cbrshadow23
Shohin
I had another thread for this tree that I created about 2 years ago, but it's 5 pages long and goes into lots of separate discussions, so I thought I'd create a consolidated thread about this tree, along with an update 2 years after the big chop.
So I had a coworker that lives in San Francisco and had a big jade (Crassula Ovata) on her porch for 25 years. It was leggy since it was in an area with partial/indirect sunlight, but the trunk was big and thick and it was free, so I took it.
Here's a photo of the tree when I got it. It was initially in an old clay pot that crumbled in transport so I stuffed it in this bit plastic pot. Nearly 6ft (2 Meters) tall! I had it planted a bit too deep, since the thickest part of the trunk is actually under the soil. To give some scale, I think it's about 11" wide at the base which is oval shaped and roughly 8" deep (front to back)
Per advice on this forum I gave it a hard chop.
I was told "Now it will sprout new leaves. Let it grow for a year or two!" So that's what I did!
.. Except once it started getting growth I repotted it into a prettier pot:
Here's a progress picture of the plant 1 year later:
People that come by the house usually comment on this tree more than any other tree in my garden, strangely enough. Maybe it's the bright blue pot
Then I waited (almost) another year. Here's the plant as of yesterday, which is exactly 22 months after acquiring the tree and giving it a hard chop.
The photo isn't the greatest since I had a lot of glare from the sun, but you can see how much growth the tree has had. I'll wait until things warm up a bit more before doing any cuts, but what should my next step be?
These trees do best with clip and grow since they don't hold their position well with wires. Should I select some branches to remove? I'll have to defoliate a fair amount just to see the inner primary branches since it has such a dense canopy.
Anyways, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
So I had a coworker that lives in San Francisco and had a big jade (Crassula Ovata) on her porch for 25 years. It was leggy since it was in an area with partial/indirect sunlight, but the trunk was big and thick and it was free, so I took it.
Here's a photo of the tree when I got it. It was initially in an old clay pot that crumbled in transport so I stuffed it in this bit plastic pot. Nearly 6ft (2 Meters) tall! I had it planted a bit too deep, since the thickest part of the trunk is actually under the soil. To give some scale, I think it's about 11" wide at the base which is oval shaped and roughly 8" deep (front to back)
Per advice on this forum I gave it a hard chop.
I was told "Now it will sprout new leaves. Let it grow for a year or two!" So that's what I did!
.. Except once it started getting growth I repotted it into a prettier pot:
Here's a progress picture of the plant 1 year later:
People that come by the house usually comment on this tree more than any other tree in my garden, strangely enough. Maybe it's the bright blue pot
Then I waited (almost) another year. Here's the plant as of yesterday, which is exactly 22 months after acquiring the tree and giving it a hard chop.
The photo isn't the greatest since I had a lot of glare from the sun, but you can see how much growth the tree has had. I'll wait until things warm up a bit more before doing any cuts, but what should my next step be?
These trees do best with clip and grow since they don't hold their position well with wires. Should I select some branches to remove? I'll have to defoliate a fair amount just to see the inner primary branches since it has such a dense canopy.
Anyways, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
