Jade Cutting

[PastryBaker]

My friend gave me this jade cutting a couple months ago. It had some roots. I took some of the longer branches and are rooting them fr a grouping, and they are doing great.
But, not sure what I should do with this. It does have some roots, but the trunk looks too long. Can I pot it deeper and maybe roots will come from the trunk. Or should I just chop it and make it shorter and let it root again.
I know jades can be tough. But, don't want to do anything that would hurt the health. Thanks

 

[Carol 83]

If you think it's too tall, chop it. You'll have a bunch more cuttings.

 

[Shibui]

There's lots of options to shorten Portulacaria.
You can plant it in a deeper pot and wait for new roots to grow from the buried trunk then chop off the bottom part.
You can chop the top at the height you want and put that in as another cutting.
You can chop off the top of this plant at whatever height you want and wait for new shoots to grow from the stump.
You can chop the trunk just above a branch which will become a new part of the trunk. That will shorten the tree while still retaining some growth on it in short term. This method also puts a bend into your trunk which gets away from the straight telephone pole look.

Just wondering why you think your Jade needs to be shortened? There's no scale in the photo so hard to guess the real size but does not look overly big to me. Bonsai can be all sizes. The smaller ones are much harder to keep alive and style well so a little larger is good for beginners.

BTW, add a location to your profile. So much of what we do depends on seasons and location. You'll get much better and accurate advice if we know what part of the world you live in.

 

[PastryBaker]

There's lots of options to shorten Portulacaria.
You can plant it in a deeper pot and wait for new roots to grow from the buried trunk then chop off the bottom part.
You can chop the top at the height you want and put that in as another cutting.
You can chop off the top of this plant at whatever height you want and wait for new shoots to grow from the stump.
You can chop the trunk just above a branch which will become a new part of the trunk. That will shorten the tree while still retaining some growth on it in short term. This method also puts a bend into your trunk which gets away from the straight telephone pole look.

Just wondering why you think your Jade needs to be shortened? There's no scale in the photo so hard to guess the real size but does not look overly big to me. Bonsai can be all sizes. The smaller ones are much harder to keep alive and style well so a little larger is good for beginners.

BTW, add a location to your profile. So much of what we do depends on seasons and location. You'll get much better and accurate advice if we know what part of the world you live in.

Thank you much. Actually you made me look at it a bit differently. I really don't think it is as much as the trunk, but that it does look like a telephone pole. It is in a nursery pot now, and I think if I put it in a bonsai training pot the perspective will be different. And I will update my location. Thank you.