How do you re establish an older bare rooted potted jade?

13 years ago

I repotted a large Hummel Sunset that I got a few days ago, and have had some toruble with keeping it upright ever since. The jade it self was about 14 inches tall and 10 inches wide. The rootball is about 4 inches wide and 3 inches deep. The first pot it was in was 8 inches wide and 8 inches deep. The new pot is 10 inches wide and 12 inches deep. I used a metal wire that was bent to make an elongated u. I put that into the soil and tied a small but heavy hemp string around the support and the jade itself. I made a loop when I tied the jade so the string wouldn't put pressure on the jade itself. I will have to take a picture so everyone can see what I am describing.

I also have see nwhere it looks like people use bonsai wire to hold cuttings in when they have first potted them up. I am guessing that this would be the best way to hold the roots safely in to the soil? I don't have any Bonsai stores locally and to order it online would take more time. IS there something else I can use to secure the roots?

Andrew

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Comments (11)

greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
13 years ago
Hey, Andrew!
(Got your e-mail yesterday...I'll send a reply later).

I use a soil mix with lots of grit, so the weight of the mix itself helps hold the Jade upright.

In extreme cases, I'll set a stone on the side the Jade wants to lean. Over time, the Jade will
"lift" itself away from the stone, and by this I know that the roots have gripped the soil.

This large Jade cutting had no roots at all, and it was incredibly top-heavy.

{{gwi:55054}}

You can see, below, how I set a single stone in the pot to support the leaning Jade.
Last July, the entire Jade was yanked from its pot by awful raccoons. Clumps of
new roots were torn from the trunk, and I had to re-pot and re-position the stones all
over again. But the Jade survived just fine, despite all the root disturbance.

{{gwi:55052}}

Josh
valyn
13 years ago
I agree with Josh about using stones. But I go one step further. I use rocks to support the plant. 2,3 or 4 around the base of the trunk. Not so many that you cover all the top of the soil, but enough to hold the plant up.
Until the plant begins to re-establish itself, you won't be watering it anyway. I'm assuming that you have a very poris soil so you should have no worries. I have done this for many years, always successful.

Val
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puglvr1
13 years ago
Good luck Andrew...you sure have a beautiful Hummel Sunset Jade and Huge too! I too have used rocks to hold up Jades after repotting to stand them upright. I've not have much luck with using bonsai wires unfortunately.

How long should you usually wait to water(appx) after a repot...removing most of the old soil? Taking into consideration we're still in the mid 90's here and will be for at least several more weeks.

Thanks!
greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
13 years ago
Val,
the Jade pictured above was supported by a rock. There were times when I used two rocks,
on opposite sides of the trunk, but that was mostly to prevent raccoons from digging in the mix.

After the potential root-trauma of re-potting, wait about a week to water.
In hot weather, 3 - 5 days should suffice for a callus to form.
In cool/cold weather, a little bit longer would be wise.

Josh
puglvr1
13 years ago
Thanks Josh! Appreciate the suggestion...will give it around 3-4 days to be on the safe side :o)
jade_man
13 years ago
Congrats and very nice!

i often use BBQ skewers that i sink all the way to the bottom of the pot, usually on the side that the plant wants to lean to. i also use common twist ties to secure the plant to the skewer. a large plant such as yours, i would probably not try to pin the roots to the soil. if you received that plant 2 days ago, they probably shipped it at least 2 days before that. i would think that it would be safe to water it now. i don't know what your soil is like, i have been using turface lately and find that it will take water after few days and start to perk back up. with turface i know it takes a few weeks for it to really take hold being it's tendency not to compact. with a more soil based product, watering seems to help hold the plant in place as it does compact some from watering. how ever you do it, i think that you will have success. a plant that large should be able to put out roots pretty quickly. after you water it i would start introducing it back into direct sun if you have not already done so. needs to photosynthesize to grow roots after all.

Doug
cactusmcharris, interior BC Z4/5
13 years ago
Josh use two rock? That sounds like some good dance music there...

Andrew,

Do answer me this, however - how can you have a bare-rooted potted jade?

You might consider getting some gravel and having a layer of it, along with larger rocks (or not) and using the mass of rock to support the jade. You can then remove it as the plant grows into the pot.

You can also deliberately underpot it while it roots and then put it in a more permanent pot when its rootball is a mass of roots.

I personally favour the larger chucks of decomposing rock faces, such as what you see below:

{{gwi:636919}}

{{gwi:606661}}
greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
13 years ago
...one rock, two rock, three rock, rock! ;)
we're gonna rock around the garden block...!

In fact, I'm gonna rock right now...
rock out on some barbecued tri-tip and sausages and salmon.

Josh
puglvr1
13 years ago
Ha, ha, You guys are a blast!

Josh, I LOVE Tri-tip! We used to eat it once or twice a month when we lived in Lompoc and Santa Maria. We really miss it here, Most grocery stores don't know what I'm talking about when I ask for it,lol...I found one store that special ordered it for me...but somehow it didn't taste as good as I remembered. I sure wish I had some right now...thanks for the walk down memory lane.

Sorry Andrew...just a little off topic!

Back to your Jade! I'm sure it will perk up real soon, I agree about it being droopy from the shipping. Hummel definitely needs as much sun as it can get especially in your coming fall and winter months. But I would do it gradually.
Marie Tran
13 years ago
Josh, you have a nice pot of jade, it looks very good in that pot. Thank you every body for all the info in this post. I learned so much from reading this site. I have 2 very small jade, and hope one day they get bigger with proper care.
Andrew Scott
Original Author
13 years ago
Hi Everyone,
Thanks for the tips.
Cactusmcharris,
Sorry if that was confusing but if you saw the post where I had the pic, you would have seen what we are all talking about. I bought this and got it about 4 days ago now. It was bare rooted when it was sent to me to save on shipping. I in turn had to pot it back up and try to get it to re establish in a new pot.
Hi Josh!
Great to hear from ya! I have used rocks when I am rooting my plumeria cuttings and i thought about doing the same thing with the jade. I have not had it move since it fell out on the 2nd night. So far so good. I did water it all ready. I actually watered it in the first day. It was in a box for about 2-3 days and I have noticed some leaves shriveling up and dropping. I know it is normal but it made me want to water it more and Lorraine(fom K and L cactus.) I think I will put it out tomorrow and see how it does. I will slowly intoduce it to light. I want to keep it indoors since it looks so great right now but I know it can continue to color up even more and our nights are getting cooler. I know next week we are going to warm up again so maybe I will bring it back in again.

Thanks everyone for the help.
Andrew

How do you re establish an older bare rooted potted jade?

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greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a

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How do you re establish an older bare rooted potted jade?

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