I have a few large jade plants that are overdue for pruning. Some thinner branches have strangely, bent like a "U" where they grew down and then turned and are growing upward. Other large branches are just too big and thanks to the responses to your question, I know I can cut them and start a new plant even if their trunk is no longer green and has the brown fibrous outer layer. All my jade plants are indoor plants so is there a best time of year to prune or does it matter? I heard the best time to transplant is in the spring.

Thanks in advance!

Where you are, it's probably a good idea to prune near the start of the season. Maybe spring? When there's strong light and warm temps. That will probably give you the best response on the mother plant and it will definitely give you faster and stronger results rooting the cuttings (if that's what you do with the prunings).

@Raedilly Jades and portulacaria (mini-jade/ spekboom/ elephant bush) are best pruned 1-3 weeks before the summer solstice, depending on where you live. Reason: pruning too early in spring means that growth that occurs due to back-budding will still be leggy with long internodes - exactly the type of growth we don't want on our plants. Pruning around mid-June (in the Northern Hemisphere) ensures that all subsequent growth will be tight, internodes short, and leaves smaller. The strategy is: Prune all leggy winter growth off 1-3 weeks before the summer solstice. Allow all new branches that occur after the initial pruning to develop 1 or 2 pairs of leaves, then pinch. This will force new branching in the axils of both or all 4 leaves which can probably also be pinched the same summer. This method ensures much better ramification (leaf and branch density) and multiplies many times over the number of branches you can choose to compliment the composition. Stop pinching sometime in September (early September, for Chicago) and allow all branches to grow unencumbered by pruning until just before the next summer solstice when all lanky winter growth is removed and the process started all over again.

Proper pruning/pinching and timing/technique ensures that ALL growth is tight and compact. This also plays an important part in how the plant responds to hard future pruning that will be necessary as branches (especially those higher on the plant) become too heavy. If you prune back hard to a point where the nodes are on growth that occurred during the dark months, branches will be much farther apart than they would be if you had made the effort to retain summer growth and prune off all growth occurring during the dark months.

You can make your plant much more attractive if you start eliminating all branch trifurcations, which turn's them into bifurcations. Where the handle of a slingshot splits to form a 'Y' is a bifurcation. If the central branch leader is allowed to grow through, a trifurcation will form at every pair of leaves.

I use this line drawing I made to explain the bifurcation/trifurcation thing when doing workshops or demos using plant material that has a leaves and branches arranged in alternate pairs. Maples have the same growth habit.



Thought - the closer the plant is to the equator, the more flexibility one has with the timing of the pruning, which should be read to say 'the earlier you can do your first pruning. Someone living in the deep south could do the first pruning in mid-May with good results, but BEST results will still be had if the pruning work is done in June.

Al

Thanks Baja and Al for your wonderful advice. I had to buy grow lights because my house doesn't get enough sunlight. I shared a photo of some of my jade plants a while ago and thanks to the members here, I found out my jades were leggy because they were not getting enough sun. Now their leaves a super shiny and green and the branches are no longer leggy. But some leaves are thin and curling. When I asked why, one member said it was because they were trying to get more light. But I doubted that because the grow lights were on for 12 hours. So I cut the light timer back to 8 hours.

I know my jade plants are in need of pruning/reshaping. I haven't had much experience doing this and since all my jade plants are the offspring of my late parents' jade plants before their plants died, I confess it's hard for me to toss out even a leaf that falls off, let alone what I trim off. So I have propagated them and I need to give them away since I have too many. I drew a red line on two branches that grew in a U shape.



You can see how the leaves are somewhat thin and curved.


Thanks again!

Reading leaves
When leaf tips or margins abnormally curl/cup upward, it's usually an indication the plant is trying to retain moisture – most common causes are dry soils or high temps; or, if you are using supplemental lighting, the lights might be too close.

When leaf margins curl down, especially if leaves droop abnormally from the base of the leaf to the leaf tip, there is probably an issue affecting root function or health. The main causal suspects would be over-watering or soil compaction causing an inadequate supply of oxygen to roots, a root infection, or a TDS (fertility) level too high, which can limit water uptake.

That the leaves aren't thicker and more fleshy is a light issue. They want more. I typically run 42w LEDS with a color temperature of 6000K for foliage plants, with the lights within an inch or two from the top of the plant; 16 on - 8 off.

Does the pot have a drain hole?

If, out of love and respect for your parents, you're not comfortable doing some pruning, I get and respect that, but the reality of that is you're pretty much destined to be content with the plant deciding what it wants to look like. If you decide you want to prune, all those U-shaped branches that turned upright when you increased the light load should be pruned back to the bottom of the "U" so in the early stages of development the branches are largely flat or drooping slightly downward with a slight upturn at the tip of the branch only.

And for informational purposes only, I'm not trying to talk you into pruning, the longer you wait the more difficult it will become to correct the eye-jarring branches; not difficult in the sense that it's all that much harder to do the actual pruning, rather, the longer the plant(s) is/are left to their own devices, more severe the setback to the plant will be if you decide to correct.

Al

Thanks for your wonderful response Al. While I am sentimental about my jade plants, it's also having a hard time tossing out even a leaf when I know I can easily propagate it and create a new plant. But I have to get over that. I was also incredibly busy taking care of my mother over the past five years and now handling her affairs after she passed, so I haven't had time to prune.

These are the plant lights I use. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B093KZ6TT2/

I had them set on the highest setting for 12 hours for over a year and the leaves started coming out thinner and they would curl. So I set the lights to eight hours. I also raised them up so they were not that close to the plants to see if that helped the leave curling. The larger leaves on the lower part of the plant are thick but as you saw in the photos, the newer growth's leaves are thinner and curling. Since you said they want more light then I will keep the lights on for 12 hours (the longest setting) and lower them closer to the plants. But having a strong source of light for 12 hours isn't natural (if they were in a south facing window), so it's interesting how the leaves are showing a lack of light.

All the pots have drainage holes except for one. I am careful not to overwater.

Can't thank you enough for your thoughtful and informative responses Al. 😊

@Readilly I think for some of us propagating plants from pieces is something that borders on 'essential' to satisfying our need to nurture. Often after pruning a tree or herbaceous plant I find myself with a handful of cuttings that I've already prepared for sticking, even though I have no desire to take on the additional work of caring for them. I'm often forced to ask myself what I'm going to do with them after they root, which results in my tossing them with the remaining clippings. It's a very hard habit to break, and I'm guessing it's even harder when there's the emotional attachment you describe.

But having a strong source of light for 12 hours isn't natural (if they were in a south facing window), so it's interesting how the leaves are showing a lack of light. I'm not sure what you mean by the text in bold. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to comment if I know what your getting at.

All the pots have drainage holes except for one. I am careful not to overwater. The 2 primary issues with pots having no drain holes are 1) It makes it very difficult to maintain an appropriate ratio of air:water in the grow medium. Too much water and too little air limits root function and can set the plant up for root diseases. 2) It makes it nearly impossible to flush the soil. Flushing the soil is beneficial in that it A) limits accumulations of dissolved solids (salts) from tapwater and fertilizer solutions. A high level of dissolved solids limits water and nutrient uptake and takes a heavy toll on eye appeal. B) It prevents a badly skewed ratio of nutrients, each to the others. Skewed nutrient ratios cause antagonistic deficiencies, which occur when an excess of one nutrient limits uptake of one or more other nutrients. Example: an excess (toxicity) of phosphorous can limit uptake of calcium, potassium, copper, zinc, and iron. It can also act as a synergist, causing excessive uptake of magnesium by way of it's suppressive effect on calcium.

Using Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 fertilizer regularly in combination with flushing the soil you water will allow you to keep the level of dissolved solids as low as possible w/o deficiencies, and it is a COMPLETE nutritional supplementation program from a single source/container. I highly recommend it. If I haven't already mentioned it, fertilizing/ nutritional supplementation is a key element of a well considered care regimen.
Al

Hi Al, what I meant by my poorly composed sentence ("But having a strong source of light for 12 hours isn't natural (if they were in a south facing window), so it's interesting how the leaves are showing a lack of light") is under natural light conditions from even a window facing south, a jade plant wouldn't normally receive 12 hours of bright sunlight. So it's interesting how my jade plant leaves, despite having 12 hours of artificial plant light for over a year, started to curl and become thin because they want more light.

Even when I didn't have plant lights and my jade plants were not getting enough sunlight, the leaves were thick. But the branches were leggy (too much space between the leaves) which reveals insufficient light.

You described exactly how I felt the last time I trimmed my jade plants. I had these healthy cuttings and I felt so bad tossing them. So I propagated a few. But like you, I really don't need more jade plants. 😆

I use a liquid succulent fertilizer but haven't lately so I need to resume that. And I will repot the jade plant that's not in a pot with a drainage hole, but should I wait until spring?

I LOVE that adorable photo of the baby jade plant in the acorn cap! Thanks again Al for all your wisdom!