Stettin,

If this place has nothing else (but it does!), it's the mother lode for Crassula ovata (C. o. AKA jade plant) information - just search for it here at the C&S Forum and you'll have reams to read. There's nothing to worry about - you could whack that mini-beastie to nothing, I said nothing, no leaves, and it would come back.

Short answer, because I tend to go a bit too far with my cutting,

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is no, not to worry - trim what you want (I'd get rid of anything more than 5" long myself), but before you do so, peruse the pages here and get some ideas. Your plant is healthy and will come back quickly, since now, if you give it some sun and some light, it will grow in winter.

Can't agree more with the Cactus Man.... Your plant is becoming etiolated and is need of a serious whack job! I'd cut it back to the lower growth and this will cause it to branch more and give it a more rounded full appearance. Get those shears and start NOW!

If you want it to slow down, cut way back on the watering. More light would help, too.

Here they grow to enormous size in vacant lots, living on rainfall alone, which occurs only November - April, 10-15" per year.

Here is my jade after cutting it down. I removed about 20 total bottom leaves and cut at least half down.
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I'm a bit curious why one of the jades is popping up extra nodules, while the other ones are not. I haven't done any pruning on it before today.

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Here are the cuttings. #5 and 6 where actually one piece. Seemed way too tall and skinny to try and root. I think the #7 might still be too tall, but it was thicker than the other so I left it be.
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"Jade plant out of control, need advice"

Sell it for half a million dollars on eBay?

;)

You can cut those pieces into smaller pieces and root them all if you want. Just keep track of the "down" side--that's the one you want in the soil.

Re: one sprouting branches--the others will too, eventually. One is just faster at it.

Half a million--why not go for a million? :)

OK I took the smallest 3 and put them in one pot to kind of replicate the look of my larger pot. I have a 3 pot combo that I placed 3 other cuttings in individually. I did this 4 days ago. I used a mixture of 50% perlite and 50% potting soil, placed each in soil up to the 2nd or 3rd row of leaves. I noticed today that the leaves are not feeling plump any longer. The cuttings have been without water since I cut them, about 12-13 days. In another thread they recommended NOT watering right after planting. Is it time to water?

Usually i just mist the cuttings every 2-3 days.

Stettin,
I think you're safe to lightly water your cuttings.
However, the mix you made will retain quite a bit of moisture because of the potting soil.
Perlite doesn't improve drainage until the mix is about 80 percent Perlite...so I caution you to
keep an eye on the moisture levels, and only water when the lower layers of the mix are dry.

You are/were correct not to water right after planting. Succulents form a callus where they're
pruned/trimmed, and this creates a barrier to keep pathogens out. That callus needs to
dry to be most effective, which is why fresh cuttings aren't placed in wet soil.

Josh