Hello there. Mmmmhhhh, well, I guess its ok if thats what you like and you are happy with the result? Who can say if its acceptable or not?
If you are asking for opinions, and you seem to be, then in my opinion you would have been better taking some short tip cuttings and starting again. My reason being is that I consider plant far to etiolated. Failing that idea, I may have reduced all the branches right back to where the 2nd or 3rd branch appears to grow so you have a much shortened main trunk with 2 or 3 arms of say a couple of inches max length. This way hopefully new sprouts would begin to grow from dormant buds and eventually it with bush out. Whether the trunk will thicken I can't say. Someone else may well have other opinions and ideas...lets see.
Anyway, good luck and I hope it grows well for you...keep us posted on its progress : � )
Regards, Gill from the UK.

Gill:

I did take many clippings, some short, some not. I will try to start over with these. Thanks for your input! I guess for now, the mother plant will just have to stay skinny and tall, haha.

I do have another jade with the same "problem" and I will take your advice when I go to trim that one.

Stephanie

Stephanie, I don't grow these myself, so I won't comment on their treatment. I just wanted to say that, look wise, I really like what you ended up with. Even if you trim it more like suggested, it might be fun to work with its future growth to get a tall, slender (but thick-trunked) shape rather than a bushy crown.

I have no idea how practical/difficult it would be, but that's my two cents from a purely aesthetic point of view. Good luck with your plants.

I'll keep the jokes to myself, but there is no wrong way to whack it. Jades will recover from just about any kind of pruning and whacking. However, the plant in your picture is not a happy one. The tall skinny growth is a sign of poor lighting. A jade with adequate light will grow thick and brach alot. A jade with poor light will grow really tall, and the branches will stay thin. Your's is definately reaching for the sky, in an attempt to gather more light. Personally, I would cut it back even further, and get it into more light, preferrably a south window. Another good option would be to slowly acclimate it to outside, and leave it there for the summer. You'd be amazed at how fast and healthy jades get when they get full sun outside.

Joe

Joe-

Thanks for the input! I thought my jades were getting enough light, but now I am going to move them outdoors! How many hours should I leave them outside to start? I am in upstate NY, and it has been very sunny lately.

Also - I have a few succulents, including jades in my finished attic that does not have AC. I have the windows open to let in a nice breeze and plenty of sun, but it is still quite humid up there. Is that okay for them, or should I move them as well?

Thanks again!

Satephanie would you condsider wacking the top half off? I just wacked up a very large jade mine looks like a stump. It will be potted in a shallow pot. I live on very dry arid land. You trimmed it, now get brave and wack it. It will grow back, Give it more sun gradually not full day hot sun. I wouod think this time of the year it could be left out all day and night. I live in So. Calif. where it will get temps. to 110 and very dry with low humidity. Norma

You can't just slap your jade out in the sun or it'll burn for sure. I usually start acclimating mine in spring, by putting them out when it's sunny, and the temps get into the mid 60's or higher. I start with an hour, then after a few times out, 2 hours, then 3, and so on. At this point, you can keep it out, but keep it in the shade to start. Even an hour or 2 of morning sun would be good. I don't know what your situation for outside placement is, so it's hard to say. Basically though, start with an hour of sun, and work your way up, with a few days for each exposure time. Jades can handle full sun after acclimation, although I find that mine perform best when in full sun from sun-up, until around 3 or 4PM, then shade the rest. You'll know it's happy when the edges of the leaves get a little reddish in color.

As for temperatures, I like to bring mine in if the nightime lows are going to be less then 55. As for high temperatures, from what I have read, once you get above 90, they tend to go dormant, so a hot & humid attic isn't really ideal. I don't know how true this is, because I'm in Wisconsin, where we average about 2 days a year in the 90's. In fact, last year, we had none. The key is that jades like sun, which is why I get mine outside even on those odd warmups in early spring, then bring them in. I don't leave them out full time until nightime lows stay 55 and above. For the rest of the year, they sit in a south window in my kitchen, with typical home temperatures. Mine grow all year, although MUCH slower in winter. Provide lots of sun in summer, and you may get rewarded with flowers in late fall.

Joe

Stephanie, from the pictures that looks like a Portulacaria afra, not a jade. They grow a bit differently. Do a search on this site and you'll find plenty of info about it.

I have some that I bought from a greenhouse a few years ago. I think it'll be fine, but transplant it into a drier medium as soon as you can. I started out with mine in a regular potting soil and it held too much water, making the plant droopy and unable to support itself. Once I got it in a mix of pebbles and bark mulch (the kind the sell for bonsais) it started getting a lot stronger. My guess is that if you take the plant you have now, change the soil to something that drains really fast (even just half pebbles and half soil) you'll get it strong enough so that you don't need the support after a while. The good news with my droopy one is that once it got stronger, it grew up and now it's twisty and cool looking. Mine love humidity and will take direct sunlight if you introduce it slowly. They grow well in Phoenix outdoors if that tells you anything.

Cheers,
Jose

Not to offend or be arguementive, but that is not a portulacaria afra. I have several of both, and the plant in that picture clearly has the thick, succulent leaves that jades have. Portulacarias are nicknamed baby jades, but they are, as you said, different. They don't have the thick leaves, and with new growth, the stems start out a red color, and quickly turn woody.

Joe