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Newbie needs pruning advice for variegated Jade

6 years ago

Hello everyone!

I recently rescued this variegated Jade, which I think has a lot of potential to become a gorgeous strong plant/tree. I am totally new at this and been browsing to find answers how/where to prune jades as well as posting on the cacti/succulent forum but I'm still indecisive to how/where/how much to prune the Jade I have as its in a situation that I wasn't able to find and relate with on here.

Problem: There isn't one branch on this jade that is going upward, they are all falling down on the sides, leaving the middle completely empty. It is very 'top heavy' and was not well-taken care of (lots of brown spots), so i definitely wanted to freshen it up by removing as much as damaged leaves possible for a new fresh start. On the cacti/succulent forum I was kindly given advices such as using bonsai wire to help stabilizing the branches until it becomes strong enough on its own, as well as possibly cutting the main stem into 2 plants to then reposition it more upwards. I was also curious to hear what the bonsai connoisseurs would have to say and recommend.

Goal: I would like it to be definitely less wide than it is currently, with a 'cleaner' look, and to have it going upwards.

Thank you very much in advance for your time and help.

Marie

Main stem is a bit buried underneath the soil, and as you can see in this picture, it splits into 2 stems going sideways. This is the 'Left' side of the plant.

I've marked the 'Left' side with A,B,C to help visualize which is where.

And below is showing the "Right" side marked with D, E, F, G.

Interior view

Exterior view

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Comments (3)

mariec_6a
Original Author
6 years ago
I'm thinking that beheading/whacking may be my best bet?
Erin Kelley
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I'd say yes, chopping lower and then directional pruning as it grows will give a more tree like silhouette. Obviously one side will have to be cut off to get the most out of what you already have. The left side looks promising.

Lol, just reread what you wrote and looks like the cacti group already suggested the things I was thinking.

OK so, the more mature looking left side, has bar branches, which is typical of jade and many other succulents. For bonsai there is some basic rules that will help you. I like to think of them more as guidelines :). You'll Want to identify your first branch, second branch, back branch for depth, etc.. Trying to create different levels and pads as the tree grows after your main branch decisions.

Some of the easiest things to start with are trimming anything growing directly up or down. For a jade it's going to be probably one leaf of a pair. You'll notice the pairs alternate up the stem, that's where the directional stuff comes in. I'm not sure if I need to elaborate on that, you can let me know?

Maybe just Google, the basic rules of bonsai to get some idea of how it relates to your material. Sometimes pictures are really difficult to give advise for. They are very 2d.

Also, a better draining soil mix would be safer, you won't have to worry about overwatering or rotting the tree. Something with pumice or lava, hard fired clay, small fir or pine bark chips. Even if just adding this to the peaty mix you already have.
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A little update. I re-potted this guy and I think he looks MUCH better. I'm happy with how he came out. Now the waiting game for the jade cuttings begin! I hope they take root.
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1. It was in too dark environment for a while, that's why drooping branches and sparse leaves. But it must have had good light at some time before, since the trunk is straight or someone took time and kept turning it now and then so each side got some light exposure. Drooping branches will not be straight, but any new growth on them will be upright if there is good light. 2. 'Fat' leaves are not a problem, rather that they are spaced far apart (low light is the culprit) and slightly curling under. Otherwise they look quite healthy. 3. Aerial roots are quite common on jades (and some other succulents), so I wouldn't about them. 4. To me, pot is too deep (while quite nice) and maybe little large, but I am sure others may like it and I think it is up to you - do you like it? It also provides good stability to existing plant since it is most likely top-heavy. Common problem with oversized containers is that they will hold lots of soil. If that soil has poor drainage, overwatering happens easily, and possibly will cause some rotting before it may be detected. Did you see any roots when plant tipped and lost some soil? There is good chance that they really didn't get damaged. The plant appears to be healthy otherwise. It is good time of year to do some 'work' on it if you are up to it. It could be pruned quite drastically or just a little - all depends what you, eventually, would like it to look. You could prune and re-pot at the same time. I would probably just prune it first (since it has some adjusting to do to a new environment) and then repot - maybe within few weeks. It will benefit from being outdoors too - good air circulation, plenty of sunlight. If you prefer to have it indoors, give it best possible light otherwise it will grow similarly.
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You're welcome. I've wrestled with small-leaf Jades for years. You just have to keep on top of them. I'll share a couple pictures below. First, a pot full of cuttings, very much like yours. Although the sunlight is strong and the plants are in great health, the tendency is to grow long and then droop. The Jades above were given back to my sister after I had rehabilitated them.....then, she promptly left them outdoors in the snow, and all but one trunk froze. So....I started over, literally from the ground up. Here's the surviving trunk, which branched at the soil-line. As it grew, I kept pinching the top growth to form a more rounded canopy. Here it is back in September: I also rooted a single stem cutting from this plant a few years ago, and it too grew straight up without branching. Started like this: Grew like this: And then it grew so tall that it fell over: So I chopped it, straightened it, and I've been pinching the new growth to keep the foliage centered over the trunk. It's not my favorite look, but I wanted to try out this style and see how it develops.
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Becky, really nice jade, seems like a tricolor/obliqua with mutated sports, if I have the terminology correct. Each new branch that emerges could be variegated, albino, or green. This is true of every plant for the most part - the variegated versions of most jades likely started as sports on all green plants, that were aggressively propagated via cuttings/tissue culture/etc. You have a really interesting specimen since it so clearly shows branches of all three cases. As you prune, just be aware that a variegated, albino, or all green sport could come from any of the existing branches. I don't really know how the genetics/probabilities work, but I guess each branch is probably most likely to produce more like branches, but, would be interested in someone adding some details. Crassula ovata ssp obliqua seems somewhat less stable than some variegated plants - albino or all green sports seem relatively common on tricolors, and tricolor and albino sports appear on the all green obliqua with decent frequency (I've seen multiple pictures of all combinations on gardenweb - can't say that for many other plants). Best time to trim jade (and most plants) is around the summer solstice ("the brightest day of the year"), when the plant has stored up maximum energy reserves so can respond as positively as possible to losing a bunch of it's food source (leaf surface used for photosynthesis). While Jade is technically a "winter grower" it's really opportunistic in nature (grows when conditions are right) and in the northern hemisphere it grows the best in spring/summer (unless too hot). Daniel
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Jon
6 years ago
The direction of the branches is what you allow: my first step would be to repot into terra cotta with Al's Gritty Mix. When you repot, do so with a future in mind: is there a branch you imagine being a future trunk? Do you want an upright? A multi-trunk? I'm going to bet you find 2 separate plants - do you want to separate them or keep them together? Look at some pics of Jade that are similar to the way your jade is growing to get ideas.

If you want to go in the direction of a bonsai, one rule is that there should not be trifurcations (a single spot where the plant breaks down into 3-branches). I can see at least one spot with trifurcation (A, B & C in pic 1). Remove the branch that is growing toward the center, or too upward/downward. I'd probably remove branch A as it is smaller and the other two give more to work with, but I can only see a pic of the plant - you have the real thing in front of you.

After that, I'd probably just let it grow. You could chop it way back, and get more branching (ramification) lower on the plant, but I'd let it settle into a new pot. There are really two pruning methods: clip n grow, and harder pruning. With the first, just let each branch grow until it has 5-6 sets of leaves (nodes with leaves growing out of each side) and cut/pinch it back to 2-3 branches (do all branches at the same time). With the other approach, you just let the plant grow for a season or two before each prune and trim it back harder, even removing all leaves.

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