thanks wild edges and bédé. fair enough, i won't worry about them then. i will try with the two in the tray though, as they've been going for quite a while. the plants are in the kitchen window, which faces north east. i will find a couple of nice terra cotta pots for them, and give them a good prune.
Hi ColmO, I pot my rooted leaves/cuttings in gritty compost. They sit on a south facing windowsill all year round. I remove branches I don't want there, which, I think, helps the main stem become sturdy. I let the top of the compost become dry before I water the plants.
My jade plant is over 30 years old, a cutting of a much older plant, and it stands up - it’s like a sturdy little tree, with really thick stems. I potted mine on for ages, until it was getting unwieldy. I didn’t want to repot it to a ridiculously big pot and encourage it to turn into a monster, so then I hacked it back to a stump with a few small branches on it. It grew back, completely undaunted. I have now done that again, and it’s coming back again. With your plants, I would pot them into slightly bigger pots, and if they are still inclined to be unsteady, cut them back to reduce the weight up top. You don’t have to be as brutal as me! I’m just saying that it will be fine to cut some of it back if you need to. Then repot them again when they have filled those pots, and hopefully the next pots will be big enough to support them without wobbling. But don’t let your plants force you into having pots that won’t fit anywhere!
Carmarthenshire (mild, wet, windy). Loam over shale, very slightly sloping, so free draining. Mildly acidic or neutral.
I keep this one topped off at about 4' tall and slim enough to fit in and out of the greenhouse door. Mr Mushroom is in the way but it's all one trunk at the base and it takes two hands to wrap around the thickest stem. It gets a heavy prune in the spring before it goes back out to the greenhouse but it hasn't grown back much this year thanks to the terrible weather. I've got another one that's the same age but a third of the size because it lives in a smaller pot. You can see why they need feeding well to build up a solid structure though.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
Hi ColmO, I pot my rooted leaves/cuttings in gritty compost. They sit on a south facing windowsill all year round. I remove branches I don't want there, which, I think, helps the main stem become sturdy. I let the top of the compost become dry before I water the plants.
Hi ColmO, I pot my rooted leaves/cuttings in gritty compost. They sit on a south facing windowsill all year round. I remove branches I don't want there, which, I think, helps the main stem become sturdy. I let the top of the compost become dry before I water the plants.
My jade plant is over 30 years old, a cutting of a much older plant, and it stands up - it’s like a sturdy little tree, with really thick stems. I potted mine on for ages, until it was getting unwieldy. I didn’t want to repot it to a ridiculously big pot and encourage it to turn into a monster, so then I hacked it back to a stump with a few small branches on it. It grew back, completely undaunted. I have now done that again, and it’s coming back again. With your plants, I would pot them into slightly bigger pots, and if they are still inclined to be unsteady, cut them back to reduce the weight up top. You don’t have to be as brutal as me! I’m just saying that it will be fine to cut some of it back if you need to. Then repot them again when they have filled those pots, and hopefully the next pots will be big enough to support them without wobbling. But don’t let your plants force you into having pots that won’t fit anywhere!
thanks for that. how often do you water your plant? i'll take note of your last sentence, thanks.
I keep this one topped off at about 4' tall and slim enough to fit in and out of the greenhouse door. Mr Mushroom is in the way but it's all one trunk at the base and it takes two hands to wrap around the thickest stem. It gets a heavy prune in the spring before it goes back out to the greenhouse but it hasn't grown back much this year thanks to the terrible weather. I've got another one that's the same age but a third of the size because it lives in a smaller pot. You can see why they need feeding well to build up a solid structure though.
thanks. that's a beautiful plant.. i don't have a greenhouse, so they have to live indoors. presumably it needs more water being in the greenhouse? the advice seems mostly to be the same, prune them back and repot them. you mention food, how often do you feed it? i tend to use Baby Bio for everything. is that ok? should i still be feeding it now? i stopped at the end of summer. also, how often do you water it?
I grow mine directly in tea mugs, small novelty porcelain coffee cups and large teracotta pots.
OP, I would apply the clip and grow (ie directional pruning) method to correct the lean of your plant.
Currently, I think it looks a bit too lanky so needs to be cut back to proportion. Notice how Crassula ovata forms side shoots at the node of the leaves - if you chop off the tip of a long branch then you will force the plant to grow side shoots (which will become branches) lower down. Then selectively prune those branches to get a balanced plant.
Also exploit the fact that your plant is in a pot to correct the lean. Plants will naturally grow towards the light so rotate the pot accordingly.
Jade plants can be propagated very easily from leaves and from stem/branch cuttings. Conventional wisdom says that you must let the wound on the cutting dry out for a few days before planting them, however, I have never done this.
I just plant them straight away in a well drained soil mix (70% compost, 30% perlite or sharp sand), water moderately and leave them on a warm window sill.
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thanks. would they prefer terra cotta pots? i expect they'd need watering more often then.
thanks. that one looks great.
how often do you water it?
thanks for that. how often do you water your plant? i'll take note of your last sentence, thanks.
thanks. that's a beautiful plant.. i don't have a greenhouse, so they have to live indoors. presumably it needs more water being in the greenhouse? the advice seems mostly to be the same, prune them back and repot them. you mention food, how often do you feed it? i tend to use Baby Bio for everything. is that ok? should i still be feeding it now? i stopped at the end of summer. also, how often do you water it?
I grow mine directly in tea mugs, small novelty porcelain coffee cups and large teracotta pots.
OP, I would apply the clip and grow (ie directional pruning) method to correct the lean of your plant.
Currently, I think it looks a bit too lanky so needs to be cut back to proportion. Notice how Crassula ovata forms side shoots at the node of the leaves - if you chop off the tip of a long branch then you will force the plant to grow side shoots (which will become branches) lower down. Then selectively prune those branches to get a balanced plant.
Also exploit the fact that your plant is in a pot to correct the lean. Plants will naturally grow towards the light so rotate the pot accordingly.
Jade plants can be propagated very easily from leaves and from stem/branch cuttings. Conventional wisdom says that you must let the wound on the cutting dry out for a few days before planting them, however, I have never done this.
I just plant them straight away in a well drained soil mix (70% compost, 30% perlite or sharp sand), water moderately and leave them on a warm window sill.