Hi all! Here is my Hobbit jade (I think). I'm wanting it to get much bigger. What steps should I take? It seems to be doing well, although the leaves don't seem to be a shiny green, and about 1/week average shrivels and falls off. Any suggestions? as of now it's in a cacti/succulent potting mix from Lowes, but i am trying (and failing) to find the ingredients to make Al's mix.

I would keep it little dryer - soil looks very wet. Old leaves naturally shrivel, dry, fall off; I don't think I ever have 1 a week - it seems too many to me.

Is there a drainage hole in the container?

How much light is it getting? It does look good, perhaps could be little more compact?

I had literally just watered it before I took the pictures :) it is usually on the dry side. It sits in an east facing window, but is in a room that is bright all day. We don't have any south facing windows. Yes, there is a hole, and I water when the soil is completely dry all the way through, then I water twice until a good amount comes out the hole. I would love to prune it, but I'm not sure when where or how much to do it! :)

The way you describe watering sounds very good - if the soil/potting mix is well draining. When I see color that dark (even when just watered), I think there is too much of 'fine' soil there - peat, potting soil...That kind usually drains slowly, since small particulates are very close together, and stays wet for too long. Your plant looks very nice, so it may not be 'that bad' - I am just judging by what I see in the photo.

Pruning should be done to achieve the look you wan to have. I usually prune off any elongated/etiolated growth that happened during darker winter months - even with supplemental lighting, there is some. During summer, I keep them outdoors in full sun and growth is much more compact.

Your plant is quite wide on top - I have a Gollum that is even wider, and think that it's too much :) - and may become top-heavy. In my case, I am considering pruning off some bigger branches...decisions, decisions...

Is there a thread on pruning jades? Is there a way for me to close the gap in the middle?

TY, Larry! Samantha, your tree is gorgeous!

Thanks Tiffany! Next question for you all is how do you get your plants potted securely in the 5:1:1 mix? I'm afraid mine are too top heavy!

There are many threads on pruning and excellent photos - you need to search. Type 'chopping jades', 'whacking jades', pruning jades' in search box.I use large rocks to support newly potted, large plant. You can also tie it so many different way.

I believe you want to get rid of the gap in the middle (..."to close the gala app in the middle?"...not sure about wording in your previous post, must be autocorrect?:)

Easiest way would be to prune off one large side branch (or branches), where the 'y' split is...there are other, more complicated ways I believe, but may take a long time.

Thank you for the insight! I may have to get over my fear of chopping off such a large part of the plant. XD

Just wanted to say hello and that I have been reading..Thank God for the alerts we get..Beautiful plants all and I hope every one is doing ok...

MIke

I've just been leaving my jades alone and waiting for them to keep thickening up! Trying to keep them small and compact. =)

Hi Eww,

What is that pls? A Haw buried rather deep?

Imonstella - Haworthia 'Tenac'! Does it look too deep? The leaves curve inwards underneath the soil.

A few different looks. I like texture & interesting leaves.

Euph. decaryii

A Sans grown in water & Leca stones, 5 yrs. old from a single leaf.

Euph francoisii

An old favorite Euph milii x marlotii

Happy Spring Folks!

Lena

A little Jade tree on vacation in the ground for summer.

Decided that I'd go ahead and share my windowsill collection!

All of the pots that I use are ceramic dishes with holes drilled into them.

These two are the newest pots in my collection. Took a photo of them at my workdesk once I was happy with how they were repotted! I enjoy more simplistic, smaller planters, but this can make me nitpick a bit. I use a fan brush and needle nose tweezers to groom. I especially adore Graptopetalum Murasaki, to the right.

I love them all, Laura! I also love how simple you keep them. What is the taller grassy looking one in your top photo? Here is one more of my babies:

This is a cutting of my grandma's plant, so it is extra special to me. :)

The taller grassy one is Crassula muscosa, commonly called Watch Chain! Its certainly a nice one for height. Its also easily divisible, so I often incorporate some in arrangements that I give to others.

Its quite the handsome plant you have there, Samantha! Seems like we're both sporting white ceramic

My Easter Cactus (Hatiora) going bonkers. The flowers close at night

Larry that's beautiful!

Dave (5a) - that greenhouse you visited looks an awful lot like the Hhotthouse in Saranac Lake. Am I right?

Gasteraloe is forming an inflorescence.

Graptosedum is blooming.

Jelly bean plant (Sedum rubrotinctum) changing to greener warm weather growth.

Some babies from the above plant, in a 1" pot.

Part of a pot showing Senecio crassissimus, Kalanchoe blossfeldiana, Jade (Crassula ovata,) Echeveria, K. 'Fang,' pencil plant (Euphorbia tirucalli.)

Hi Hardcoreviolets, sorry it is not. I am about 3.5 hrs from ny.

This one is working hard:

Gibbaeum dispar

Does anyone else know what's going on here? Seems like two separate "heads" have started to emerge.

Getting ready to bloom, Samantha. Nice!

Aeonium wall, Isles of Scilly (28 miles off the SW tip of British Isles) March 2016.

Samantha

It could be cresting...besides sending out an inflorescence.

I'll have to Google what "cresting" means. ;)

Floral

I love that wall! Wish to have ruins in my backyard :)

Few succs indoors, in pots - waiting for Spring:

Lithops that has lived through 3 winters outside, splitting again (under a roof so it can't get rained on.)

4/6/16:

today, 4/15/16:

Easter cactus making buds.

This stem of trailing Jade (Kleinia petraea) has really POPPED out a bunch of new growth since I put it in the ground about a month ago.

Mariner's Kalanchoe (K. marnieriana), a little stem cutting and leaf-edge babies.

150

I took cuttings of ornamental purslane/"the other moss roses" (Portulaca umbraticola) last fall and stuck them in pots. Now put back in the ground, they're starting to look happy again. Should be a good show of flowers again.

I found this little 2-pad detached piece of cactus (Opuntia, I assume) on the ground in June and put it in a mini garden. Each pad is growing a - something. And right behind where they join I put a Sedum morganianum (burro tail) leaf and it's growing a baby plant.

Variegated lavender scallops (Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi) leaves making baby plants. It's harder to keep track of plants when they get moved around as much as mine but I'm pretty sure all of the babies that have formed this way were non-variegated. (Stem cuttings are the only way to preserve the variegation.) Since these are on the ground, (until it gets too cold for them outside,) they should at least stay in 1 place long enough for us to observe this theory. I have no other explanation for how I ended up with a LOT of un-variegated specimens.

Kalanchoe pinnata is finally making compound leaves. Plant started from receiving a leaf in trade about this time last year, that grew an edge-baby... that's now about 2 feet tall! In ground for temporary summer vacation.

Put some K. x houghtonii plants in a lot more shade than in past years and the shadier plants are making some much fatter leaves.

Portulaca umbraticola (ornamental purslane) saved by sticking cuttings in house plant pots for winter. When it warmed back up, I cut off all the stems again & stuck them in the ground. These plants have already donated cuttings twice to other spots in the yard (that keep blooming while taking root.) What a fun plant!

Imontestella.....would like to hear more info you might have on growing sans in water. Thx

Pulled and nestled inside for a short late spring/early summer re-transitioning

Euphorbia lactea var creast. With Senecios rowleyanus ( AKA String of pearls) casting down the shadow.

A bit off topic

One of the few here that are zone hardy PIGs close to a 4 foot fence and closer to six feet high

How many does it take to be a few ?

Update on Euphorbia tithymaloides (devil's backbone/zigzag plant) I showed in a pot in March. Now in ground, about 2x taller, lots of new side stems. The curled leaves at the bottom of the bare part of the stem are the ones that were so brightly pink in March. I'm sure it'll do that again this winter. The new growth is bright green & yellow.

Senecio crassissimus stem cut & put in ground a few days ago.

This is the Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi (lavender scallops) stem that was laying on its' pot-mates a few months ago. Cut, stuck in ground at a mostly horizontal angle. Now making so many new side stems.

What it's like to have a good hair day for a S.A. succulent bulb and find way into the misfit onion collection here.

Any cosmologist would be proud of the up do style on (IMO) better stakes ( an update on a prior pic)

Some of the other items that are called Misfit onions in the collection include

Host: Fast forward 35 or so years for that little one & you should have something that looks like this.

You might not get yours to develop the split personality though. A little thirsty today while getting it's peeling back as I want the top to be self supporting

Schizobasis intrica soon to come into flower Not always but can sometimes flower tiny little stars from it's tips twice with in a 12 month cycle

Trailing Jade (Kleinia petrea) living up to its' nickname, crawling out of the side of mini garden.

Jellybean plant (Sedum rubrotinctum) stem put in ground about 4 months ago, now making new side branches, forming a clump. The white bits are sand.

Your Sedum is very alive & looking very nice. I had one a while back but I gave it a better nic name and simply called it toast.

I just fell in love with almost every single pic here. Nomen, your Ornithogalum caudatum is so cool. Love love it. Nice pics all. Fun seeing them all.

Thanks Laurie Another one that's in what I call ' The Unusual Onions' collection

Albunca ' Frizzle sticks ' (IIRC)

Samantha... Does this plant pot have a tight fitting drip bottom ? If so....It can often be removed by prying off with knife or screwdriver. Set pot back in drip bottom on top of small attachment nodes.

Good to hear from you, Larry, but sorry to hear this sad update.