Dwarf jade styling / cuttings

[nurvbonsai]

i've just brought my afra in for the winter, it was in some organic something or other when i bought it, but all through the summer it's been just in a pot full of pumice and doing fine

When should I do that with my two stumps? I have grow lights arriving Monday. Middle TN area.

 

[WIlliam_Butler_Yeets]

When should I do that with my two stumps? I have grow lights arriving Monday. Middle TN area.

you could probably actually wait a while, i brought mine in because i was bringing in some other plants anyways that are less tolerant of cold (ficus and pineapple)

from what i've read afra can deal with some lower temps but doesn't like frost

 

[LuZiKui]

here you go!

Fortune favors the bold! I think long run you'll end up being happier with that cut. Otherwise you'd be slowly cutting it more and more and would eventually end up in the same spot.

 

[Inspector34]

I have a follow-up question to this. I'm in a similar boat as nurvbonsai. I'm letting my dwarf jade grow out and develop a much thicker trunk, but I did some cutting to remove the unwanted smaller branches that I don't want in the final design. Now I have a ton of cuttings working on their root system now. How long should I wait to check on the roots? I want to know how the little guys are doing root-wise but I don't want to disturb them if their roots are too delicate to touch still. I'd like to make a few mame jade bonsai and wire them a bit as small gifts for friends.

 

[LuZiKui]

I have a follow-up question to this. I'm in a similar boat as nurvbonsai. I'm letting my dwarf jade grow out and develop a much thicker trunk, but I did some cutting to remove the unwanted smaller branches that I don't want in the final design. Now I have a ton of cuttings working on their root system now. How long should I wait to check on the roots? I want to know how the little guys are doing root-wise but I don't want to disturb them if their roots are too delicate to touch still. I'd like to make a few mame jade bonsai and wire them a bit as small gifts for friends.

Howdy neighbor! Most succulents are pretty dang resilient (at least p afra and Jade). If they are sending out new shoots/growth and they aren't dying or looking bad you can assume the roots are growing fine. Most people probably chuck the cuttings into a pot and leave them for 6 months to a year before doing anything with them. You could transplant them sooner but I prefer to have more root mass because it makes it easier to wire them into a new pot, especially if you are going to be putting them in small mame pots.

I'm assuming your p afra is already moved inside or will be going inside very soon. I would leave them as is over the winter and in spring when it starts to warm up again you can repot and get them outside to maximize growth for the year. Realistically, if you have a good grow light set up you could repot them over the winter I just don't think you gain much by doing it. They bounce back so quickly from repotting that you're not really going to miss out on extra growth by repotting in spring.

 

[Srt8madness]

My method for Jade cuttings is to stick them in something and forget about them until I see growth extending. I water them of course. You can't do much with them anyway. I have found they respond extremely well to root constriction, meaning they will hardly grow when roots are confined tightly.

 

[WIlliam_Butler_Yeets]

My method for Jade cuttings is to stick them in something and forget about them until I see growth extending. I water them of course. You can't do much with them anyway. I have found they respond extremely well to root constriction, meaning they will hardly grow when roots are confined tightly.

I even forget about watering them sometimes, I had a sprig of portulacaria out in a half gallon nursery pot in just pumice for 5 days of 100 degree weather earlier this year and it was fine

I've also got some others inside in a pot with just pumice that I water every 2-3 weeks and they're just cruising along, the big difference being that the inside ones aren't quite so robust and the outside plant, the inside ones have longer internodes and larger leaves, the outside plan has smaller but thick leaves and the stem turns red when in the sun

 

[Inspector34]

Howdy neighbor! Most succulents are pretty dang resilient (at least p afra and Jade). If they are sending out new shoots/growth and they aren't dying or looking bad you can assume the roots are growing fine. Most people probably chuck the cuttings into a pot and leave them for 6 months to a year before doing anything with them. You could transplant them sooner but I prefer to have more root mass because it makes it easier to wire them into a new pot, especially if you are going to be putting them in small mame pots.

I'm assuming your p afra is already moved inside or will be going inside very soon. I would leave them as is over the winter and in spring when it starts to warm up again you can repot and get them outside to maximize growth for the year. Realistically, if you have a good grow light set up you could repot them over the winter I just don't think you gain much by doing it. They bounce back so quickly from repotting that you're not really going to miss out on extra growth by repotting in spring.

Thanks LuZiKui! Always good to get insight from a local. I have everything inside in a grow light in a shelf-greenhouse so it's pretty well controlled temp-wise, light, and humidity so I don't pay too much attention to them. I think I watered them a couple weeks ago and they're still sprouting new buds. I don't really have a need to mess with them until early spring. I just wasn't sure if it would be safe to start wiring them and repotting by spring or if I had to wait longer. If it's safe to start then, I'll be happy.