Question about jade branch pruning - how far back?

[Pepibom]

I have just planted some cuttings and wanted to know if jades respond well to being cut back hard to no green? The limbs in this cutting are long and leggy (I cut them back to leaves for now) and I would like for them to get closer to the trunk without losing them of course. I seem to remember some club member saying “bah! You can cut them down to wherever you like and they’ll grow back!” Just want your opinions on this before I do something stupid.

 

[Shibui]

Jades have a well deserved rep for being almost unkillable. No problem with cutting back to bare wood, even to a stump.
You will get much better budding if the plant is healthy and this one looks like it could be struggling a bit. Might be better to concentrate on working out what it likes before trying for small. As pruning hard is no problem it won't matter if it grows a bit taller while you get it healthy and I'm certain you'll get better response.

 

[leatherback]

Does this help?

 

[Srt8madness]

This is a healthy P afra around the same size. It will quite often naturally "back bud" when growing strong and the tips are occasionally pruned back.

Even if leggy, I would get it strong again before cutting back. I cut one back to a 2 node stump last summer and it's only put on maybe a 5" runner. While all my others have put on tons of growth. The one on the picture has to be replanted as a cutting in 2022 (and after that picture too, when shitty nappa floor dry rotted the root system)