I'm always extremely grateful for the contributions of everyone around here. Thanks for the interest and the guidance.

I'm unable to really devote any daylight time to the plant for the next few days. But I'm hoping by Sunday or Monday to have begun/finished the supporting of the limbs and removal of the soil.

I am extremely interested in feedback on how to proceed with positioning and cutting decisions, so I will indeed attempt to post some soil-less photos before doing anything too drastic.

Alex

Take many photos...I am sure many of us are interested :)

My climate is very different from yours, I suspect, however, it’s been my experience that jade plants are very hardy & can withstand heavy pruning which actually improves their appearance... I have a few that are kept outdoors year around.

It actually had tons of character. You might have done one of those movies where the wild free spirit gets beaten (pruned!) down to being just like any other Jade..uh,person.

I would have enjoyed as is.

It has some 'character', but I respectfully disagree with leaving it all as it was. Those long, skinny and very contorted branches do not really show 'character' - rather neglect. They really need to be pruned off. Trunks are great - nice and thick and show age, so why not to show them to their best, without being obstructed by very etiolated and droopy growth? They can be left together or divided, and some branches could be left longer - but that is very different than leaving it in its present shape. Plant needs tidying up...JMO of course!

Only my opinion but here it is :-)

I too would prune it back a great deal, back to the main trunks and secondary branches and repot it so that they’re a bit more upright. After all it’s a plant that should be growing upright, not as ground cover! If it continues in this kind of growth pattern it’s going to be a nightmare to position anywhere, repotting will be a problem too. If it’s given similar light conditions to what it has had, it will continue to sprawl and spread. If moved to better light, new growths will try to be vertical but won’t be able to be supported by the weakened parts below.

I’ve always believed that etiolated growths on any kind of plant are weak and can only go on to support further weakened growths that can be more susceptible to pests and diseases. This may not be the case with every plant in this kind of situation, but I’m sure most on here will agree....?

Gill

I got about six new plants at least after my chop job

Started some pruning - here are some of the cuttings. Some will be potted, others probably disposed off. One can grow only so many jades, lol:

I just have to say you "Beware of Plant" sign made me laugh, love it! This is a very neat looking plant even in it's crazy state. I agree with others you will have to post pictures once you decide what you are going to do.

Looks like some of your branches are variegated. Are those from the same plant? Cool plant.

raestr

I am not sure who you are asking? In case you are referring to my photo of cuttings, there are some green cuttings - Crassula ovata (jade) and the variegated from Crassula ovata 'Tricolor'. Sorry if I confused, should have posted that photo of cuttings on different thread.

Original poster with huge plant that need pruning - Crassula ovata - is Alex.

I was actually sorta glad you did post them, as it made me want to ask you about your criteria when either keeping or discarding cuttings. Do the number of leaves on a cutting affect its likelihood of rooting?

Alex

Not in my experience. I think jades are one of the easiest to root, either from stem cuttings (as those in photo) or from leaves. If all of the plants were so easy! I have hard time to discard anything living, but have to finally do it - otherwise I'll end up with hundreds of jades.

I decided to keep just bigger cuttings, with thickest stems. Here is a photo of some cuttings from March 2017; they were all smaller (just potted):

An old abused jade is likely to have been in shade for years. Get it into the sun carefully maybe even not until next year.

Thank you Rob, I hadn't considered that. Currently it is sitting on the dining room table in a room that gets fairly-full southern light all day long. Should I move it?

I did some work on the plant just a little bit ago in order to prepare for some free time I'll have over the next few days. I've basically raised it and begun the removal of soil/propping of the limbs in order to inspect the roots and the overall structure.

Please please please please tell me if I am doing anything potentially damaging. All of this 'leave a giant plant out of soil for several days' stuff freaks me out.

I measured the trunks, rina, and the larger one is about 9.5-10" around. The limb crushing the rim of the pot is about 6" at its thickest point.

Below the rim:

So... does this look alright so far? The limb which bent the rim is heavy enough that I felt it needed support. Most of the soil is either compacted as hell or light and loose. Are there any helpful methods for getting the severely-hardened junk immediately around the trunk loose without ruining those roots?

I can leave it like this as I work on it? I thought I would cover the roots at least. Please assure me this will all turn out wonderfully.

I think that you are doing just fine.

Those measurements are great, it takes a while to get such thick trunks.

Plant can survive long time without soil, just do not leave it in strong sunlight like that.

Hard and compacted soil is probably very old, and it was just topped with some more soil with much more perlite in it.

What I do when having same problem: tease off as much as possible using a chopstick, then blast rest of the soil off with garden hose. Probably not possible indoors; so I fill a wide tub with warm water and swish the rootball in it. You probably won't be able to do it with this huge plant, so let it sit in water for a while to soften the soil. Do not leave it in the water for too long, but few hours will not cause problem. Don't immerse lot of trunk, but most of the rootball. Then you should be able to get more soil off.

After, I would set plant on some newspaper, stack of paper towels or cotton cloth to suck off most of the moisture. If in well ventilated space, it probably needs few hours or overnight. I would inspect all the roots, and cut off any dry, mushy-soft and damaged roots. Let it callus for few hours or overnight, and pot into dry, well draining mix. Potting mix should be dry if you had to soak rootball because there is plenty of moisture in roots, stems/trunks and leaves even after letting it to air dry. Do not water for a while - few days for sure.

I can see that it was also potted very deep inside old pot. Don't make same mistake, and use more mix. Filling pot with enough mix that when you put in in again, soil level covering the roots - no deeper than they were before - should be just below rim of the new container. It will allow for better air circulation around lowest parts of trunk and will allow more light in there.

Will continue in a while :)

I apologise for such long posts...

You will have to support plant after repotting if you leave it as is or divide. Trunks are leaning a lot and are heavy. I usually use just few large rocks:

Here are some drawings from one of the bonsai sites (sorry, do not have link handy right now). This shows wire thru 2 holes, but could be done with just one (extra drainage holes are plus for good drainage):

I appreciate your help on this very much, and that's a great looking plant in the photo. I'll be able to do some more work on it this afternoon and will update more.

Alex

I hope I am not posting what you already know. If so, pls. let me know.

Pls. ask any questions you may have...How you keep your plant - single, or as is - and what shape you want it to have is a personal choice. I am quite sure that even thick, twisted-contorted trunks will straighten up to some degree over time (I know from personal experience). But I would not worry about that immediately, until you know for sure what shape you want it to be.

Gorgeous -- I can't wait to see how this turns out. *grabs popcorn*

Attempting not to hurry on this is difficult, but I got it out of the pot and somewhat safely situated.

You're saying I don't have to worry about exposing alllllllll these roots?

What a beautiful jade :D! I love when trunks lead down to very thick roots like miniature trees. Nothing like the tiny jade cuttings I'm currently raising. Once it's fixed up I bet it'll be the star of your collection

Yes, roots will be OK. As I mentioned before, if that makes you too nervous, you can drape damp paper towel over them. I wouldn't, but don't want you to have sleepless night :) I killed bigger jade than yours about 6yrs ago because I worried about roots and kept it in some water for few days. I most likely overwatered after potting it too - worrying that plant will dry up and die...

Succulents will recover from underwatering much better than from overwatering. Overwatered plants usually start rotting, and that is much worse. Even if some roots were lost, new will grow quite fast in better media.

I found this jade today, behind/under some shelves when cleaning up. I must have knocked it off that plant shelve back in Nov when moving smaller plants to different location *this was in 4" pot). It was laying there, out of the pot, with mix spread around. You can see that plants old leaves look very wilted, but it is still alive. Stems are also soft - but thirsty soft, not rotting soft. There is new growth along the stem, and many air roots that grew because plant was completely dry - never watered for so many months. Here is the whole plant:

I've had jades sit bare rooted in a corner for months on end without problems. They are fine with bone dry roots. It happens all the time in the wild.

Got it more or less all cleaned up and then went to try and take some photos in a different position.

I suppose it was bound to happen eventually. Do the roots look ok?

Should I do anything special to the broken root sections? I'll try to clean up and find a way to post some helpful photos of the (now) two plants.

I think you did great job!

I am not really surprised that trunks broke apart since they were jointed by quite small and thin parts/roots.

I would use sharp blade and cut those broken parts clean, so no flesh is 'hanging' around. You can lightly dust those cuts with powdered cinnamon or flowers of sulfur. I would also trim all those very long roots, trimming them roughly to the length to fit inside of new pot without having to cramp them-fold them for potting. All broken roots ends should be clean-cut. Let cuts callus for a while, overnight or until you can continue will be OK. I marked with red few roots that seems to be either too long or damaged/broken, and should be cut. This is just example since I can't see the plant, so check them all and do not worry about cleaning up. There is many more, I am sure, that should be pruned:

Forgot to mention: it is good idea to wipe blade between cuts (to sterilize); use a cloth or paper towel moistened with rubbing alcohol or even bleach.

Just in case some roots or parts of trunks are soft-mushy, make sure you cut all of that off. But I don't think you have any rot there...

Some free time today. Took some photographs to get some feedback on possible cuts and positioning of the trees. I had some questions about potting them, also.

Is there a ratio for width/depth of the pot based on trunk or height? What would you recommend for each of these if I planted them individually? How about together?

First blood. I got cocky with the second plant and tried to take a selfie like an idiot.

Here's a pot I'm considering using for one (or both?) if I go that route:

It occurred to me this might be a problem in the future should the trunks and roots grow beyond the rim, but I like the look.

So where's the selfie?

No, not the bowl. That top opening is too small; the roots would grow inside and if/when you need to repot it, you won't be able to take it out. You would have to break the bowl. Same goes for sans. They have big root ball AND grow offsets from them - try to get that out of the recurved bowl. I would repot it asap. I would get wider pot; and if you can find one that is also wide at the bottom I believe that would be best. I like something like this:

I borrowed above photo of the pot from Rachel - hope you don't mind Rachel! She posted photos of her pots on this thread.

BRB - trying to get some pics manipulated...

These are just suggestions, and I can't see plants in 3D so maybe some ideas will not work, or be more difficult. But I think it would be quite interesting to show off the existing trunk...(maybe a 'character'...:)

I borrowed your photo of the jade with what looks like more leaning trunk - I think that is one that broke the old pot. I would pot it alongside of the leaning trunk. I can see that some roots are growing along it already, and am sure more will. Here is the photo, I flipped it and drew yellow line that would be actually horizontal - I would pot the plant so that part of trunk is vertical to soil level. Hope you can see what I mean:

It doesn't need to be any deeper than some of the roots. Even if some will end up out of the mix, rest of the roots should be buried and they will grow. They all look like older and thicker roots and I don't think they will have any problem to harden even more above the grade. You need to fasten it; use wire thru the holes, or cord around plant and outside of pot (I would use wire on this one; it will be more secure). I would also slip pieces of rubber between wire (or cord) and the plant so it doesn't cut into flesh. I would also use some large rocks to support parts of trunk where needed.

This is what I would do with this side of plant...What do you think?

Second part would probably look best potted upright - at least to me:

I kinda planned on getting the sansevieria out of there anyway for that same reason, but I like the pot a lot. What kind of plant should go in it?

And which photo?

Alex - not sure if you asking me about which photo? I just copied few of yours and flipped them...that's all for my manipulation!

I'd asked the question before you edited your response.

Thank you very much for the suggestions, your thinking on both is very much in line with what I was thinking about doing.

So... repot the two main trunks and wait until they root to continue pruning?

And the mix... should it be totally dry? I'm aware it's good to rinse a gritty mix beforehand to eliminate dust.

Maybe use it as a decorative cache pot for a smaller pot?

Personally, I would pot it up then prune off the stragly parts back to a more manageable shape while still trying to maintain its character. Or prune then pot it up. Not sure which order. If you prune it first, you may change your mind about how you want to position the plant in the pot. You can really make it look like whatever you want that way, changing which way is "up" opens up a lot more possibilities.

If it were mine though, I'd probably choose the best potting situation for the state of the plant and then prune accordingly once it's in position.

Alex

If I wash any ingredients, I usually do it before mixing them (I sift them more often than rinse - but either way is OK). But np if it is already mixed. If very wet, I would leave it in a big sieve over a heating duct to dry up (I made a frame and put in it a screen from a discarded window - with the frame; that gives me larger area in case I want to dry something). If plants have very wet rootballs and ends of the trunks, I would let them air dry longer before potting. What is your mix made off?

Do not water for a while. If mix is wet/damp - that should be probably at least 1 week. Check mix deep down in the container using a bamboo skewer or chopstick to make sure it dried up. If your mix is totally dry, still wait for few days since there was some washing of the root - at least that's what I see in photo (not a problem, just use your judgement how wet it is).

I would pot them before further pruning since there are not that many leaves left. They help to 'feed' the plant. There are many branches I see that I would definitely prune off still, but that can wait. I think that trunks are quite distinctive and should be potted to show their best; and wold dictate future shaping. (I totally defoliated plants. and repotted at the same time, but maybe it is just too much with such big plant unless you are more daring :)

Just to clarify, with broken roots Rina is not saying you will necessarily have to cut off the entire root, rather, cut shortly after the break.

A succulent like your jade, can be allowed to sit out for the cuts to callous for days if need be without harm. One of the very nice things with succs.

Is there an update pls?

I'd been thinking about how neglectful I've been to this thread. Thanks for reminding me.

I potted both jades as best I could about a week or so ago. It was quite the ordeal and I should have organized it to have another person with me but I got it done. This did not allow for much photography during the process.

I'm sure the pots aren't perfect, but I think they're each large enough to allow for the roots to grow well. I figure I can move them into something more suitable as I find it, since the size might be changing a little. They're in a decent gritty mix and seem to be fine so far? I have not watered them at all, so it's been almost a month now.

I did take some photos, but have been meaning to take more once I feel better about moving the plants around.

Tree A:

Tree B:

I did some more slight pruning of several worthless limbs and have more in mind, but have attempted to just leave them alone for now. They are getting full sun through a southern window all day long.

So... how do I know when the roots are safe to water?

Do you have any advice/requests on photographs to make suggestions easier?

I'll try to take some better photos tomorrow maybe. Thanks again for all your help with this so far.

Alex

Good to see separated plants! I think you did very well, especially handling such huge plant.

I see wires - are they threaded thru the holes in the pot? Just wondering - again, I think that is very well done to secure the plant. And it looks like lots of perlite (?) in the mix, that should make good drainage.

I think you need to water now. Plants have roots, you don't want them to dry up and die off completely. Subsequent watering should be when mix is almost completely dry - use skewer method if not sure.

IF MY plants - I would shorten up all skinny branches. You could leave 2 pairs of laves on each. They are very etiolated and if new growth is compact you'll end up with long, almost naked branches with tufts of compact leaves at the end. You could even cut all parts with leaves off, there will be lots of new growth on each branch.

There is a stub in the last photo, on very top - I would slice it off completely. You'll have new branching growth there too, and can decide if/which to keep.

If you can, take it outdoors once it is warm enough. There is nothing better than natural sunlight for succulents :)

At work now, but thanks for the feedback. I’ll water them this afternoon maybe.

Out of curiosity, what are the tells which normally indicate that it’s safe to water?

I’ll update more later.

If the leaves or branches start shriveling, plant is really thirsty! But don't wait for that - even if jades will survive it, no point to stress them.

You could always use a bamboo skewer or chopstick (or pencil, or wooden dowel with sharpened end - these are better than moisture meters sold at stores, that are not very reliable and often break after little use). Stick it at least 3/4 deep inside the pot. Leave for few minutes; pull it out and see if it is clean and dry. If yes, time to water. If t feels damp/cold and sometimes has soil particles sticking to it, there is still plenty of moisture and wait few more days (check again, and if dry - water). Eventually, you'll be able to judge without any help...

I would like to jump in here with my beginner question for a jade. I have a plant with 3 stems about the circumference of my first finger and 8 inches tall with a few leaves coming out in all directions of each. Dont remember where it came from but it is in a 4 inch pot. I have had it for years and it never really grows much or changes so assuming I am supposed to do something with it. Thankyou for any help. Or let me know if I am supposed to pose this somewhere else.

nanasewn

You didn't get answer to your question...I only saw your post now, more than year later. Pls post if still interested.

Alex

I wonder how is your jade doing?

Yes, how is that jade doing after all this great advice?