hey spike, what did u do to grow this from a leaf, i have never had luck with leave cuttings they root but they never form any new plants, what did u do, lol, step by step? any advice will be greatl appreciated. great albino plant.

c ovata grows like a weed, I don't think I have ever had a leaf fail to grow.

I just pull a big fat leaf off, leave it in the sun for a day or two until the end dries out, then stick it in a pot with 50/50 cactus compost and gravel.

Water well when bone dry, lots of sun and fertilise 3 or 4 times during the summer.

Should point out that by sun I mean the sun we get in the midlands of the UK. If you live somewhere hot you may need to give some shade when small.

One of my C. ovata var. has one branch whereon the leaves are almost pure white. It's my favorite, for that reason. If the whitest branch stays true I might prune it off and plant it separately in the future.

My variegata was bought in a poit with several other specimens, many of which had leaves with very little variegation. It seems that the largest leaves had the least variegation.

Do you think that the amount of light a vareigated Jade gets affects its color? Or can you think of anything different that you did with this cutting than with others?

I would love to have a completely PURE white plant. When that one gets bigger, if its cuttings are true, I would love to trade you something for a cutting. :)

Hi Reptile Girl,

Don't know if you've heard this or not, in case you haven't, an all white branch is not likely to survive. As to your mostly white branch, from what I read/hear, the less green it has, the less likely it is to survive (lack of chlorophyll to suatain it, etc.)

Sad, but true...

Sad, but pretty!

Hmm, I have read one report of an entirely white tree surviving. Perhaps the author exagerrated.It was talked about on a website, and made ME green with envy :)

I am making sure that my tree gets lots of sun, so that the chlorophyll that the leaves DO have will be active and keep my pale branch alive.

I was aware that the white leaves will not survive alone which is why I left the green branch to grow.
Hopefully, as the green branch is not variegated but fully green it will be able to sustain the white one.

As I said before, attempts to produce a more variegated version by (what seemed to be the most sensible route) of growing on the most variegated leaves have been unsuccessful. It was only when I planted a leaf with little variety that the white one appeared. I suspect that may be related to the ability of the variegated leaves to support much life.

Spikelover, I hope your white branches survive! They are glorious.

Photos of my Jades at the link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Picture post

You could graft it onto a donor crassula and keep the white plant, otherwise it will die. Its why those red/yellow Gymnos are gratfed, no cholorophlyll, no plant!

I am going to split the plant and leave one of the white branches attached to the green branch.

The other white branch I shall graft onto another plant.

With luck at least one will thrive.

It is quite handsome, its little white self, should be interesting the several ways to try it. Good luck w/ it.

I thought the pic below was interesting  not all white but a significant amount of a cream color.

Here is a link that might be useful: Crassula ovata 'Variegata`