Wow, that's a serious find!

It looks to me to be a fairly large Crassula ovata 'Hobbit.'

Second thing: Stop watering it! That's the only thing that will kill it.

Give it as much light as you can, and Don't Water it until you begin to see new growth.

It could drop every leaf, and several limbs, and it can still survive...as long as it isn't overwatered.

Most folks water their Jades about once a month during the Winter.

Again, Great Find!


Josh

That is an amazing find...just AWESOME!! I too think its a Hobbit?

I have to agree with Josh, especially with you living in zone 5 and with a plant and pot that HUGE, you are watering it too much...watering 3 times in 2 weeks won't give the potting mix a chance to dry out and with the room at 65 degrees and NO sunlight has a greater risk of root rot.

Way down the road...(like several months or more) if the leaves won't come clean, you can always cut off some of the really bad looking leaves and the "new" ones should grow nice and perfect...once the tree recovers and starts growing! Best of luck!

By the way, what type of potting mix did you use?

Congrats on your HUGE 'Hobbit' Jade!! Please keep us updated down the road on how its doing. Thanks for the photos!

Thanks, I'll stop watering it for a while. So far it hasn't lost any leaves since I repotted it although I did have to cut off one branch that was getting wrinkled up.

As for the soil. All I had was a mix I use for my other plants which are mostly aroids, which is about half shredded bark and half a mix of vermiculite, peat & compost so I mixed that up half and half with perlite. It's surprisingly light to lift up. I plan to set it up in a better mix down the road when it seems more stable. I can't find stuff like turface here in Chicago so I was thinking of lava but I think I have a while to think about it. I know the pot is too big but it was all I have that wasn't too small. The root ball was very big before I trimmed it and originally wouldn't have fit in this pot but there were also two more large stems then that were rotted and are gone now.

It gets about 5 hours of direct sun under the skylight and it is very bright in there the rest of the day. If it makes it, I'll put it outside in the summer if I can find a way to bring it home, it won't fit in my car.

Thanks again!
Danny

Danny,

That mix is fine for now - just watch the watering. It will want some, just not a lot.

I echo the other posters - that's quite the score. I should think you'll see some growth on it in a few weeks if you give it those conditions.
With as much baseball as is played in that area, you can too find Turface in Chicago - there's a national locater link thingie at their website. You might also find it at John Deere landscaping supply places.

Here is a link that might be useful: Surface theTurface

Dan,
when it comes time to move it, I'd un-pot the whole thing, wrap the rootball in a paper grocery bag,
and then trim off some of the top so that you can get it into the vehicle.

Once home, re-pot it, wait a week to water, and all should be well. Outdoors during Summer is perfect
for a Jade tree. It'll turn a wonderful mix of colors.

Josh

Thanks for your replies.

For future reference, What kinds of fertilizers are best? I grow about a quarter of my plants in in passive hydroponics and use the left over nutrient mix to water my other plants, would that be ok to use on a jade?

The closest I can find turface is more then an hour drive which is a bit far for a bag of soil conditioner, There is no place I can find in the city that sells it. If there are any other Chicago folks here that know of somewhere feel free to speak up.

Even at the 3 Napa auto parts stores around here don't keep the #8822 floor dry but I found a diatomaceous earth floor dry at auto zone but it is about 1/16" in size which seems a bit small. I bought a bag but haven't tried it with anything yet.

A mild, balanced chemical fertilizer is best.
Preferably one that includes the micro-nutrients, as well.
Organic fertilizers will be unreliable - as far as nutrient delivery - so shy away from those.

During the Spring, I fertilize my Jades once or twice with a mild dose of Foliage Pro 9-3-6.
I mix a 1/4 or 1/2 strength dose, and that's it. For years I never even bothered fertilizing
my succulents. Now that I grow in porous, fast-draining mixes, I fertilize a little more confidently.

The problem with re-using effluent from other plants is that there's often a concentration of salts.
For this reason, I'd only use the excess on outdoor plants and garden plants.


Josh

What a great find and wonderful potential! Congrats!

I didn't mean I reuse the old nutrient solution. When I mix up a new batch I mix full gallons at a time and I don't use it all in the p/hydro so I can dilute the left over and water my other plants with it.

What kind of transition would a large jade have to deal with if I took in out of soil and into a basically sterile mix such as lava, turface, gravel or something similar to that?

Ah, the diluted fertilizer would be just fine!

I actually grow my Jades in a mix of Pumice, Perlite, Turface, Quartz gravel,
and screened Orchid Bark (fir bark). Many other Jade growers use a soil-less mix, as well.
Your plant will thank you!


Josh