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Cacti & Succulents

Pruning and Mailing my Jade plant

14 years ago

Hello all, I'm new.

Meet Toby

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He is a Jade houseplant, a cutting from my mother's plant who she has had since college. So there is a lot of sentimental value. He is about 6 inches tall, and him with his pot and saucer is about 9 inches tall

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Here is my issue: I am moving from California to Texas soon and I cannot part with Toby. Does anyone know how I can safely ship him? Should I prune him first? Can I keep him in his pot?

Please help!!! Any information is helpful.

Also, in the last month he has turned a little red, does anyone know why?

Thank you!!!

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Comments (5)

Jack Reynolds
14 years ago
Toby looks healthy, that's good. You might check with your local agricultural extension office about shipping jade plants across state lines. There might be legal issues about transmitting diseases etc. If you plan to ship then I would find a box that will hold plant and pot and pop the whole works in and fill the rest of the space with styrofoam popcorn to keep everything stable. An alternative would be to ship Toby bare root. Jades can go long periods of time without water and survive. A few days of darkness will do no harm either. The main consideration would be frost but at this season that should not be a problem. Good luck, Jack
bunnygurl
14 years ago
I'd advise bare root, but I'm not sure exactly how to do that except washing the soil off the roots, as I've never shipped a plant.

The red coloration is something that some succulents do when under stress, though this can be a 'good' stress, though I don't know if really there is such a thing as good stress. How much sun is Toby getting? Lots of sun and not much water will result in the stress coloration.

Good luck and nice growing.
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I think your first step would be to prune everything that breaks the vertical plane from the pot rim upward, back to the closest branch junction that's inside the pot rim. After you do that, repot into a very fast draining (chunky) soil using the same pot. At that point, you can select what will essentially be your new leader (the main trunk). After your plant has recovered from the work you did, you can start pruning off all the vertical growth or branches that support all the vertical growth to pare the plant down to a basic shape you can work with. From that point forward, your job will consist of keeping the plant healthy and removing branches in places that spoil or promise to spoil the plant's profile. This is going to take a couple of years, and you can learn as you go by paying close attention to how the plant responds to your ministrations. The plant needs more light. It needs to be in a very free-draining soil, and it needs to be fed regularly with an appropriate fertilizer. It's up to you to make sure the plant is getting all the nutrients essential to normal growth. Al
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Soooo… I repotted one of the two Jades. Now, I'm a little worried if I'd done it right and if I got the right mix for it. Hoping to again tap into everyone's wisdom. I'd removed the Jade from the pot there was a lot of roots. Mostly thin ones webbed on the outside against the pot. It took a while to get the old soil off and some of the thinner roots came off in the process. I know as much that losing the thinner roots when repotting is okay but I still had heaps left - definitely more than the 1/2 of what I started with. Oh and I didn't know I needed to rinse the roots either. Then when I opened the bag of Succulent/Cactus mix from the nursery, it wasn't as loose or gritty as the mixes I've seen on the threads here. I didn't think I could leave the Jade out of the pot so I reluctantly repotted it with this mix. And now I don't know if I should go to the shops, grab something to mix in with the new mix it's in and in the process further trim the roots. Is that going to be too stressful for the plant to be repotted twice? It was cold and very windy last night so I've kept him in my kitchen in a well-lit corner for now so he doesn't topple over. If I do prune the roots, is it right that it's around 2/3 of it? I've put photos of the mix it's currently in, the plant in this new mix and also a Coarse Grit product I've seen and considering mixing to provide more aeration.
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They are, I think, called "bulb" pots - or somehing similar. I have some plastic ones too, I buy them if I see any as they are not sold as often as regular pots. There are many others made of resin, plasic and similar materials - I prefer those since they are not as heavy...that may not bother you :) I bought pot in the photo just week ago in Rona for just under $6 (in Canada). I have seen even nicer pots in Garden centre, but they are more expensive if that is important to you. They had many different types, just do not buy one with recurved top (like a fish bowl) - it is difficult to remove plants from those. If there are no drainage holes, I always drill some. I never used BJ mix, but some ppl mentioned that it was still bit water-retaining. Easy way to solve that is to add sifted perlite, or pumice if you have some. Old soil could be caked on, but you mentioned plant was in drainless pot and wet. Dry soil (or mostly dry) usually crumbles off; if it contains lots of peat it could be more hard. You may loose some roots when removing soil, but it shouldn't be much of problem. Better fewer healhy roots than many mushy. And jade will root very easy and fast, as long as they are not kept too wet.
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User
14 years ago
Bunny,

I don't think 'washing' off succulent roots w/ water is a good idea. In 10+ yrs. of growing them I've never done this nor would I suggest it.

Just let the plant dry a good long time & then crumble the mix off w/ one's fingers, dry. This way, should the plant come into contact w/ cold, at least it'll be dry & therefore less likely to rot.
caudex1
14 years ago
Safest way to ship would be potted. Cover soil with tissue paper and tape it down so it does not move. Next put a wad of tissue paper between the branches, not too much, just enough to keep them from being pushed in. Once that's done wrap the entire plant in more tissue paper, over that do a couple of layers of news print. Get a large box and put some packing peanuts in the bottom, place your plant in the box on top of the peanuts. Then add the remaining packing, before taping up the box close it up and give a good shake. If you hear or feel no movement inside there is sufficient packing, if you do and more peanuts.

Won't hurt the jade to go bareroot, unpot and wash all soil from the root. Let dry completely before packing as described above.
greenmavy
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you everyone!

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