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Question for the experts: I’m a fairly new plant momma and the first… | The Cactus & Succulent Circle | Comunità di Planta

Sylar

Question for the experts: I’m a fairly new plant momma and the first plant I got was this Jade plant. I didn’t know what it was then. Well fast forward, this plant is what inspired me to get more because it’s grown so well. Now I realize I dropped the ball on pruning it and need to do something. The internet says not to prune more than 20-30% at a time. What would this group do? If you would only snip a few branches here and there, how long would you wait before snipping? Thanks for you help!

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5 Mi piace 22 commenti

22 commenti

  1. Adrian

    You’re gonna wanna cut between the leaves, and probably remove at least two sets of leaves to give more of a stem. Each spot where you remove a leaf will offer a spot for roots to grow. You can propagate the leaves you remove too. I marked some spots where you can make the cuts. You can cut more than you think without shocking the plant. In fact, removing a lot of the foliage will tell the plant to focus on developing new foliage or strengthening its root system. After taking the cuttings, let them all callous over for a day or two, then dip the ends where you cut the stems into Bonide’s Rooting Hormone Powder (I get mine from local nurseries, Ace Hardware, or the Garden Centers of Lowe’s, Home Depot, or Walmart). This will speed up the rooting process. Place the cutting after dipping them in the rooting powder into a small pot with fresh cactus mix. I like bottom watering my cuttings (meaning I place the pots into a small bowl/container and fill the container with water, setting the pot in there for 10-20 minutes to let the plant soil the water up through the pot’s drainage holes. It’ll attract new roots to grow downward, helping form a stronger root system), then take the pot out to drain in a sink or terra cotta saucer. I know the first haircut is scary, especially with an older jade that’s grown so much, but it will grow back in time, and adding fertilizer to the original jade plant can help speed the growth process up after the haircut. I like using Osmocote’s Slow-Release Fertilizer for my jades. Hope this helps 😊

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    7 Mi piace
    • Sylar

      This is incredibly helpful! I so appreciate the feedback. I think I’ll work on its haircut tomorrow🙏

      1 mi piace
    • Adrian

      No problem! I’ve got a lot of jades. They’re one of my favorites, so I’m happy to help anyone getting into them. They’re great plants. Are you looking for any other tips on how to care for jades?

      1 mi piace
    • Sylar

      I’m open to all help! This Jade was the first plant I got as an adult back in 2021. It was much smaller and ended up having to break the pot it was in a couple years back to get it into this one. I just didn’t realize they shouldn’t grow like this until they started going every where. Then I was nervous I had ruined it by not pruning it ever! In the meantime, I did learn about the leaves propagating so I have another one started from this Jade! I actually just purchased the two products you mentioned already, Amazon next day delivery 🤣

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    • Adrian

      Well for starters, I wanted to let you know that you seem to have the “compact” variety of jade. You can ID it on Planta as “Crosby’s Compact”. It’s a really cute variety. It just means it has smaller leaves than the usual jade. I personally prefer bottom-watering my plants (like how I suggested above with your cuttings), cause it helps form a stronger root system and lower the chance of overwatering and attracting pests to overly moist soil. You’re gonna want to let the jade’s soil completely dry out between waterings. Bone dry. An easy way to test if the soil’s dry enough is to stick a bamboo/barbecue skewer all the way to the bottom of the soil, then pull it out. If the soil sticks to the skewer, wait at least 2 days, then test again. If the skewer comes out clean and dry, with nothing sticking to it, it should be safe to water. In the summer, I wait at least 15-18 days before watering my jades, and 20-25 days before watering in the winter. Jades need a well-draining cactus and succulent mix. Avoid repotting this with Miracle Grow’s cactus mix. It’s not well-draining enough. I use Espoma’s Organic Cactus and Succulent mix for all of mine, but anything other than Miracle Grow should work just fine. If you wanna provide extra drainage, or the mix has a lot of peat/sphagnum moss in it, you can add orchid bark and perlite to it to help with drainage. They like being more snug in their pots, and getting rootbound between repotting, so try to keep it in something no more than 1-2 inches wider in diameter than the width of the jade’s root ball when picking a pot for it. They do well in plastic pots with lots of drainage holes or terra cotta pots with at least one large drainage hole. I’d avoid glazed ceramic pots as those are meant for more tropical plants and built to keep more moisture in, so it won’t help a jade and will likely take longer for the soil to dry out. The last thing is lighting. They love full sun, so try to place them somewhere that gets at least 6-8 hours of sunlight. That’s about it! They’re very easy care once they’re in a good soil mix, pot, and get the right amount of sun. My biggest tip is not to stress 😌 Jades are very hardy and often thrive on neglect.

      3 Mi piace
    • Ginger C

      Wow. I don’t even have a jade yet and now I want one. Excellent info.

      2 Mi piace
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  2. Phil

    Just to add to Adrian, keep in mind that each cut stem will develop two, and sometimes three, branches from the end. Which you should keep in mind for the shape of your jade. And a suggestion, you may want to place the plant in a brighter location. The wide space between the leaves may be an indicator of not enough light. More light will give you larger stronger trunks too.

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    • Sylar

      Thank you so much, that’s good to know. I have also been nervous to move it around, worried it wouldn’t like the change!

      1 mi piace
  3. Imani

    Following! I got a very leggy jade plant with a surrendered pet (it's quite the story), but I had no idea it wasn't supposed to look that way 😅. I've propagated 2 stems that broke off already, but im thinking about propagating the rest of the good parts of the original because it's starting to struggle hard. Im glad to have some advice to follow!

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    1 mi piace
    • Sylar

      A couple folks on this thread have gone out to their way to share their knowledge! I’m thankful🙏

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    • Adrian

      Hi, Imani 👋 I tried to mark some spots where you can make some cuts if you plan on giving it a more serious haircut like Sylar’s jade. I would follow the same steps I tried to detail for Sylar above. The stems that you’ll have leftover between cutting close to the base of the plant and the stems with leaves on it won’t be as likely of propagating, but you can try doing so if you’d like. The trick is to cut “between the nodes”. In your case, the “notches/rings” that formed on the stems. Cut between them and ensure that there’s at least 1-2 “notches” on the stems for each cutting. You can remove a bottom set of leaves too if need be, which you can also propagate in the same way as the stems. Yours might require what will seem to be a more “extreme” haircut, but the etiolated stems will not shrink back. They will need to be cut if you want the plant to grow back bushier and more “tree-like”. Adding some fertilizer to the original jade (not the cuttings), and placing it in a nice bright spot that gets at least 6 hours of sun should speed up the process of growing new leaves from the original plant. Two questions for you: - How old is this plant? - When was the last time it was repotted or the roots were inspected? Not asking to worry you. I’m just curious about how old it is. Jades can live a very long time. My grandmother’s is at least 60 years old and my jade that’s a cutting from hers is turning 30 this year. I wanted to ask about repotting and the roots because especially with older jades, the roots can become quite rootbound and if the soil hasn’t been changed out in some time, it can sometimes become hydrophobic. If you find the soil doesn’t really drain well when you water it, it might be that the soil’s become hydrophobic. If that’s the case, I would wait a week or so after giving the jade a haircut to repot it, but you can look the roots over after the haircut if you’d like.

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    • Imani

      I've had the plant about a year. The person I got it from told me they had it for a few years but I didn't get an exact date. I haven't reported or checked the roots since it's been with me. I did collect some supplies to so it soon though.

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    • Adrian

      Sounds good 👍 I love Espoma’s Organic Cactus and Succulent mix for my jades. I’d personally avoid Miracle Grow’s soil for repotting this plant. If you’ve find the soil’s very compacted and cement-like, you can take a skewer and try to gently loosen some of the soil. If that doesn’t work, try taking the plant out of its pot and soaking it in a bowl/container with water for 20-30 minutes to loosen some of the soil and free the roots a little more. It’s okay if you can’t get rid of all the old soil as long as you can replace some of it with fresh cactus mix so the plant has new soil to get nutrients from and cover the roots.

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