I think the value of succulent plants for Bonsai is still sooo unrecognized. Yes, you can’t make deadwood features but you can grow them indoors, which make them perfect for people who just want to get into bonsai even if they don’t have a Garden. Also the care for succulents is so easy. While they are belittled by „Bonsai experts“, they do have value, especially for beginners. Great showcase of how to handle a jade by the way 🌱
I agree, I also love succulents. I think that many bonsai enthusiasts enjoy the sensational involved in carving, shaping and extreeme bending you often see being done to both evergeen and deciduous species. Succulents are probably overlooked exactly because they are easy to care for and not very challenging.
Growing succulents indoors is not the best for me They get leggy even if I put them somewhere with light and doesn't get compacted leaves For me growing succulents outdoors is better since they are less sensitive and grows compact
Finding Nigel's channel was the thing that made me start growing bonsai trees again after abandoning the hobby for more than 10 years. So his work does have an impact on my approach to bonsai. Thank you for your feedback, I really appreciate it!
Regarding the root system, the ones you showed on video are very weak which, along with your story about the other Jade suffering root rot, tells me you are still overwatering them. Jades store a lot of water and need a very long drought before they start getting stressed. If you water them every time the soil dries out, you are not really providing stimulus for them to grow new roots. Try waiting until leaves start getting wrinkly. It is fine, they have evolved for this. Once they start getting wrinkly, water thoroughly. In general it is much easier to kill Jades with too much water than to dry them up. And they don't need nearly as much water as everyone thinks.
It is true that I rarely waited until the leaves got wrinkly. I mostly water once the soil feels very dry. So it could be that I was overwatering as I did not know that you always have to wait for the jades to start wrinkling before watering again. I was trying to provide the best growing conditions without letting them enter into that stressed state. I'm far from being an expert but I thought that humidity is a factor required to promote root growth so it sounds interesting that prolonged periods of drought would be a stimulus for root growth in the case of Jades. Could you please point me to a place I can read more about the growing habits of Jade plants? I would like to learn more on this as it would certainly help in providing better care to my jades. I really appreciate the information you shared. Thanks!
@@OddBonsai I am not an expert, I just sound like one. I live in Poland where for half of the year there is little light and humidity is all over the place between 35 and 75%. I water my Jade just as I described and it seems to be happy with it and has nice root system. It grows in basically rocks (there is no actual biological matter in the mix). It drains extremely well but it can soak a little bit of water. I will pour some water to flush the substrate (removes salt crystals, etc.), then I throw away that water and then I will pour some fresh water into the base so that it sits in that water for a little bit and lets the substrate soak some water. After couple of hours I will remove the rest of water from the base. Most of the time the mix is completely, bone dry. It is only wet for a very short time after watering and then dries out completely over couple of days. My understanding is that as the roots have only very short time to accept the water this promotes root growth.
The conditions you describe are not very different than those we have here in Romania. I will try to wait more between waterings and see how they like it. How about sun exposure during summer? Do you keep them outside in full sun? My golem variety doesn't seem to like full sun exposure. It grows very slow since I put it in full sun in comparison to the regular Crassula ovata variety.
@@OddBonsai my jades prefer bright indirect light. They start getting slight red coloring in too bight direct sun. It is pretty but stresses the plant. If you make a shadow and the edges are sharp, ligh is direct. If edges are just a little fuzzy/blurry it is bright indirect light.
@@otterwench Thank you for the great info. This summer I also noticed that mine had more red colored leaves than in previous years and didn't grow too much due to the extremely hot summer we had. This year I'm planning to buy some shade cloth to protect them from that scorching summer sun.
The soil scoop comes in handy when you have to add soil in awkward places or from awkward positions. I got mine many years ago but I remember seeing them for sale in sets of 3 (small, medium and large) in pretty much all online bonsai stores. There are also some plastic ones which are cheaper. And don't worry, I also manage to get soil all over the place when I repot. 😊
I have a few Jade plants, most over 20 years old .. I water and feed them every two weeks from March - September. I use ordinary compost soil for houseplants .. never had a problem :)
I really love watching all your videos, I enjoy too much, because I love jade as well, I have 30 pots of jade also at home, because jade is my no. One favorite soculent plant
Wow, that's a lot of jade plants! Are they all the of the same variety or do you have several cultivars? Jades are wonderful plants. One thing I didn't manage yet is to get mine to flower. It would be great to see at least one of my jade plants flower.
Just yesterday my friend, i planted more or less 30pcs of jade directly to the ground, because i want to make it grow faster and make a beautiful bonsai after a while. So very timely that i did watched your video it gives me a lot of idea. That i can apply to my future jade bonsai. Fully watched your video my dear friend.
Hello Cris, I am very curious as to how this will turn out. Jades have very small root system and I'm interested to see of it makes a difference when they have more space to grow. You should make a video with this. Take care!
@@OddBonsai it is just a matter of time to grow a good roots system my dear friend, infact the jades that i have planted in the ground yesterday eventhought it is planted in a very small pot container before does a very good roots system. I planted it more or less 2years in that small pot. And roots grow enormously. So in my opinion it just a matter of time to have good roots system. For your case i do believe that your jade will grow further more better than before because it has been repotted in a more big pot. Thanks a lot my dear friend, take care and Godbless.
I have just started watching these bonsai videos. We have two massive jade bushes in pots that just sort of hang around which we’ve had for about 17 years. The wind blows the pots over, we’ve landscaped a bit and they were just pulled into a corner. Guess I’ll just look at it differently now.
This is a common problem when the tree becomes top heavy and the weight of the pot is not enough to withstand strong winds. Mine was already blown over twice since I moved it outside. I placed some large rocks on top of the soil and they seem to do the job until now.
I know I'm late to the party, but as far as rooting goes, succulents are great at making their own rooting hormone and don't need any. To promote root growth, dry out the plant a lot before watering (which the other commenter covered wonderfully), put in loose soil, pot in terracotta if possible, and water from the bottom if you can. Since jades and other succulents don't need much water, they won't put out much roots if they don't have to. In the soil it was previously in, the soil would retain so much much water that the jade could survive easily on 2 or 3 small roots. With looser soil like the new soil you used (which gives room to push through), the plant will have an easier time putting out roots, and since it won't retain water, the plant will have to work harder to get the water, meaning it will put out more roots. Terracotta and bottom watering is also helpful for the same reason. If you water the tray instead of the top of the soil, the roots will reach down to get the moisture. The terracotta will absorb the moisture, causing the roots to reach towards the bottom and sides of the pot as well, which will make for stronger roots. And again, letting the plant dry out quite a bit before watering will encourage it to create more roots and push its roots out further in search of water. So basically everything you did here is great and will help your jades thrive! Love your videos :)
You're not late, the party's just starting :) Thanks for all the tips. I never thought of trying bottom watering, I tend to water from the top and remove any excess water from the pot tray. When you use bottom watering how much do you immerse the pot in water and for how long? And when doing this you're supposed to rely only on how much water is absorbed by the pot and soil without any "help" from the top?
@@OddBonsai I usually fill up the tray all the way (for those regular terracotta trays at least--some other trays are deeper and so I don't necessarily fill them up). Then I go about watering other things and come back to check. Sometimes I notice a pot sucked up all the water immediately, so I'll put some more water in the tray. But usually I'll give it 5-10 minutes and if it hasn't sucked up all the water, I dump the rest out. The water almost never reaches the top of the soil (at least not when I'm paying attention, it might continue to soak upwards later). But the plants perk right up, so I know they're getting their water. And I know the wettest soil is always down, so their roots will reach that way, plus the terracotta will absorb water as well, so the roots will reach for the walls. When I repot, the roots have grown out and anchored themselves to the terracotta in a great way. I should say that I have been using a different substrate than you, so I don't know how well this would work if only using vermiculite and perlite. It might still work because of water surface tension. Might be worth experimenting! Also, unless your tray is quite deep, I should say of course this doesn't work if your pot have feet that raise them up above the tray. I'm not new to succulents, but I am fairly new to bonsai, and it seems a lot of bonsai pots have tall feet to help with drainage. So your mileage may vary, I suppose! Bottom watering might not work, or you might have to set the plants in deeper trays for watering if they have tall feet. Or maybe the plants that don't have a strong root system yet get put in pots without feet until they get better roots, and then you can rely on top watering? Up to you :)
I'll give this a try. I just have to get some deeper trays. The ones I'm using now are just to protect the window sills from any moisture from the pots.
@@OddBonsai For a good coarse mix that you have too, wait until the top is moist, that will mean all the soil mix is saturated with water. Soak and dry is a method you'll hear most succulent people say, it doesn't mean bottom watering but saturating the mix completely then leaving it completely dry in general ^^. Terracotta pots will help wick the water upwards, without it I agree that you might have to help the water get up by filling the water higher up the pot
It only had the beginnings of a primary branch structure but I really liked the look of the trunk. In a few years, this little guy will reach the size of the mother plant and I'll hopefully manage to continue from where I left off.
I plan to turn my jade plants into bonsai, too. Old impatiens will develop in a similar fashion, and the cuttings are very easy to root (for more practice!).
Good luck with training your jade into a bonsai! I never had impatiens but I see they make nice flowers. Can their stem grow into something resembling a trunk?
@@OddBonsai They are fast-growing, and they respond very well to pruning and back-budding. I think you could easily train these. The older stems eventually develop a tough exterior. The cuttings root very easily, too. They grow well in low light, so I think that overall, they might be a good practice plant for beginners. The results would be much quicker, and the plant is versatile and inexpensive. I plan to try it at the end of the year when I must keep those impatiens indoors. It's still much too cold here in NW Minnesota to grow anything outside, and mine are still very small.
Experimenting with an impatiens bonsai sounds tempting but I am currently limited by space since I have so many plants already. but I will keep this in mind for the future. I'm also waiting for night time temperatures to increase a bit more to move my plans outside. We are still getting occasional drops below freezing.
I find the quickest and easiest way to establish a strong root system is in a glass of water in an eastern facing window sill. I frequently top it off and in a few weeks I have a nice root base as well as some new leaf growth
Unfortunately, the regular jade died last summer due to rot caused by too much rain. I don't have an update video or photo on the other one yet, but I was thinking of making an update this year.
I have a tip for growing by the roots without route hormones, 97% of plants have a Michael riser fungus companion that can significantly help distribute nutrients as well as water and develop greater roots. Also azos that is formed from mycelium off of the tips of mushrooms can also be used or bought in a raw form. Teaming with fungus is definitely the way to go.
I rad about the beneficial fungus and I was thinking about giving it a try but I wonder if this will work on succulents too. They usually grow in dry locations where fungus doesn't usually thrive. It's something I will have to look into. Thanks for bringing this up!
@@OddBonsai I live in a desert climate right now, and yesterday we went and forage desert plants and I can guarantee you that there is a mycelium net work in the plants that you were trying to cultivate, I also have jade plants and I Will be using extreme gardening‘s 3 products alongside dynamico and wow gardening. I foraged yucca plants and the root extract and they were absolutely covered with mycelium!!!!! I’ve got mad videos on my social club it’s like ig but for cannabis.
I noticed that you didnt add garden soil in the soil mix... I repotted my crassula gollum last week but i mixed perlite, vermiculite, garden soil, coarse river sand and pumice in the soil mix. Sould repot it again??
Your mix should be fine as long as it offers good drainage. So don't change it. My mix is not necesarily the best. I experiment a lot with various pot mixes to see which is better for the plant.
Love the video, I have some gollum leaves coming., in truth I heard branches are better after I bought them! I was wondering about propagating these leaves, I can't find much as to soil types, position etc. I'm a beginner bonsai grower so find this interesting.
In my experience it is faster to grow a new jade plant from a cutting than growing from a leaf but they will both root easily. Being a succulent it grows well in cactus or succulent soil. As for positioning it likes to have lots of light so you can put it in a south facing window or even outdoors if possible (note that jade plants will not survive temperatures below freezing.)
Then a southern location should be fine. And if you keep it outside during warm months you will probably have to protect it during long periods of rain.
They will be fine unless they get too much water. This summer I let them out in the rain too much and the plain one died even if it was in the "right" soil. I don't know exactly but I think I water them something like once every 1- 2 weeks in summer and once every 1-1.5 months in winter.
Hi, I have many little ones ! I like to see update video. I found if you prune them drastically like in your video.. they will take very long time to recover cause they now have little root in few places , and few leaves...
Not yet! Sadly the regular jade died last summer due to a fungal infection. The gollum jade is looking good. I hope I manage to make an update video sometime this year.
Hello, Could you share some tips about how to identify a good jade while purchasing it from a nursery? I had one gifted to me last year - it's stems were shrivelled up and it didn't last more than a few days. I am planning to get one myself after watching your videos
Jade plants sold by nurseries are generally in good condition. If you doubt their health state select one that has no curled or shriveled leaves, no spots on leaves or stems. Also you can feel the trunk to check for any hidden trunk rot. If it's soft and spongy it's affected by rot. An alternative to buying a new plant would be getting a cutting and starting your own plant. Jades are very common plants so I'm sure there should be persons in your area glad to give away a cutting. Try local plant groups or forums.
@@OddBonsai Thank you so much for sharing these tips. I am actually not sure if there are any local plant groups here. I will give it a try though! Thank you once again
I’m curious why there’s no organic matter mixed in with the vermiculite and perlite. Don’t you need some store nutrients/food in the mix? Even a splash of coconut coir would be better than nothing I would think. Also, regarding propagating jade cuttings... because jade is a succulemt, it is important To let the cut and callous over before you plant it in a well draining medium.
Sorry I’m on mobile and it doesn’t allow me to edit. Cut end callousing over and healing before you plant Helps to prevent infection from getting into the end preventing stem rot. I’m not picking on you, LOL! I am a fellow succulent lover and have lots of little jades in my collection. I also propagate. 😊
No worries, I always appreciate both questions and advice. 😊👍 The vermiculite I'm using is pretty good in maintaining humidity and nutrients. I wanted to completely remove organic matter from the equation this time to avoid potential rot problems. I assure the required nutrients by fertilizing. Also I don't particularly like coconut coir (I could never get along with plants that come planted in coconut coir) and even if I would consider using some, it's pretty expensive to get where I live. You are right on the wound callous. It would have been better to let the cuts dry out and I do this with larger wounds. Honestly I can't say why I didn't do it this time. Maybe I didn't even consider a potential problem since the cuts were not so big.
That's interesting! I know that growth hormones from various plants are good promoters for root growth in other species but this is the first time I hear about lentils. Thanks for the tip!
I guess you're referring to the woody looking trunks. The two jades in the video are probably older than yours. Don't worry. The woody appearance will slowly develop on yours as well.
I'm curious why narrator was asking for rooting tips that did NOT include use of a rooting hormone. Is there something wrong with using rooting hormones?
I don't have anything against rooting hormones. It's just that they are not so easy to find commercially in my part of the world. Also, since Crassula ovata cuttings root so easily it's really not necessary to use rooting hormone on it. My problem was that, for some reason, it did not want to put out roots all around the trunk.
Awesome video i am a beginner in jade bosai I have repotted and pruned a beautiful plant /growing very nicely, but now i dont know which branch to remove Shall i post a picture of my plant? I need suggestions how to post picture?
Tbh the soil looks really loose so it would make sense for it to wiggle a lil It's slow growing plant so roots just need more time for them to grow I also find it better to break up soil with hands as my fingers are softer than a stick and therefore not damage roots as much I also always do just one thing at a time, it's either pruning a plant or repotting, not both at the same time as I have found it stunts plant growth much more otherwise.
I think larger particles should provide better drainage. The fine particles in the sand may block the drainage holes in several years time. Many people use sand in their soil mix but my plants just don't do well with sand. Maybe it something I'm doing wrong.
@@OddBonsai Im in an area in Wisconsin where the soil is sandy, and I mix it with cactus soil I get online that's got pearlite in it. I've gotten haworthias to flower in it
@@owenkuhnke3785 I understand. The soil in my area is a heavy clay type so I can only get sand if I buy it. Maybe I wasn't using the right type of sand...who knows. Why do you mix cactus soil with your garden soil? Wouldn't the cactus soil be enough?
They both did well until late summer when we got some rainy days after a long drought. Since then, the regular leaf one started loosing leaves and died several weeks later due to trunk rot. It was probably some kind of fungus because it rotted from the top down, the roots were fine almost up to the end... The gollem variety is doing well. I may do a repot in spring to see how its roots are doing and there will surely be a new video covering that. Thanks for asking.
Jades are great for Bonsai. Their greatest problem is too much water. So if you can control how much water they get and protect them from too much rain they could of course be grown in the tropics aswell.
Thank you Dave! I'm just beginning the work with most of my wannabe bonsais so I thought it could be useful to document their development. I'm glad you dropped by, I just had a look at your channel and you've some really interesting videos. 👍 I'll have to dedicate some time to go through them. Nice bonsai specimens as well!
@@OddBonsai I guess that's how most bonsai channels get started..., and then it somehow takes a grip and you end up spending more time filming and editing than on the trees!
I don't know about the bad effects of such a mix but if you have more details I would love to red more about it. I used it as a pure inorganic mix and so far the jades seem to be growing ok (not an explosive growth but I think it's fine). Before this I was using a completely organic mix so 50-50 organic-inorganic should be fine.
It's not ideal but it's the cheapest option that I could find for now. Both perlite and vermiculite are very light and can be washed away easily if you don't use a fine spray watering can. Cheers!🍶
Unfortunately, things didn't go too well with these two last year. The regular jade died due to trunk rot caused by too much water from rain. The other one wasn't affected by rot (even tough they were in the same location, sitting right next to each other) and it grew a bit. But when I checked the roots I found that they are pretty much the same as they were in the video so for some reason it doesn't want to put out roots in a radial manner.
Starting a jade bonsai is a great way to begin with bonsai. Jades are very easy to grow. I hope it does well and maybe it will be the first of many other bonsai trees. I'll probably do an update on these jades towards the end of the summer when they will require another pruning.
With succulents like jade plants I water if the soil is dry and there is no fresh cut on the part of the plant that goes under the soil surface. If I plant a fresh cutting I will normally leave it unwatered for a week so that the wound can callus over.
I may do an update video sometime this year. Unfortunately, I lost the regular jade to a fungal infection. The gollum jade is still doing well and slowly growing.
Yeah, that's the first thing I thought of when I first saw this plant. This looks exactly like Shreck's ears.:) Then I found out this is a variety of Crassula ovata, a mutated version of the well known jade plant.
La primer suculenta no se llama árbol de jade.. es una crassula ovata gollum,... la segunda si es un árbol de jade... por estas cosas después la gente es estafada en los viveros, porque les venden cosas que nada que ver
Ambas plantas son de la especie Crassula ovata y como dijiste una de ellas es de la variedad Gollum. Entonces encontrará que la gente los llama árboles de jade. Estoy de acuerdo en que los viveros a veces etiquetan mal las plantas, pero ambos están nombrados correctamente en el video. ¿Será que este malentendido proviene de los subtítulos generados automáticamente?
Sinto muito por isso. Eu não falo português, então usei o Google Translate para fazer as legendas do vídeo, mas não sei o quão boas elas são. Por favor, tente ativar as legendas do vídeo e me avise se isso ajuda. Obrigado!
Yes, I did cut them back quite hard and they were certainly not a pretty sight at the moment. They recovered well since jades will take such operations pretty well.
I think the value of succulent plants for Bonsai is still sooo unrecognized. Yes, you can’t make deadwood features but you can grow them indoors, which make them perfect for people who just want to get into bonsai even if they don’t have a Garden. Also the care for succulents is so easy. While they are belittled by „Bonsai experts“, they do have value, especially for beginners. Great showcase of how to handle a jade by the way 🌱
I agree, I also love succulents. I think that many bonsai enthusiasts enjoy the sensational involved in carving, shaping and extreeme bending you often see being done to both evergeen and deciduous species. Succulents are probably overlooked exactly because they are easy to care for and not very challenging.
Growing succulents indoors is not the best for me
They get leggy even if I put them somewhere with light and doesn't get compacted leaves
For me growing succulents outdoors is better since they are less sensitive and grows compact
Your technique are like Nigel's, I also love how you talk and how confident you talk. Keep it up!
Finding Nigel's channel was the thing that made me start growing bonsai trees again after abandoning the hobby for more than 10 years. So his work does have an impact on my approach to bonsai. Thank you for your feedback, I really appreciate it!
Regarding the root system, the ones you showed on video are very weak which, along with your story about the other Jade suffering root rot, tells me you are still overwatering them.
Jades store a lot of water and need a very long drought before they start getting stressed. If you water them every time the soil dries out, you are not really providing stimulus for them to grow new roots.
Try waiting until leaves start getting wrinkly. It is fine, they have evolved for this. Once they start getting wrinkly, water thoroughly.
In general it is much easier to kill Jades with too much water than to dry them up. And they don't need nearly as much water as everyone thinks.
It is true that I rarely waited until the leaves got wrinkly. I mostly water once the soil feels very dry. So it could be that I was overwatering as I did not know that you always have to wait for the jades to start wrinkling before watering again. I was trying to provide the best growing conditions without letting them enter into that stressed state.
I'm far from being an expert but I thought that humidity is a factor required to promote root growth so it sounds interesting that prolonged periods of drought would be a stimulus for root growth in the case of Jades. Could you please point me to a place I can read more about the growing habits of Jade plants? I would like to learn more on this as it would certainly help in providing better care to my jades.
I really appreciate the information you shared. Thanks!
@@OddBonsai I am not an expert, I just sound like one.
I live in Poland where for half of the year there is little light and humidity is all over the place between 35 and 75%.
I water my Jade just as I described and it seems to be happy with it and has nice root system. It grows in basically rocks (there is no actual biological matter in the mix). It drains extremely well but it can soak a little bit of water. I will pour some water to flush the substrate (removes salt crystals, etc.), then I throw away that water and then I will pour some fresh water into the base so that it sits in that water for a little bit and lets the substrate soak some water. After couple of hours I will remove the rest of water from the base.
Most of the time the mix is completely, bone dry. It is only wet for a very short time after watering and then dries out completely over couple of days.
My understanding is that as the roots have only very short time to accept the water this promotes root growth.
The conditions you describe are not very different than those we have here in Romania. I will try to wait more between waterings and see how they like it.
How about sun exposure during summer? Do you keep them outside in full sun?
My golem variety doesn't seem to like full sun exposure. It grows very slow since I put it in full sun in comparison to the regular Crassula ovata variety.
@@OddBonsai my jades prefer bright indirect light. They start getting slight red coloring in too bight direct sun. It is pretty but stresses the plant. If you make a shadow and the edges are sharp, ligh is direct. If edges are just a little fuzzy/blurry it is bright indirect light.
@@otterwench Thank you for the great info. This summer I also noticed that mine had more red colored leaves than in previous years and didn't grow too much due to the extremely hot summer we had. This year I'm planning to buy some shade cloth to protect them from that scorching summer sun.
really cool and perfect timing to see this video as I just got me a jade plant the other day :D off to do a little pruning now. thank you for sharing!
Glad it was helpful. Good luck with pruning your jade plant!
I can’t wait to turn my Jade cuttings into bonsai trees. Good video.
Wow, I've learned more from this one video than I have in all my years gardening, both indoors and out. Thank you!
Thanks! Glad it was helpful!
I’m really loving my mini jade trees. The PAs are doing great. Your two repots will look great! Great video! I enjoyed it!
Jades are great plants!
your tiny soil pouring cup is making me jealous... i always end up getting soil everywhere, i need to get one of those
The soil scoop comes in handy when you have to add soil in awkward places or from awkward positions. I got mine many years ago but I remember seeing them for sale in sets of 3 (small, medium and large) in pretty much all online bonsai stores. There are also some plastic ones which are cheaper.
And don't worry, I also manage to get soil all over the place when I repot. 😊
I have a few Jade plants, most over 20 years old .. I water and feed them every two weeks from March - September. I use ordinary compost soil for houseplants .. never had a problem :)
What kind of fertilizer do you use when feeding them?
I really love watching all your videos, I enjoy too much, because I love jade as well, I have 30 pots of jade also at home, because jade is my no. One favorite soculent plant
Wow, that's a lot of jade plants! Are they all the of the same variety or do you have several cultivars? Jades are wonderful plants. One thing I didn't manage yet is to get mine to flower. It would be great to see at least one of my jade plants flower.
Just yesterday my friend, i planted more or less 30pcs of jade directly to the ground, because i want to make it grow faster and make a beautiful bonsai after a while. So very timely that i did watched your video it gives me a lot of idea. That i can apply to my future jade bonsai. Fully watched your video my dear friend.
Hello Cris, I am very curious as to how this will turn out. Jades have very small root system and I'm interested to see of it makes a difference when they have more space to grow. You should make a video with this. Take care!
@@OddBonsai it is just a matter of time to grow a good roots system my dear friend, infact the jades that i have planted in the ground yesterday eventhought it is planted in a very small pot container before does a very good roots system. I planted it more or less 2years in that small pot. And roots grow enormously. So in my opinion it just a matter of time to have good roots system. For your case i do believe that your jade will grow further more better than before because it has been repotted in a more big pot. Thanks a lot my dear friend, take care and Godbless.
Thanks for the info!
I have just started watching these bonsai videos. We have two massive jade bushes in pots that just sort of hang around which we’ve had for about 17 years. The wind blows the pots over, we’ve landscaped a bit and they were just pulled into a corner. Guess I’ll just look at it differently now.
This is a common problem when the tree becomes top heavy and the weight of the pot is not enough to withstand strong winds. Mine was already blown over twice since I moved it outside. I placed some large rocks on top of the soil and they seem to do the job until now.
I know I'm late to the party, but as far as rooting goes, succulents are great at making their own rooting hormone and don't need any.
To promote root growth, dry out the plant a lot before watering (which the other commenter covered wonderfully), put in loose soil, pot in terracotta if possible, and water from the bottom if you can. Since jades and other succulents don't need much water, they won't put out much roots if they don't have to. In the soil it was previously in, the soil would retain so much much water that the jade could survive easily on 2 or 3 small roots. With looser soil like the new soil you used (which gives room to push through), the plant will have an easier time putting out roots, and since it won't retain water, the plant will have to work harder to get the water, meaning it will put out more roots.
Terracotta and bottom watering is also helpful for the same reason. If you water the tray instead of the top of the soil, the roots will reach down to get the moisture. The terracotta will absorb the moisture, causing the roots to reach towards the bottom and sides of the pot as well, which will make for stronger roots. And again, letting the plant dry out quite a bit before watering will encourage it to create more roots and push its roots out further in search of water.
So basically everything you did here is great and will help your jades thrive! Love your videos :)
You're not late, the party's just starting :)
Thanks for all the tips. I never thought of trying bottom watering, I tend to water from the top and remove any excess water from the pot tray. When you use bottom watering how much do you immerse the pot in water and for how long? And when doing this you're supposed to rely only on how much water is absorbed by the pot and soil without any "help" from the top?
@@OddBonsai I usually fill up the tray all the way (for those regular terracotta trays at least--some other trays are deeper and so I don't necessarily fill them up). Then I go about watering other things and come back to check. Sometimes I notice a pot sucked up all the water immediately, so I'll put some more water in the tray. But usually I'll give it 5-10 minutes and if it hasn't sucked up all the water, I dump the rest out. The water almost never reaches the top of the soil (at least not when I'm paying attention, it might continue to soak upwards later). But the plants perk right up, so I know they're getting their water. And I know the wettest soil is always down, so their roots will reach that way, plus the terracotta will absorb water as well, so the roots will reach for the walls. When I repot, the roots have grown out and anchored themselves to the terracotta in a great way.
I should say that I have been using a different substrate than you, so I don't know how well this would work if only using vermiculite and perlite. It might still work because of water surface tension. Might be worth experimenting!
Also, unless your tray is quite deep, I should say of course this doesn't work if your pot have feet that raise them up above the tray. I'm not new to succulents, but I am fairly new to bonsai, and it seems a lot of bonsai pots have tall feet to help with drainage. So your mileage may vary, I suppose! Bottom watering might not work, or you might have to set the plants in deeper trays for watering if they have tall feet. Or maybe the plants that don't have a strong root system yet get put in pots without feet until they get better roots, and then you can rely on top watering? Up to you :)
I'll give this a try. I just have to get some deeper trays. The ones I'm using now are just to protect the window sills from any moisture from the pots.
@@OddBonsai For a good coarse mix that you have too, wait until the top is moist, that will mean all the soil mix is saturated with water. Soak and dry is a method you'll hear most succulent people say, it doesn't mean bottom watering but saturating the mix completely then leaving it completely dry in general ^^. Terracotta pots will help wick the water upwards, without it I agree that you might have to help the water get up by filling the water higher up the pot
@@bluefox5331 This is how I normally water all my succulents.
Awesome, great technique and style!
Thanks, you're kind as always. I still have a lot to learn on both technique and styling.
N9
Really nice, I like the trunk on the first small gollum jade.
Thanks! Yes, it has the look of an old tree. Too bad only this top part survived from my older jade tree which rotted away...
That's too bad, I bet it was nice.
It only had the beginnings of a primary branch structure but I really liked the look of the trunk.
In a few years, this little guy will reach the size of the mother plant and I'll hopefully manage to continue from where I left off.
This video is VERY informative. Thank you
I plan to turn my jade plants into bonsai, too. Old impatiens will develop in a similar fashion, and the cuttings are very easy to root (for more practice!).
Good luck with training your jade into a bonsai!
I never had impatiens but I see they make nice flowers. Can their stem grow into something resembling a trunk?
@@OddBonsai They are fast-growing, and they respond very well to pruning and back-budding. I think you could easily train these. The older stems eventually develop a tough exterior. The cuttings root very easily, too.
They grow well in low light, so I think that overall, they might be a good practice plant for beginners. The results would be much quicker, and the plant is versatile and inexpensive. I plan to try it at the end of the year when I must keep those impatiens indoors. It's still much too cold here in NW Minnesota to grow anything outside, and mine are still very small.
Experimenting with an impatiens bonsai sounds tempting but I am currently limited by space since I have so many plants already. but I will keep this in mind for the future.
I'm also waiting for night time temperatures to increase a bit more to move my plans outside. We are still getting occasional drops below freezing.
I find the quickest and easiest way to establish a strong root system is in a glass of water in an eastern facing window sill.
I frequently top it off and in a few weeks I have a nice root base as well as some new leaf growth
I also rooted jade cuttings in water but I never thought about the location of the cuttings. Why do they do better with only some morning sun?
Wow nice nice bonsai. Mini. After the evaluation.. greetings from Indonesian bonsai..my friend
Thank you! Hello from Romania.
@@OddBonsai yes
Beautiful bonsai.thank you for your sharing. sending my support know more about bonsai. amazing content
Thank you very much! 🙏
Very interesting video friend
I'm glad you like it, thanks! 🙏
I'm just getting started with Jade trees. Your video was most helpful! Do you have any pictures of what these two trees look like now?
Unfortunately, the regular jade died last summer due to rot caused by too much rain. I don't have an update video or photo on the other one yet, but I was thinking of making an update this year.
@@OddBonsai yes i would love to see an update as well! I am also a beginner
Will be deffinetly posting an update this year
I have a tip for growing by the roots without route hormones, 97% of plants have a Michael riser fungus companion that can significantly help distribute nutrients as well as water and develop greater roots. Also azos that is formed from mycelium off of the tips of mushrooms can also be used or bought in a raw form. Teaming with fungus is definitely the way to go.
I rad about the beneficial fungus and I was thinking about giving it a try but I wonder if this will work on succulents too. They usually grow in dry locations where fungus doesn't usually thrive. It's something I will have to look into. Thanks for bringing this up!
@@OddBonsai I live in a desert climate right now, and yesterday we went and forage desert plants and I can guarantee you that there is a mycelium net work in the plants that you were trying to cultivate, I also have jade plants and I Will be using extreme gardening‘s 3 products alongside dynamico and wow gardening. I foraged yucca plants and the root extract and they were absolutely covered with mycelium!!!!! I’ve got mad videos on my social club it’s like ig but for cannabis.
Very interesting! Thanks for sharing your experience!
I noticed that you didnt add garden soil in the soil mix... I repotted my crassula gollum last week but i mixed perlite, vermiculite, garden soil, coarse river sand and pumice in the soil mix. Sould repot it again??
Your mix should be fine as long as it offers good drainage. So don't change it. My mix is not necesarily the best. I experiment a lot with various pot mixes to see which is better for the plant.
Love the video, I have some gollum leaves coming., in truth I heard branches are better after I bought them! I was wondering about propagating these leaves, I can't find much as to soil types, position etc. I'm a beginner bonsai grower so find this interesting.
In my experience it is faster to grow a new jade plant from a cutting than growing from a leaf but they will both root easily. Being a succulent it grows well in cactus or succulent soil. As for positioning it likes to have lots of light so you can put it in a south facing window or even outdoors if possible (note that jade plants will not survive temperatures below freezing.)
Thank you for your reply. Next problem lack of sun light I live in Ireland lol
Then a southern location should be fine. And if you keep it outside during warm months you will probably have to protect it during long periods of rain.
Even in the “wrong” soil, those jades did pretty good! How often do you water them?
They will be fine unless they get too much water. This summer I let them out in the rain too much and the plain one died even if it was in the "right" soil.
I don't know exactly but I think I water them something like once every 1- 2 weeks in summer and once every 1-1.5 months in winter.
@@OddBonsai Wow, amazing. Thanks!
Wow very beautiful plant 👍
Nice post 🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱👌
Thank you! 🙏 I'm glad you found it useful.
Nice Sharing 👌
Sending my love and full support 🤗
Stay connected my dear new friend 😊🤗
Thanks! Glad you like it. 🙏
Cool..., Beautiful bonsai.thak you for your sharing. Warm greetings from Bali.
Thank you! These jades are just at the beginning. It would be nice to visit Bali sometime. Greetings from Romania!
Jade plant bonsai....
Mini bonsai ( unique ) ... Repoting and pruning 👌
Thanks! 🙏 Glad you enjoyed the video!
Hi, I have many little ones ! I like to see update video. I found if you prune them drastically like in your video.. they will take very long time to recover cause they now have little root in few places , and few leaves...
Is there an update to this video? Beautiful Jade plants. 🙋♀️
Not yet! Hopefully there will be one this year.
Amazing bonsai my friend, love peace from indonesia🙏
Thank you! 🙏 Greetings from Romania!
Like tác phẩm đẹp quá bạn 👍❤️
Thank you very much!
Hi there 🙋♀️ Is there any updates on the Jade plant that you pruned, also the stemmed cutting from it, pls & thank you 😊
Not yet! Sadly the regular jade died last summer due to a fungal infection. The gollum jade is looking good. I hope I manage to make an update video sometime this year.
Hello, Could you share some tips about how to identify a good jade while purchasing it from a nursery? I had one gifted to me last year - it's stems were shrivelled up and it didn't last more than a few days. I am planning to get one myself after watching your videos
Jade plants sold by nurseries are generally in good condition. If you doubt their health state select one that has no curled or shriveled leaves, no spots on leaves or stems. Also you can feel the trunk to check for any hidden trunk rot. If it's soft and spongy it's affected by rot.
An alternative to buying a new plant would be getting a cutting and starting your own plant. Jades are very common plants so I'm sure there should be persons in your area glad to give away a cutting. Try local plant groups or forums.
@@OddBonsai Thank you so much for sharing these tips. I am actually not sure if there are any local plant groups here. I will give it a try though! Thank you once again
You're very welcome!
I’m curious why there’s no organic matter mixed in with the vermiculite and perlite. Don’t you need some store nutrients/food in the mix? Even a splash of coconut coir would be better than nothing I would think. Also, regarding propagating jade cuttings... because jade is a succulemt, it is important To let the cut and callous over before you plant it in a well draining medium.
Sorry I’m on mobile and it doesn’t allow me to edit. Cut end callousing over and healing before you plant Helps to prevent infection from getting into the end preventing stem rot. I’m not picking on you, LOL! I am a fellow succulent lover and have lots of little jades in my collection. I also propagate. 😊
No worries, I always appreciate both questions and advice. 😊👍
The vermiculite I'm using is pretty good in maintaining humidity and nutrients. I wanted to completely remove organic matter from the equation this time to avoid potential rot problems. I assure the required nutrients by fertilizing. Also I don't particularly like coconut coir (I could never get along with plants that come planted in coconut coir) and even if I would consider using some, it's pretty expensive to get where I live.
You are right on the wound callous. It would have been better to let the cuts dry out and I do this with larger wounds. Honestly I can't say why I didn't do it this time. Maybe I didn't even consider a potential problem since the cuts were not so big.
A few lentils added to the soil near the root area promotes root growth
That's interesting! I know that growth hormones from various plants are good promoters for root growth in other species but this is the first time I hear about lentils. Thanks for the tip!
Why do mint not have trunks? I only have leaves in all jades & mine are bigger than some shown
I guess you're referring to the woody looking trunks. The two jades in the video are probably older than yours. Don't worry. The woody appearance will slowly develop on yours as well.
What fertilisers do you use for jade plants. ?
Nothing special. I just use the same 10-10-10 fertilizer I use for all my plants.
I'm curious why narrator was asking for rooting tips that did NOT include use of a rooting hormone. Is there something wrong with using rooting hormones?
I don't have anything against rooting hormones. It's just that they are not so easy to find commercially in my part of the world. Also, since Crassula ovata cuttings root so easily it's really not necessary to use rooting hormone on it. My problem was that, for some reason, it did not want to put out roots all around the trunk.
@@OddBonsai Ah ok, I thought there was some issue with using them I wasn't aware of.
@@cdk3law No issue that I know of.
When did you water them...
I don't remember exactly since this was more than a year ago but I think it was a week after the potting.
awesome
Thanks!
Hi, did you do some update video on these two later on?
Hi, no there is no update video on these yet but I hope I can make one this year.
Awesome video
i am a beginner in jade bosai
I have repotted and pruned a beautiful plant /growing very nicely,
but now i dont know which branch to remove
Shall i post a picture of my plant? I need suggestions
how to post picture?
Thank you! Unfortunatelly, it is not possible to post photos on youtube. You can send me a message on Instagram if you like.
Hi do i bring my jade plant indoors in the winter please
Perfect
Thank you! Cheers!
underatted channle ....
Thank you. I'm constantly trying to improve.
Tbh the soil looks really loose so it would make sense for it to wiggle a lil
It's slow growing plant so roots just need more time for them to grow
I also find it better to break up soil with hands as my fingers are softer than a stick and therefore not damage roots as much
I also always do just one thing at a time, it's either pruning a plant or repotting, not both at the same time as I have found it stunts plant growth much more otherwise.
Thank you for the tips. I just hope I don't forget them by the time I work on the jade again. :)
Compared to using a sand//pearlite/cactus soil mix, what differents are created for the plant when planted in just pearlite and vermiculite?
I think larger particles should provide better drainage. The fine particles in the sand may block the drainage holes in several years time. Many people use sand in their soil mix but my plants just don't do well with sand. Maybe it something I'm doing wrong.
@@OddBonsai Im in an area in Wisconsin where the soil is sandy, and I mix it with cactus soil I get online that's got pearlite in it. I've gotten haworthias to flower in it
@@owenkuhnke3785 I understand. The soil in my area is a heavy clay type so I can only get sand if I buy it. Maybe I wasn't using the right type of sand...who knows.
Why do you mix cactus soil with your garden soil? Wouldn't the cactus soil be enough?
@@OddBonsai the cactus soil allows drainage, but not enough. Any sort of lingering moisture in the pot can cause root rot
Yeah, same problem here. Most commercially available cactus soils aren't quite as goog as you would expect at assuring drainage.
The leaves of my jade tree turn yellow, wilt, dry and fall off, and the new ones are much smaller, what am I wrong in caring for this beautiful tree?
Do you have a follow up? The smaller sample is awesome
They both did well until late summer when we got some rainy days after a long drought. Since then, the regular leaf one started loosing leaves and died several weeks later due to trunk rot. It was probably some kind of fungus because it rotted from the top down, the roots were fine almost up to the end...
The gollem variety is doing well. I may do a repot in spring to see how its roots are doing and there will surely be a new video covering that.
Thanks for asking.
awesome technique of course
Thank you! Glad you found it useful!
In the hands of exspert,the jade plant is very special if it is made into a bonsai,can jade plants live in the tropics? Greetings one hobby🙏🙏👍💓❤️
Jades are great for Bonsai. Their greatest problem is too much water. So if you can control how much water they get and protect them from too much rain they could of course be grown in the tropics aswell.
Yes jade plants do equally well in the tropics. Am near the equator and have 3 big ones, different types and many small cuttings am propagating.
Thanks for this tutor..
Keep visit frienda
Thank you very much!
beautiful my friend
Thank you so much!
Thank you for sharing
My pleasure, glad you liked it!
Could you show us the current state of this plant?
Hopefully, I will make an update video later this year. Thanks for asking!
Great work Stefan! Very nice start YT channel you've started here 🌳👍🏻
Thank you Dave! I'm just beginning the work with most of my wannabe bonsais so I thought it could be useful to document their development.
I'm glad you dropped by, I just had a look at your channel and you've some really interesting videos. 👍 I'll have to dedicate some time to go through them. Nice bonsai specimens as well!
@@OddBonsai I guess that's how most bonsai channels get started..., and then it somehow takes a grip and you end up spending more time filming and editing than on the trees!
@@BlueSkyBonsai I guess you're right. I never thought it could take so much time to make a video before starting the channel. 🙄
💚💚💚💚
🙏😎
I thought only perlite and vermiculite is bad for jade soil!!! Can I use 50-50 recipe for ficus bonsai?
I don't know about the bad effects of such a mix but if you have more details I would love to red more about it.
I used it as a pure inorganic mix and so far the jades seem to be growing ok (not an explosive growth but I think it's fine). Before this I was using a completely organic mix so 50-50 organic-inorganic should be fine.
If there's only gravel and no soil how do they get nutrients?
Jade Nice 👍👍👍
👋Thanks! Glad you liked the video!
@@OddBonsai yes Sir
Any updates on these ones?
No video update yet. The regular jade died unfortunately due to rot. The gollum variety is growing slowly.
Mini bonsai 👍
Yes, they were kind of small. 🙂
I do the same to my public region
Sounds intriguing. You should definitely demonstrate your technique in a video.
Do pots for jade plants or other succulents need drainage hole?
Also, perlite and vermiculite alone is ok for succulents? No soil at all? Thank you. Beginner indoor plant enthusiasts here😅
Nice friend 👍
Thank you my friend! 🙏
I like your soil composition. 😎🍺🍺
It's not ideal but it's the cheapest option that I could find for now.
Both perlite and vermiculite are very light and can be washed away easily if you don't use a fine spray watering can.
Cheers!🍶
Salam dari indonesia
Greetings from Romania!
Without soil how a plant can grow healty
Even if the soil doesn't have any organic components it gets it's nutrients from the fertiliser.
Thanks for so much nice video
Thank you! I'm glad you found it useful.
i hope to see an update video- i would love to see where they are at :)
Unfortunately, things didn't go too well with these two last year. The regular jade died due to trunk rot caused by too much water from rain. The other one wasn't affected by rot (even tough they were in the same location, sitting right next to each other) and it grew a bit. But when I checked the roots I found that they are pretty much the same as they were in the video so for some reason it doesn't want to put out roots in a radial manner.
@@OddBonsai ohh im sorry to hear that
@@helloww_ At least I learned that I should protect succulents from too much rain even if I didn't have any problems until last year.
Full suport bro
Thank you so much! 🙏
Thank you for sharing. I just began my very first jade bonsai. I look forward to your updates. 🙂
Starting a jade bonsai is a great way to begin with bonsai. Jades are very easy to grow. I hope it does well and maybe it will be the first of many other bonsai trees.
I'll probably do an update on these jades towards the end of the summer when they will require another pruning.
@@OddBonsai I look forward. Please in your update video, share how and where to prune. 🙂
@@TheNutbrittle Sure, I will add such details to the video. Thanks for the suggestion!
I would love to see an update!
Does it matter when you repot a jade plant
very nice
Thanks!
Can u say the soil mix?
If I remember correctly it was perlite, pumice, vermiculite and a little bit of normal potting soil.
Do you water after repotting?
With succulents like jade plants I water if the soil is dry and there is no fresh cut on the part of the plant that goes under the soil surface. If I plant a fresh cutting I will normally leave it unwatered for a week so that the wound can callus over.
Jade plant bonsai small ia Verry good.
I'm glad you liked it. Thank you!
Is there an up date on these 🪴?
I may do an update video sometime this year. Unfortunately, I lost the regular jade to a fungal infection. The gollum jade is still doing well and slowly growing.
Oh no sorry to hear :(
Luckily the other one wasn't affected.
Beatifull collection friend
Thank you my friend! These jade trees are just starting their bonsai journey.
I was captivated by this essence .. you will see the results as they will make you happy
@@BonsaiJade Yes, it's a very easy species to grow.
yes yes and little risk of losing plants, but with a lot of different settings
The best!!!
Thank you! Cheers!
Nice
Thank you, I will be making future videos with their development.
WHY ARE THEY IN ORGANIC SOIL FIRST?
Jade plant? I used to call this Shrek ear cactus when I saw it first (as a kid).
Yeah, that's the first thing I thought of when I first saw this plant. This looks exactly like Shreck's ears.:) Then I found out this is a variety of Crassula ovata, a mutated version of the well known jade plant.
Salam sukses
Thank you very much!
La primer suculenta no se llama árbol de jade.. es una crassula ovata gollum,... la segunda si es un árbol de jade... por estas cosas después la gente es estafada en los viveros, porque les venden cosas que nada que ver
Ambas plantas son de la especie Crassula ovata y como dijiste una de ellas es de la variedad Gollum. Entonces encontrará que la gente los llama árboles de jade. Estoy de acuerdo en que los viveros a veces etiquetan mal las plantas, pero ambos están nombrados correctamente en el video. ¿Será que este malentendido proviene de los subtítulos generados automáticamente?
Lascoci não entendo absolutamente nada que pena
Sinto muito por isso. Eu não falo português, então usei o Google Translate para fazer as legendas do vídeo, mas não sei o quão boas elas são. Por favor, tente ativar as legendas do vídeo e me avise se isso ajuda. Obrigado!
like
Thank you my friend.🙏
You sure butchered those Jades imo
Yes, I did cut them back quite hard and they were certainly not a pretty sight at the moment. They recovered well since jades will take such operations pretty well.
🙏👍👏🙋♀️
Thanks! 😀🙋
@@OddBonsai 👍🤣👏