New Jade plant. Advice on pruning?

6 years ago

I'm wanting to make this have a bonsai structure as it grows but I don't know much about doing that. I tried to pick one out that already has more than one branch to kind of help me with starting. I'm not sure what shape to go for, so I was hoping for some advice.

I also haven't repotted this yet, but was going to put it in a 1/1/1 c&s/perlite/chicken grit mix in this pot it came in.

Featured Answer

greenclaws UK, Zone 8a

6 years ago

Best advise is given above as you need to grow this small plant for several years yet in order to get it to grow a trunk because..... you’re trying to replicate a miniature tree, so, when you look at most mature tree forms in nature, they are in 99% of cases, single trunked. Maybe take a look at a website that shows you bonsai styles and have that in mind for when your plant is big enough to start to train, at the moment it’s way too small.

In general, ‘y’ shapes as this one appears to be as it looks like it’s got two leading growth points, don’t often make for good tree outlines, a single trunk is preferable, or even several branches. Hope I don't sound too negative/critical, but I think you wil need to do some reading up on bonsai styles and how to achieve them if that’s what your aim is :-)

Often plants are grown for many years to obtain a strong, thick and gnarly trunk first, leaving as much greenery intact for good growth, only then they are pruned back to encourage branches to form in the right places. New growths are pinched out or rubbed out completely if growing in the wrong place, lower branches are the thickest/heaviest with successive branches becoming thinner and all tapering towards their ends.

Gill

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (7)

laticauda
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
They are relatively slow growers. Just let it grow for a year or two and see where you are then. Insure to give it plenty of light in the mean time so you don't get spindly growth.
Skyler, N. TX thanked laticauda
Related Discussions
Jade Pruning - Advice/Comments?
Q
Comments (13)
The DE or Diatomaceous Earth used as a grow medium is CALCINED Diatomaceous Earth. The distinction is important to point out, to anyone new to the product. The stuff made to absorb oil can work just fine, but some have had issues with it getting soft and deteriorating rapidly, or just starting off too mushy. It's probably a good idea to test your particular purchase/lot by soaking it in water awhile, before using it in a batch of growing medium. The heart of the matter is the actual purpose of the product, and the quality controls that flow from that. Calcined DE that is manufactured for landscaping/soil amendment is just simply made to better standards, for our purposes. It's made to be hard and stable for many years. Play Ball, by Axis is one such product. Best wishes to you.
...See More
Newbie needs pruning advice for variegated Jade
Q
Comments (3)
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.
...See More
Jade advice needed - pruning/wiring/etc - building the tree
Q
Comments (10)
Still wondering if there were roots, or is it cutting without at roots? I put all my plants into quite a bit of sun right away - area that get sunshine from sunrise until about noon-, but it was quite earlier and sun is getting stronger now. They were moved into full day sun spot after about 2 or 3 days, and are there all the time. They got rained on quite a bit - we are having lots of rainy days this Spring - but they are potted in very gritty mix and I do not worry about drainage or any water retention. If your plant has roots, I would move it already into more sun (Just speculating, but am thinking it has been on the porch for at least 2 weeks?) I would move it where it gets at least few hours of morning sun, and moving into more and more every 2-3 days. Sooner it's done, better so plant can get all sun available until it has to go inside again. For leaves to grow close together to have more compact plant, only good light will help. Even if it doesn't have plenty of roots, IMO it should get more sun. Morning sun is good, and I would move it into stronger sun at least weekly. If you only have totally exposed spots, you can create some shade when needed by positioning bigger potted plant in front of your jade, or even something like a chair. Garden umbrella is great...I don't think wiring should make much difference in sun exposure, you want plant to grow strong limbs and los of leaves close together (but I never wired any jades...) I started to use gravel or rocks for topdressing because of squirrels - it does help a lot. I find chipmunk more of a problem, it hides more 'food' all over the place...I have some grass (or whatever seeds neighbour is feeding birds with) growing in many pots without topdressing, haha (my potted annuals and some big tropicals). Small sized topdressing doesn't really help.
...See More
Pruning advice for this jade?
Q
Comments (12)
You did clean it up quite a bit - BUT: there is no point of keeping all those skinny, weak etiolated branches. They will not look better in awfully long time - what I mean, is that no mater the light you'll give it now, etiolated branches will not revert to branches with leaves grown close together (short internodes) as it suppose to have. Here is just an example - and pls. remember that I can only see photo as you posted, and plant may look quite different in 'real':I would probably go much further, but it is really your decision. During winter, when there is even less light than now, plant will just keep growing those long & skinny limbs. I would shorten most of them to about 2 pairs of leaves. Jades could be totally defoliated and will grow many new leaves and branches. Here is example of one (and it was done at 'wrong time of year' - middle of December):Here is another jade that was given to me, it was frostbitten:You can see that trunk was quite 'deformed' - almost horizontal. Here is same plant in Aug. of 2016 - as you can see, trunk is much more vertical. It took a while, but change is quite noticeable. Now I wish I had wired it or hang some weights to keep it in similar position...Nothing was done in way of support or similar - just lots of sunshine:I apologise to member that have seen these photos, they have been posted few times before.
...See More
rina_Ontario,Canada 5a
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Skyler

This is JMO and probably very simplistic terms: if you want to grow 'real bonsai', then you need to learn a lot about all techniques that make bonsai a bonsai. ..."The ultimate goal of growing a Bonsai is to create a miniaturized but realistic representation of nature in the form of a tree"...

I refer to plants growing and being 'shaped' without this knowledge as a 'bonsai-like'. I think that is easier without knowing and using proper techniques. And they can look really great.

Do you know how you want your jade to look - eventually? (You did say that..."I'm not sure what shape to go for"... but maybe you have some idea how big you want it? Do you want it to look like a tree that is very symetrical? Round? Conical? Or?

I think of jades as fast growing. Others may think of them as slow growing. Regardless, to get any plant to grow into certain shape will take some time.

I agree with above comments to let it grow some. Compact growth is important if you leave it growing as it wants to, or if you want to shape it. Having a branch doesn't really make it better or worse candidate for bonsai I think, but it may help a lot in good growth. Branch that low - at the soil line, may or may not be suitable for 'the Bonsai look' in the future, but it is very easy to prune off any branches one doesn't like.

IMHO, trunk should be thick and tapering as much as possible, and that takes some time. I do not aim to grow plants huge, but really like fat trunks.
Skyler, N. TX thanked rina_Ontario,Canada 5a
Skyler, N. TX
Original Author
6 years ago
I should've explained what kind of shape I'm looking for, but I pretty much want it to look full (one day) and not be a single stem growing straight up. I know this will take many years to make it look decent, but I was wanting to experiment with a plant that seems to be easier to have branch since I've never had a jade before.

After repotting it, there's about 1" of stem below the two branches that's above the soil level.
laticauda
6 years ago
Give it lots of light and let it grow. You'll be able to have a better "vision" for it after it grows some.
rina_Ontario,Canada 5a
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I agree, just let it grow. Give it as much light as possible.

If you are interested, I could post few photos of some of the plants I have - NOT a bonsai, but could look bonsai-like if I pruned them correctly...
Jeff (5b)
6 years ago
Thoughts from a beginner with bonsai: I'm guessing there's more of a trunk down in there that could be exposed when you repot it. If it should look like too much of a Y later on, you can always cut one of the branches and have the trunk not straight up, but I'm guessing it's not a perfect 'slingshot'. Many trees grow like that at the bottom. Then prune the one that's left and have it grow branches from that. Just thoughts for the future. I think every plant can look great in some way or another.

New Jade plant. Advice on pruning?

greenclaws UK, Zone 8a

Comments (7)

laticauda

Related Discussions

rina_Ontario,Canada 5a

Skyler, N. TX
Original Author

laticauda

rina_Ontario,Canada 5a

Jeff (5b)

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

New Jade plant. Advice on pruning?

greenclaws UK, Zone 8a

Comments (7)

laticauda

Related Discussions

rina_Ontario,Canada 5a

Skyler, N. TXOriginal Author

laticauda

rina_Ontario,Canada 5a

Jeff (5b)

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Skyler, N. TX
Original Author