, I was thinking they will probobly need watering about once a week. Does this sound right? I am using a cacti/succulent mix with about 50% perlite, seems to drain very well. I want to make sure I don't lose anymore Jades this year...

Hey, Roots!
I follow the rule of thumb...which is to say that I gently squeeze a sampling of leaves between my forefinger and thumb ;)
The lower/older leaves will soften first, so I usually wait until a few of the leaves higher up have lost pressure. Then I wait until the following morning, and I water generously, regardless of the last calendar date I watered.

On average, I find myself watering once a month during the winter, and two to four times a month during the summer.

Of course, smaller containers dry out faster; big plants in smaller containers dry out faster; terra cotta dries out faster; some mixes dry out faster; southern exposures dry out faster, et cetera, et cetera....

My advice is to go by feel. You can squeeze the leaves. You can feel for moisture on a skewer or chopstick in the mix. You can physically heft the container to estimate remaining moisture content.

And, as we always say in regard to watering a succulent, When in doubt, Don't!
You can always wait until tomorrow...one more day will seldom kill a Jade...

Josh

That's great advise Josh...I know for me it used to be really hard to "know" exactly when to water my Jades. But, I am getting better at it, thanks to some of the techniques you mentioned. Like you said too many variables to go by "schedule" watering...

Thanks alot, I appreciate any tips I can get. It's not so much that I want to go on a watering schedule, but it's just so much easier for me if I just water plants on only Sundays, or something like that. Otherwise, it seems like I spend a portion of every day of the week watering one plant or another ;P Maybe I just have too many plants.

I find that, now that i have way too many plants, it's easier and more fool proof to go by each plant's needs. I've tried to do an 'every monday' type schedule, but there's always a few plants whose soil is still wet, or I didn't have time for. then i'd get off schedule and it was hard to remember WHEN i'd watered plant x last.

now, i just wait until they show signs of needing water.