Jade bonsai

Hi everyone


Here are my jades:




Do you all think I should take the jades out of the bonsai pots and let the trunk grow and do all the training in regular clay pots? Or will the trunks get bigger in bonsai pots with jades, I know other (non-tropical) plants would need out of the bonsai pots to get thicker. But I don't know if the same is true with jades.

I got the variegated jade from the farmers market (and so it had root rot terribly, I had to cut it down and I am rooting it like a cutting) but then the regular jades I got from trades online.

Any tips, info, or suggestions are appreciated

Yes, jade plant, Crassula ovata, can be grown as bonsai, but it has to be a fairly large size. You can Google on jade bonsai to see some examples. You won't get much progress keeping them in bonsai pots. Use large shallow nursery pots, bulb pans, and coarse gravelly bonsai soil. Put them outside, gradually in full sun for the summer, & feed well. Meanwhile look for woody species that are more suitable for bonsai.
Iris

I will take them out of the bonsai pots, and get some shallow clay pots (something like maybe an azalea pot) and grow them like that until they get bigger.

After I have them like that until they get the size I want, then I could probably put them in the bonsai pots right? By the time they get big enough for bonsai pots I will probably have to get new ones though, as it will probably be a few years or more.

When they are in the regular shallow clay pots could I proceed to do some simple training? Like maybe have them looking pretty good before even putting them in the bonsai pots.

Also, just a quick question, how would I go about shrinking the leafs on it? If I am understanding it correctly on regular plants you would snip off the leaf but leave the leaf stalk there. But how would you go about doing this on a jade? Jades don't really have a leaf stalk...

Hi jreidsma

May I suggest you to work on Portucularia Afra instead of Jades. They grow faster and easier, and their leaves are quite small compared to jades. (and more funny also)

Taner

Your little plants are a very long way from training. Just work on getting them big & fat. Leaf reduction is the last thing you do on a completed bonsai. In order to get big & fat, these trees will need all the leaves they can muster.
Iris

I was also thinking of working on the P. afra. But I am rather limited on room and I already have all these jades.

If I get the chance to get some I will probably get some P. afra. I am sure I could make room somewhere

Well, by training I meant getting them to branch at the spots I would want. I wouldn't do any leaf reduction or cutting really until they where fatter and ready for the bonsai pots. I just figured I would ask now instead of later on the leafs

Unless I find something I really want to bonsai, I will probably wrap these bonsai pots up and store them in my closet, so I don't have to buy a bunch of pots later on.