Re: Jade Bonsai - Suggestions
Posted: July 7th, 2018, 3:56 pm
Hi Akhi,
I usually leave my Jade's alone over winter and then work them hard over summer. If you repot them in the heat (in Adelaide I start in December) you can remove over half the roots without any problems. Once they are growing strongly over summer I usually let the shoots extend to 3 pairs then cut back to 1 pair, and you have to keep on top of it, checking them every week. You can develop a decent foliage pad (if that's what you want) in a year if you keep up the pruning.
You have a lot of straight branches that could be cut back hard. They'll shoot from old wood if you do this in summer. You could also think about tilting the tree when you next repot it so it's not coming straight up out of the ground. The rings around the trunk and branches are permanent and are a feature of this species. If you look at these examples (viewtopic.php?f=130&t=25247) you'll see the top tree still has rings and it's over 60 years old.
I like the nebari on your tree, well done. I notice you picked a glazed pot, which I think suit Jades best. I've seen excellent Jades potted in red glazed pots, which is quite striking but hard to find.
Cheers,
Matt.
I usually leave my Jade's alone over winter and then work them hard over summer. If you repot them in the heat (in Adelaide I start in December) you can remove over half the roots without any problems. Once they are growing strongly over summer I usually let the shoots extend to 3 pairs then cut back to 1 pair, and you have to keep on top of it, checking them every week. You can develop a decent foliage pad (if that's what you want) in a year if you keep up the pruning.
You have a lot of straight branches that could be cut back hard. They'll shoot from old wood if you do this in summer. You could also think about tilting the tree when you next repot it so it's not coming straight up out of the ground. The rings around the trunk and branches are permanent and are a feature of this species. If you look at these examples (viewtopic.php?f=130&t=25247) you'll see the top tree still has rings and it's over 60 years old.
I like the nebari on your tree, well done. I notice you picked a glazed pot, which I think suit Jades best. I've seen excellent Jades potted in red glazed pots, which is quite striking but hard to find.
Cheers,
Matt.
Tomorrow I"ll show you a trunk, with a hollow, on a 35+ yr old. which i hope to dig. Thing is , i know i can, it's that i have branches as thick as your wrist to make trees from 
. by scarring makes character , so my boxing coach said 
about it don’t remember when I fed it last.... nevertheless it’s changed on and put on a good trunk which tapers reasonable. Have ignored this a while so will have to do some remedial pruning to get the long limbs tucked back into the frame. But I think I will wait for mid spring.