Howdy, Sophia!
The Jade is droopy and etoliated (lanky, rambling) from lack of light. The best thing you can do for your Jade is to give it as much light as possible...in the coming months, of course.

Start by pruning off any branchlets that are growing downward, or from the underside of the branches. This will reduce weight and will offer a better look at the Jade.

New pictures will be a very great help!
Merry Christmas,

Josh

If I inherited this plant and wanted it to look natural, I would prune SEVERELY - down to the stumps. Then I would place it outdoors for as much of the growing season as possible.

The lanky branches will not improve with better conditions. I would start from scratch.

This plant needs much more light, fresh air, and day-night temperature differential to thrive than what exists on a windowsill. It is not a houseplant.

x

I agree with Josh....more light..nice bright light.

I would prune that jade way back and let it regrow in nice light with a good well draining potting mix. This is a good time of year to do these things as it is the Jades growing time.

Once the Jade is pruned back good you may find that the pot is not to small for it. But i would prune that Jade hard. They can tolerate a hard pruning and it will give you a much nicer compact, fuller Jade in a few months.

Merry Christmas!

Mary

Certainly prune it back...!
I wasn't suggesting she stop pruning with the downward branches... ;)
That's just the start! Cleaning up the trunks will give a better idea of
what she's working with.

Josh

Your suggestions are great! Norma

I agree with all of them. Tis the seson cut it now exactly how they told you, it can always be cut more as you get the confidence to do so. it will start to grow back in about two weeks, change the soil as well, take it out of the pot check the roots, perhaps cut some of the roots, give it fresh soi. Keep the soil on the dry side. You may need to add some sand, and perlite or pumice. only 10% compost. I do not fertilize mine because it causes to much growth at one time I want them to grow thick stocky trunks, cutting the top of the plant will achieve this, do not put it in a larger pot. Cutting the top of each stem that has leaves by Sept.1 will cause flowers in Dec. with good sun, the new growth will have the flowers. Sun is needed for photosyntgesis needed for the growh of leaves, which is carried on in the stems and leaves, do exactly what Jeff told you do. Norma

Norma

Wonderful, thank you all so much for the advice!

My house definitely has more light than where the plant is in the photos, so that should help.

So - no bigger pot, but would the plant do better in a clay pot of a similar size? I still haven't picked it up, but that pot looks like plastic to me. Would the clay pot help maintain better moisture levels? I would think that plants like aloes and jades that like a drier environment would prefer clay, but I'm just guessing.

Pruning -
I get that the growing season is right now, but would it be better to wait until springtime when there will be more light and I can start putting it outside? Or is now the best time, regardless?

Thanks again everyone, hope you had a merry Christmas!

Quite a merry Christmas, indeed!

Many folks, myself included, prefer clay pots for Jades.

Start your pruning now. That way, the plant won't have to try and support all of that spindly growth through the winter months. You're gonna end up with a ton of cuttings to root, too. Enjoy!

Josh

I agree with Josh I prefer clay pot also...though mine are in large plastic ones right now as I needed to put large rocks in with them while they rooted to hold them up.
I will be getting them all clay pots in the spring.

I would prune it now, it is the growing season for them and a great time to prune and encourage new growth on it. In the spring and summer it will grow also but much much slower and it needs that time to rest and prepare for the next grwoing season:)

Mary

I also prefer clay pots for all my Jades and succulents with a good fast draining,porous soil-less mix. Good luck and keep us posted.

I went and picked up my new jade today - it was so heavy and awkward that I pruned a few big branches off on the spot to get it out the door and into my car!

Here are the branches that I've pruned off so far:

Not sure where to go next, I'm feeling anxious about cutting some of the thick ones. How far down do I prune? Do I need to cut off the large branches that are growing sideways?

Other than the wild branching, the plant looks healthy and beautiful. The leaves are glossy and all shades of green. I will have to buy a new ceramic pot, because the one I have isn't nearly big enough.

Sorry for the amount of photos, I wasn't sure which ones would give the clearest impression of the branching habit.

The room it's in at my house has 6 big windows and 2 skylights, so it will be getting a lot more light than it was in its old home.

Thanks so much for all your help, I'm looking forward to this new project and sharing it with you all!

It does look healthy, even if it is etiolated and gangly. There is no right or wrong way to go about trimming. Just cut back anything that does not help create a form you like. Don't worry about cutting large branches. You can not kill it by pruning. When you cut pay attention to the segment lines, and make cuts close to the lower line. Any remaining portion of a segment will be resorbed, and the remnant will fall off.

I would probably cut the horizontal limbs back to where there are more vertical branches. Over time, small branches will grow, and todays scars will be almost invisible. I like to remove all the small branches and leaves in the lower 2/3 of a limb to show the trunk, but you may have other ideas. Crassula ovata stores huge amount of water in the stems, and will recover from almost any pruning, even if all the green leaves are removed. Fear not.

Your plant has been growing unnaturally for a long time, so don't expect it to look fantastic right away. Try to develop a more natural shape. You could try to make something interesting out of the horizontal branches. Trim them back to a vertical branch, even if very small. Play with it. You may find that trimming is intoxicating, and you can easily get carried away. But all of the cuttings can be rooted, so you never lose anything. Some of your cuttings already have a lot of potential. Branches that were previously horizontal will easily adapt to a more vertical position. Have fun with it.

Brad

Great - thank you Brad!

Would you recommend leaving the cuttings alone for a couple of weeks until the cuts dry out or just go ahead and start them?

I did some more pruning and it's looking pretty bare but I trust that it will start recovering.

Also, do you think the plant might like to be watered or should I leave it alone? It's dry, and after the trauma of being relocated and exposed to some cold weather, I thought maybe a splash of water might help.

Sophia, you have inherited an incredible jade. You have done a great job with it already. Because it is in its growing season, I would give it water that drains out of the bottom hole, hoping there is a hole in the bottom. You could replant it later.
Also, if I lived near a commercial nursery or college level horticulture department, I might inquire if there might be someone who might know how to prune as a hobby or who might want to use your plant as a demonstration to a class in pruning. You never know.
I envy you that huge, beautiful jade!
Also, on this particular forum, do a search on Jade and you will see pictures of some beautifully pruned jades. There's a search on each individual forum and then there is a search on the larger Garden Web. Try the search function on this Cactus/Succulent forum.
I think you will do fine. Looks great right now.
Pat

Hi Sophia,

Excuse me, I'm not Brad, but wished to jump in & say pls. do not water. The plants don't need it (their fat, fleshy tissues are holding water in reserve), they just need time to recover. You say it's been cold & it may be cold again, even more reason not to water, the potential for cold & wet is a problem. This is a case of when in doubt about watering, don't. Leaving it dry for now can't hurt it, while watering can.

As to the other cuttings, no hurry to plant them, I'd wait at least a week before I did; good luck.

Sophia,

There are a few hard-and-fast rules with Crassula ovata, and PG above espouses one dear to all of those of us (and we're legion) who have learned that overwatering is a greater source of killing plants than underwatering does.

When it's a cutting, you don't need to water - spritz only.

When it's a recently repotted rooted plant, wait a few days, then water some. Don't water heavily unless you have lots of sun, heat, and air circulation.

When it's a growing specimen in December (one of its most active growing months), I would water about once every 10 days or so, but that schedule works for me, my cultural conditions, the soil, even the type of pot. You might find it differently.

Lastly, if you do some searching here with 'jade' as the subject, you'll find plenty of reading to wile away the winter days and nights, should you be so disposed.

Well, I'm not Pirate Girl, but I agree with everything she said :)

My bad.