I can see you are new, so.... Hi!

The best pots for succulents are terracotta, which I assume is what you are talking about. They let air circulate properly around the roots.

The plant shouldn't be top heavy (it really depends on how tall it is), but I see no harm in a couple heavy rocks in the bottom to keep it balanced if it is.

For soil, a gritty mix would be best, but for many that is hard to gather ingredients for. Instead, you can use just plain old cactus and succulent soil with some added perlite. Mix it 60% perlite and 40% cactus and succulent soil. Perlite is super easy to find, fortunately, so you shouldn't have any problems with that.

Jades (Crassula ovata) are opportunistic growers. They don't have a specific growing season, instead, they grow when they can, when it is warm, or it has water, or sun. I have several jades, but I don't fertilize any of them. I would wait to fertilize until maybe half a year to see how they are doing, and if you are pleased with them or not.

If you have further questions, just ask!

~palmsandsnow

palmsandnow, thank you! Yes, I meant to say terracotta. I found a pretty 7" terracotta pot at Target that I think it will fit in (see photo). If it doesn't fit, I'll grab the appropriate sized, generic-style terracotta pot from Hobby Lobby.

I'll plan to mix perlite and c/s soil as you mentioned. It's correct that I shouldn't water it for a few days, right?

Thank you! Eagerly anticipating tomorrow! :-)

That is nice pot, but quite large, do you know how large is the plant? (medium size could be anything; in right conditions, crassulas can grow into a tree :) Even if too big, it wouldn't be a problem if there is good drainage - mix and the container. Too much water retaining soil will cause a problem eventually. Do not use layers of pebbles in the bottom - what palms suggested are few big rocks to act as a ballast. I use rocks on top of the potting mix if I need to support newly potted plants.

Vast majority of my succulents are in plastic pots. I know, they do not look so nice. I use very gritty potting mix, and no fertilizer. Few jades were blooming this season.

Rina, thanks for your response. It's a 7" pot, and I plan to mix perlite with c/s mix as the soil. I'll be sure to stay on the lookout for a large rock or two as well! Here is a photo of what he sent me... it seems like it *might* fit fine in a 7" pot? It's so hard for me to tell by the photo but I want to be prepared.

Is it about 12" tall? It looks very nice and full. I think it will appreciate its own home and should grow well for you. The 7" pot could work. When you get the plant, see how much of the pot the rootball takes up (a little crowded is ok). If the plant seems oversized to the pot, you might even have to go up in size a little if the rootball is good. If you do use that pot, when you water, don't let the pot sit in drained water. Water separately, allow to dry thoroughly before placing back in the saucer.

I would wait at least a week after planting it. The plant will be fine. Your soil will probably not be bone dry, so let the plant rest, heal any damaged roots, before watering.

Post more pix if you like. We would love to see what you get and how you pot it.

Nice looking plant. Yes, please post a photo of it when you receive it, showing roots too and something next to it for scale (ruler may be good with large plant) - before you pot it up.

The pot may be good size, but it is quite deep. If my plant, I would make potting mix grittier than what you are planning - but that is just me :) I like look of your pot.

I have 16-20" tall jades in 5" square plastic pots - they are not as bushy as yours since I prune them to fewer branches, but have thick trunks (that is my preference with jades: fat trunks :) They need repotting, pots are breaking, lol (plastic gets brittle in years of sun exposure); but they will go into pots just litle bigger.

Another quick question before I pick up the plant... I also saw a gorgeous glazed clay pot I might want to use for the jade plant. Does it need to be terracotta?

Gorgeous sounds pretty nice. Just add more perlite and water less to compensate for the glazed pot.

Some sacrifices may be made for style, ha!

ewwmayo, I like the way you think! Lol!

You'll have to be much more careful about watering with a glazed pot, but it can work, of course. I notice that with my plants; the ones in glazed pots need less frequent watering. Your soil will dry out much more slowly. Use the skewer trick to check soil. (Ask if you don't know it.)

Just talked to our local nursery about their cactus mix... it's a little different than what the other stores are offering. I'm wondering if I still need to add more perlite to the mix? This is fertilome cactus mix, and is half peat moss, and the other half is a mix of perlite, coarse sand, and limestone. Should I leave it or still add more perlite? I really want to get this right... sorry for a million questions!

And because I'm a nerd (!) here is the spec sheet on the fertilome: http://fertilomesoils.com/docs/technical/Cactusspecsheet.pdf

Keep in mind I'll probably go with the glazed clay pot and be alert to less watering

Maybe I'm late to the conversation, but a pre-made mix w/ 50% peat (IMO) isn't appropriate for succulents.

It's till too much peat; also the pkg mentions wetting agent which would also be undesirable for succulents. Maybe good in their nursery setting & their watering schedule, but I wouldn't think it good for amateur home grower.

Both those suggest if you must use this soil, I'd still mix into it equal parts of perlite.

I really like to use feritilome brand fertilizers - their Manufacturing plant is close to my house and I used their products regularly when the nursery sold the large bags. I am not familiar with their soils. The ingredients Peat and Sand do not really impress me. ( Sounds like regular potting soil with fertilizer added.) Soil for succulents should be well drained, and such needs to include ingredients that are more granular - Sand and Peat will compact when wet. I use bark fines, turface, and grit. However If you are not into building you own mix, there are some bagged mixes ( not the one mentioned) that are made of course ingredients. I like the clay pots for Jade. Succulent infor

I'm back with the Jade! What a whirlwind!

It's much larger than I thought, but the roots are small. I wonder if he didn't dig them up very well? With the jade planted, it's much too top heavy, so I have it in a 8" terracotta azalea pot which has been inserted into a larger/taller pot with support wedged between (see photos). Thoughts? Since there aren't much roots will it likely survive? It's so beautiful and I don't want to lose it.

The nursery helped get it put together, and we did not water it. I will wait a few days on that.

Mixed half perlite and half cactus soil.

Anything else I can do to help it along?

Also should mention that it's about 22" tall from soil to top of plant :)

Succulents generally have a small mass of roots, but this is way small... Doesn't look bad, no rot going on, so that's good. You did good to stake it. Just remember not to water for a few days, and I would also keep it out of real strong light until it gets settled a bit.

The soil it is in looks very good.

~palmsandsnow

palmsandnow, thank you. I'll keep it out of strong light. Shouldn't be too hard up here in the north! Haha.

Six leaves have dropped since I've gotten it, and one small branch is starting to look limp, like it may fall off. Is this normal after a re-pot?

There's also a small spot of a spider web type ball.... should I do something about this?

And finally, he also gave me a "bonus" plant... aloe vera? The root was almost snapped off completely, and it won't stand upright, but the man at the nursery planted it in the same cactus and perlite mix into a throwaway pot in the hopes that it will survive. Any tips? I didn't give it water, either.

Thanks again! Everyone has been so helpful!

Oh boy!

Do you think maybe he...completely destroyed the roots when he took it out of the bin? If the plant is in shock it could drop leaves.

As for the web, remove the leaves it's on and check the rest of the plant for more webs and/or pests. If you don't find any, problem solved!

I don't know about that limp branch... It might be a good idea to cut it off and see what the tissue looks like. Also, I would wipe off the webs.

The Aloe vera looks nearly gone, unless you can root it. I would unpot, cut up from the roots until you reach completely clean tissue. Callous for a few days, then put it in completely dry soil, and wait for rerooting to begin.

I agree with palms to cut off the limp branch and see color of the flesh. If there is any black - dark spots (they could be any shape), it may be rot. Pls. cut it and post a photo , make sure it is clear pic of the flesh.

The web could be just a spider web and not a problem, but mealy bugs look similar. If you see more of the similar, it could be mealy.

I am not absolutely sure, but there seems to be lots of limestone in the potting mix. Succulents generally prefer slightly acidic soils. Do not get alarmed yet, hopefully with better chemistry background will see this tread and post...And I wouldn't use mix with 50% peat either - but that is JMO :) The soil I see in pot with aloe looks quite water retaining - and I do not see any coarse sand. Maybe it is too fine? Hope it is just a photo.

Thanks! I wiped the webby area and don't see any others.

I cut off the limp branch. It looks good, right? Maybe it was just damaged during transport?

And I'm not sure what's meant by rooting the aloe... I might need a step-by-step on that one :-/ I trimmed up the bottom leaves that were the worst, and tried to tie it a bit upright. Should I pull it out and cut off the root? It mostly one long thick root... seemed odd to me. I wish I'd snapped a photo of it.

Here's what it looks like right now (and the soil is the same mix as my jade, but the nursery guy had to go help another customer and threw a little extra of just the cactus mix on top at the last minute. Most of it is the 50/50 c/s and perlite mix.

What about this area where I took the straggly leaves off? Can I bury it?

Cut branch looks OK, but I wish the photo was better: it is difficult to be sure unless everything is visible (I hope I don't sound picky, just wanted to make sure...). When cutting, the cut should be 'clean' - it looks little squished or almost like torn. Many pruners will do that. It may be better to use very sharp knife, utility knives that one can change the blades in are quite good.

Do nor bury plant with fresh cuts, they can be easily infected. Any cut should be callused first.

I see what you are saying about extra mix thrown on - but I would not use so much peat for any succulent.

Did the roots look at all like something was wrong with them? It may be best to unpot again and snap some pictures of the roots. Were any parts mushy?

Rina, I did use my sharp cutco paring knife to make the cut. Not sure why it looks otherwise?

palms, the aloe roots? Not mushy, just one main, long root that snapped in half and was hanging by a thread :-/

I don't recommend burying the long stem part - it can be susceptible to rot if underneath the soil. What I see is two main options:

1. Leave as you have it with stakes for support. Let it grow new roots and become healthy again and is actively growing. Then cut it off much higher up and re-root.
2. Just lop it off cleanly and 1.5-2" below the last leaf, let callous, and reroot from scratch.

Option #1 will take longer but you will probably lose less leaves. It is a safer method.

Option #2 your plant will look worse for a while before it gets better. Have to be more careful about not letting it rot.

Personally, I would go with #2 but it all depends on your confidence in rerooting a cutting. Shouldn't be very hard as it's a fairly big plant with enough water stored up for quite a while. Just needs patience.

Eww, thank you for the instructions! I might go with option 2. It will be a good learning experience for me and I'll keep a close eye on it.

I think it's the better way. =)

It gets awkward when you have 4-5" of stem to bury with roots at the bottom. Ends up making pot choices annoyingly deep and a lot of wasted upper space in the pot (which is an important area).

I'm scared to cut off more. Tell me it will be okay

You can ct more, do not worry. Just make sure you let it callus before potting.

Look a this one, it has been cut and sitting out of the pot for quite a while:

Rina, those pictures are SO helpful. Thank you!!! Now I know what to look for :-)

rina, maybe you can get the references to sand (BAD! BAD! BAD!) taken out of the Aloe FAQ and get these best pictures put in.

Jeff,

I looked at FAQ - I do not think anyone can comment?!

No, but it can be modified if a new one is there to replace it, per GW, I think.

Rina, here's how the cut root of my aloe is looking so far after a couple days... does it seems like normal progress to you?

Yes, from what I can see it looks good.

I can't tell how close to last leave did you cut?

Rina, good! It's now measuring 2.5" from last leaf... I took another leaf off that seemed to be struggling. I hope that was okay!

Here's what the jade looks like this morning. Still no water. Seems good to me, how about you?

Really, anything is OK. Just do not leave it too long or you may have to do it again soon...Personally, I like them 'squat'. Some grow longer stems naturally, but keeping that indoors in containers they may get too long. I do not care much for plant flopping all over the place (some plants look great sprawling!) - indoor space is quite limited! If I could keep them PIG (planted in ground) year round, I would let them grow any way they like.

Jade looks good. What happened with that small branch ?

The one I cut? It was good... must've gotten bumped in transport. It's callousing nicely and I have the small branch in a little container with hopes that it will root for me :-)

Do you think I can put the aloe in a pot now? Or should I wait longer?

It doesn't really matter from now on when you put it in a pot, or if you should put it in a pot at all, really whatever is more convenient for you.

As palms said...

Revisiting this. My jade seems to be struggling these past couple days. Is it me? Or is this normal with the small/damaged root ball? I haven't watered it hardly at all since I know it doesn't have much roots to take up water right now. Just one light watering. A few leaves are spotting and falling off. It doesn't look as healthy as it did.

Thank you, ewwmayo. That's encouraging! It's scary to see them shrivel up... and having a few black spots is okay?

Yep, a little bit of leaf drop is expected.

Black spots should be okay. I know it is kept dry so very low chance of fungus. Drying leaves look ugly!

They should go grey and crystalline eventually. Then fall off easily.

Plant is trying to grow roots and balance the amount of foliage with roots. In recovery, I err to water not quite enough on a plant this size (as it is robust and resilient) than over water and risk rot.

In other words I'd rather lose some leaves which won't be noticeable overall/in the grand scheme of things than risk rot.