Bonsai and propagate Gollum jade
6 years ago
Hi all,
I want to turn this Gollum jade into a bonsai. I'm repotting it today, so I cut the branches near the bottom of the stem, hoping that it will thicken. Should I prune any more? Could I prune those two big Shrek ears, to get the shape I want?
Also, what is the best way to propagate these cuttings? The one with roots I'll just plant, but what about the leaves and the one with a stem?
Thanks!
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Comments (6)
6 years agoRelated Discussions
Jade tree (Crassula ovata & arborescens) as bonsai ... pics
Comments (72)Hi Ben.. I live in a 3rd story apartment in London Over the past few years I have been growing some Crassula to provide partial window screening.. My original plan was to have them shaped something like African savannah trees. It has sort of worked.. Although not strictly savannah like, this one has turn out best I think.. One problem I have is the older leaves tend to fold down, which is not bad, but not so savannah like. I would prefer if they were more horizontal. Any advice on that? Great page by the way, there are many useful tips here.. Ian...See MoreVariegated Gollum Jade
Comments (5)Include me also. but I have regular gollum and when and if it gets big and old it is possible to get a variegated sport growing out somewhere on the plant and then cut and propagate it. So in maybe 20 years I might have one. Problem is, I might not live that long. Oh-well then. Stush...See MoreHoly double posting weirdness. Is this jade a gollum?
Comments (12)Bunkfree... sorry I've forgotten your real name! It appears 99.9% to me like you have bagged a Red Horn Tree there, so well done! It has that robust 'big brother' look so typical of the RHT already to me. Hobbit is its diminutive 'lil bro' type of plant. Mine don't seem to grow the trunks that both Hobbits and their closely related Gollum cousins do, instead they tend to spring directly from close to soil level with lots of low growth...hard to explain what I mean really. Do they make the trunks of C. ovata does anyone know? I would like to see a big mature plant of RHT, but so far all the pics seem to be of cuttings that have just rooted and what I see as small plants of 6/8 inches or so. Are there RHT's the size of the regular C. ovata out there I wonder? Only seen one plant for sale over here so they're definitely an oddity in the U.K., plus no one I know grows them. My original cutting was in a swap I did via GWeb a few years ago. My own RHT's have yet to show any leaves that are not Hobbit like in shape, they all have those typical folds and pleats, unlike my Hobbits and Gollums which can have their own type, each other's, or even plain elongated ones as in 'skinny fingers'. I remove the 'wrong kind of leaves' on those to keep them true to form. Their colour is amazing too, yours will change dramatically during the seasons. I will post a few shots of mine later on in a separate post so not to hijack yours :-) Gill...See MoreJade as Bonsai - Starting Over
Comments (7)Jeff Just as Karen noticed, I also see lots of peat there. You don't have to keep your cutting smaller, bonsai comes in many sizes; from what I read, 'Imperial' size classification is tallest at 60 - 80". So make it size you like. If you are asking about 2 jades in my previous post/photo, I absolutely do not consider them Bonsai, not even Bonsai - look a - like :) ..."Bonsai is the art of creating a miniaturized but realistic representation of nature in the form of a tree"..., and many plants could be used. Leaves are much smaller, branching is very deliberate, shapes have meaning. Trunks that are tapered and thick will look really old. Plants are kept quite small, they are in shallow containers...at least that is some of what I think/would describe as Bonsai... Closest I have to what I refer to as 'Bonsai look - a - like' is a small Portulacaria afra that I grew from cutting. But it wasn't deliberately shaped, maybe 1 branch pruned off. Here is original cutting and plant now: Here is Gollum that I think is getting nicer trunk: it is 6 3/4" circumference at the soil line; 5 3/8" circumference just below 1st branch . Distance between these 2 measurements is 2 1/4":Whole plant is 14 1/4" tall from the soil line and crown is 16 1/4" wide at the widest point. I just took all these measurements. Here is how it looked when I bought it and repotted in 2012:And whole plant now:...See More- 6 years ago
- 6 years ago
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