Hello all!! It's getting warm & a friend gave me his huge jade, sacrificing its spot for an air conditioner! He knows I like plants & I gladly took it. They've had it at since I've known them (8yrs) but, I'm not sure of age. It was in a very deep pot & I found, although the trunks were large & the foliage heavy, there are minimal roots & the existing ones are shallow. It broke down to a 3 trunk clump, 2 multi trunk & 1 large single. I'm unsure if they're suitable to bonsai, there's little branching & the branches there occur high on the trunk.
Can you apply the trunk chop method to these succulent trees? They're all about 2ft tall
Thoughts?

omg if you had 1 more trunk that would make a wonderful forest planting.i am sooo jealous .the twin trunk makes me think of coconut trees on a small deserted island...
anyway they can be chopped,each trunk ring will shoot.they dont need alot of water,too much will make them drop leaves,the leaves root on their own ,but i am not sure if branches will.some people are against succulents as "trees" and therfore are not bonsai,but they're wrong IMO.
plant them and wait until more growth appears to make sure thay are healthy and chop away. put the cuttings in water you may end up with more

Succulents store water in their leaves and I am told that poor root development is usually down to freely watering - the plant doesnt then make good roots because the leaves then provide most of the water they need. I have read that it's best only to water when the leaves show signs of wrinkling? Not sure about this, no real experience with Jades, my Crassulas do OK with 'normal' water/feeding regime
Dave

Jade makes poor bonsai. Only very rarely do you see something loosely resembling trees. They just do noit have the characteristics needed for bonsai. I would not bother trying to grow these into bonsai. Just keep them in a pot, and keep it as a nice house-plant.

see what i mean jelle is one of those "succulents arent bonsai" people .
its ok to each his/her own ,but my father has a perfect example of a jade "tree" and i have witnessed many others. as in any bonsai it takes time and patience ,but in my opinion jades can be made into bonsai

I guess you mis interpreted my comment.

Jade trees do not make smaller leaves and they do not create good ramnification. THat is why I think they are not good for bonsai. Not because they are succulents.

...but still it can be done they have to be larger in size to pull off



this is definative proof that you have been mistaken for neglecting jade in your collection

here is the link it didnt post???

jade trees

manofthetrees wrote: ...but still it can be done they have to be larger in size to pull off

Exactly my point: Only rarely does it work out. So it i a hard plant to work with, and therefor not suitable for beginners, as none of the regular bonsai techniques apply in these species.

better to start a 20 year project now than regret it in 20 years when age has the best of you


sorry for the thread hyjack floraadore