=====Rootbound or Compacted Roots Do Cause Bonsai======= Oxmyx, I'm so glad you asked that, I had to check another article out to have that cleared up. http://www.mellobonsai.com/care/Bonsai_Care_Repotting.aspx Yes, It is also a part of the bonsai'ing process. In the effort to balance upper plant growth with roots. It will cause stunting/dwarfism/bonsai'ing and you will get symptoms of it being 'too long rootbound' because of a lack of water and food deficiencies which will make the plant wilt and ill. It'll wilt very easily or constantly because there aren't enough roots to feed the growing plant the water into it's system to help it cool down (transpiration) and stay 'pumped up'. Also, other signs of deficiencies are, the leaves will start growing smaller and there will be shorter internodes between new branch buds - unfortunately this is what new growth on a normal growing plant looks like, but time will tell more, especially prolonged or easy wilting. Compacted roots will also give signs of chlorosis, yellowing leaves with green veins remaining. Our winter here is (6 months Nov-Apr15-21 in pocket zone 6/5) I keep mine potted in 2 ltr carbonated pop bottles all winter, but maybe not this year as I won't be pinching my branches. =================================================== They also could of had them in bigger pots and then removed them, flushed most of the dirt, kept at least one fat root and stuck the remaining smaller mass into the 3" smaller pots. Maybe hydro grown. Maybe they really kept them in the 3" pot and forced the available roots to get fat through the leaves and a great light system. \=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\= And my CG did way better with 2 nice flushes, than the overwintered bonsai'ed cuttings (no flowers on 2 and a few flowers on the Frosty, twice) of which I had 10 times more of a rootball that same spring, but none of my 3 cuttings developed a single thick root before spring such as was with the CG spring bought brug. My lighting is not so great so I'll probably be cutting off over\-winter growth come spring anyway, once the new spring shoots come out and prove to me that they will grow faster. I still need the branches and leaves from the over\-winter growth until the new branches have some good leaves on them anyway. And I'll have a much healthier and fatter stalk/stem to grow them from complete with a more thatn sufficient root system. Old school taught that most plants don't need repotting until it is at least 3 times bigger than the dirt ball is high. These days they have all sorts of signs to look for but I hardly think 1 or 2 roots curling around the bottom and coming out is a sign of a rootbound pot \- that's more like a sign to check. I'm sticking with old school but I'll stretch it to as much as 4x's but not much more because of how narrow my pots are. I'll look for symptoms. \- Sandy

americangolden, This pic might show what a jade laying on it's side would look like when it got bigger. A short while ago I did a heavy whack on this c ovata to get a more compact canopy. The stump is 20" from the soil level. The top pot opening is 8". I call it " bigfoot ". Mike

A very nice LED lighting set up . LED lighting ( in a sense) isn't very common for many to use on the forum. More commonly used ( at four foot bulb lengths) are T- 8 or a T type 6500 K CFL. As they are somewhat more practical and in budget @ price per bulb for those who have ( less rare )longer sun time season of 5-8 months. With a wide range of plant hardy zones in USA some folks don't even have to bring in a jade. As seen via Kzzle Meow in original posting it seems the jade is outside which indicates they ( Meow) may be in a better growing zone for a jade than most others who share information.

Laura Thank you. I am sure that with time yours can look as good and even better. As I said, it takes time. I am not most patient person around, so I try not to 'watch' plants because they don't seem to grow if I do! I use very gritty mix: equal amounts of chicken grit and coarse perlite and small amount of turface (somewhere between 10 - 20% of total). There is some bigger grit on top for top-dressing. I water it when mix is dry, and that is approx. 1x every 5-10 days. It really depends on temperatures. Colder it is, less often I water all succulents. This one is in west window - could use more light but I just don't have space. Some winters, it was under lights. As soon as it gets warm enough, all plats are put outdoors, in full sun. I am guilty of not fertilizing - I don't think it received any water with fertilizer in it more than 10 times since I have it - 6yrs. Occasionally in Summer, when I water my veggies outdoors. Most of the time it gets watered when it rains, so I seldom have to water it myself while outdoors.