Very simply, keep each species in it's own pot, arrange them, and fill in with gravel and use something as a top dressing to cover up the pot rims.

This way, you can water each plant more or less as needed without hurting the others, and if one or more becomes sick or needs to be attended or repotted or whatever, you don't have to take the whole thing apart.

All these plants will take relativiely similar conditions, but will fare much better outdoors during warm weather.

In the winter, if you can find a cold place to keep them, they will be much healthier having gone dormant than to try and keep them growing somewhere warm with inadequate lighting

I agree. I have some together, but you have to make sure that each has the same watering needs and same growing season. You can't put a winter grower with a summer grower because you wouldn't water a winter grower as much right now as you would a summer. I would add a few more to the mix either way since they won't fill in the circumference at the top of the pot. I would add maybe two more. I love your plants though. THey are pretty. Use the tags to research their needs/growing season.

This is my first time to post here. Looks like I did the same thing you did, Christy. Only I went to HP. I know next to nothing about succulents but got carried away and bought six. I am trying to learn, too. From the tags on yours, looks like they came from the same supplier that mine did and have no name provided. I potted mine in individual pots in a cactus/succulent mix with added perlite. Just have to learn from trial and error, and reading all I can.

I do pretty good with succulents. They 'thrive on neglect' which suits me fine :) Each one came with a specific tag with good instructions. Thanks for the advice, I wanted them in the same pot for the aesthetic value, and because I have such a hard time finding those small terra cotta pots. HD and Lowe's never have the right size, Behnke's had them once, Wal-mart had them once, and Meadow's Farms had ONE yesturday. I also picked up some Baby Toes, and a very small variagated Jade. A few months ago I got a monster Jade at the grocery store for 17 bucks!! A large Aloe for 11 bucks, too. And then a small hobbit from ebay that had probably seen better days, and is now. Two Jades that had been cut back hard in experiment and one that I have left alone. So, basically I just have a problem. Good thing I put 4 back.

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In the fall, I plan on bringing all in and sticking them in the basement. Except the Aloe, I read that it can't go under 45 degrees, so I might have to treat that one differently. I'm still looking into it. :) Christy

Most aloes can easily survive below 45, I expose mine to 28F every winter with no ill effects.

The "baby toes" is Fenestraria, a definite winter grower, it likes a dry summer dormancy and when actively growing during the cool nights of fall and spring, it appreciates frequent (almost daily if sunny) heavy misting.

Do you have a Hobby Lobby or Garden Ridge Pottery? They both have the small pots you need. Do some searches on the right soil too. Like I said before, if they all have the same requirements, just pot them together. Most of what I see looks like it would be fine together. They look great. Funny story about variegated jade. Someone on e-bay was trying to sell one the size you have for 8 or 9 dollars saying that it was VERY RARE. I sent them an e-mail asking how they slept at night. I see them everywhere I go and have for years. I can't stand some of the e-bay stuff the way they lie to sell stuff. Oh well. I love your big jade by the way. I wish I could find one that size again. I bought one a few years ago, but had to cut it way back due to frost damage.

I'll have to look for those stores tanyag. I was thinking possibly Michael's as well. My general soil mix is 1:1:1 of Perlite:coarse sand:pre-mix cacti/succulent. I'll need to look at each individual plant and see if they're soil requirements aren't the same. I assume they are. Also, I 'd like to find a substitute for perlite, I'm tired of it floating and making the rocks on top look bad. Yeah, I love the 'VERY RARE' on Ebay. What shocks me is that people actually pay they're inflated prices :) I did see a Jade just a little smaller at a local nursery the other day for 60 bucks!! I love knowing I got a bargain!! Thanks again! Christy

So funny that you mentioned that about Ebay, Tanya. I was just saying on another post that there was someone selling a Hoya Carnosa (the MOST common of all hoyas) as a "very rare" hoya!! I did the same thing as you...I emailed them also, but of course they didn't change the title. It's a shame that people have to lie to get people to buy things. I feel bad for those who actually believe they are getting a "rare" plant when it's a plant they can buy practically anywhere!

Christy, is the 3rd one down the baby toes? I must get one. I seem to be find more and more plants to acquire and fill my house with and I believe I must look out for that one. Also, your Jade plant is gorgeous. Is the one pictured the one you got for $17? I LOVE the way it looks so full.
Tanya, I was one of the suckered who purchased a variegated jade from Ebay. I can't remember how much I paid but I know it wasn't cheap. In my defense, I was very new to succulents and was trying to get as much as I could and not worrying about what I spent. I have actually had to cut my spending down so much otherwise my husband might have had to cut up my bank card:)

Yes, that is the baby toes. I had to have it, luckily found it at the nursery so I didn't have to find it on Ebay. And yes, that is the Jade I bought for 17 bucks. My DH was parking the car, and I saw it with it's price tag. It went right in my cart next to my toddler. I explained to my DH that it had no choice, it had to jump in my cart :) Don't worry, I did the Ebay thing with African Violets. Now, I find them incredibly high maintenance, and am giving them away :) How is your variagated doing by the way?? :) Christy

My husband threatened to leave me when my addiction started. ;0)

Christy,
That big jade (Crassula Ovata) is absolutely gorgeous. I can't believe you only paid 17 dollars for it!! I've seen jades much smaller than that and without that nice coloring for 30-40 bucks. Good deal!

Christy,
I don't perlite for the very same reason. I use this stuff called OilDri. I get it at Sam's Club. It is used to absorb oil from garage floors but even says on the bag used by landscapers to improve soil. It is med/high fired clay and so hold it's structure and leaves many air pockets in the soil. I mix about 2 part pine bark fines, 1 part OilDri, 1 part regular C&S soil, 1 part decomposing granite. Last year I used only oil dry but this year I bought the dec. granite for my bonsai grit so am going to make a new batch and pot up. I am also completely doing away with peat in my soil. I am using coir which I bought from Petsmart as Bed a Beast in the lizard and snake section. Each block is $6, but it makes 7 liters of soil. I bought two blocks and when mixed, I should have enough to pot up mine plus. Umm. Maybe it's time to go shopping. Heehee.

My variegated is doing great. It actually took quite a while to root but it's doing great now. I had it in my south facing screened in back porch but now have it my south facing window and it loves it there. It gets so much more sun in the window then it did in the porch.
Tanya, my husband has finally accepted defeat. I have compromised with him however as I used to have most of my succulents on my patio table but have since moved them to a smaller table. He wanted the patio table cleared so that we can eat outside so I got a butcher block type table and put my plants on that and out of his way. So he's happy now. I'm itching to go to the local nurseries and see if I can find anything I don't have but will probably wait til my hubby's ship (he's in the Navy) leaves next week. He seems to not notice when I bring new things in as long as they are smaller specimens. :)

Hi Christy,

Nice collection, very cute, personally I avoid all sand in my mixes.

I just bought a varieg. Jade last wknd, I love them but have a hard time growing plain Crassula here in NYC. I mention this because I see you've got yrs. double-potted in plastic, I'd like to pls. suggest you take that bottom pot off for fear of it keeping things too moist & encouraging rot.

Thanks pirate girl. It just needed water, so I put the pot there and let it sit in the water for a little while. I'd emptied it, but hadn't removed it just yet. I actually found one clay pot, and the variagated jade is gonna go in it. I was going to wait for it to dry out a bit before I repot it, though :) Christy

I have been looking all over for a monster Jade plant but I would settle for anything over a 6" pot. Any ideas where I can find one? I live near Richmond Virginia but I would be willing to travel a couple of hours.

i dont inderstand why everyone keeps saying home depot, lowes and walmart are not good places to buy plants.i get them there all the time and have come home with beautiful plants that only need a bigger pot.of course they have some that are not in good shape,but i have also found that in many nurseries i have been in.the plants are more than reasonable in price,much cheaper than nurseries. i buy what i like from where i find the best deal.

The key to getting good plants from Walmart, Lowes et al
is to buy them shortly after they come in. Lowes and several others get their succulent plants from Altman Plants otherwise known as "The Cactus Collection"
http://www.cactuscollection.com/

Here is a link that might be useful: The Cactus Collection

Excuse me for butting in, but I've done something similar, and, well, not in the most logical of ways. I went to a flower market (held once a year) and got a bit carried away. I just bought my first jade a week ago (am going to make it a bonsai), and just loved it so much, I bought three types of succulents with no info attached to them at all. The seller only knew one thing more then I did, the name of one -- "donkey tail." (I've learned how to care for that one.)

Fortunately,the first picture on this thread -- lower right hand corner -- is one of the plants that I bought, IF it ends up sprouting a trunk underneath the "flowers." (Are those leaves or flowers?) Unfortunately, there are no pictures yet of the third one, but it looks much like it is a cross between the two on the left side of that first picture, (it looks like a "hen" of "Hen and Chick" fame, except that it seems to be sprouting upwards and outwards from the center of each head, instead off to the side, rather like that bottom left plant) but in dark mauve with hints of dark green at the base of each leaf/petal?!

I've spent several hours in the last few days trying to find out what they are to learn how to care for them, but, since my over all experience with succulents, so far, has been a year old prickly pear, and a year old hen, with several chicks (that are now "hens" in their own right) and that previously mentioned jade, for a "whole" week, I simply don't have enough knowledge yet to know what to search for.

On the other hand, for those looking for huge and CHEAP jade, I've seen a couple advertised for free in the last year on another message board that I enjoy immensely. Google "Freecycle Network," and then, once you click to the main site, find the one closest to you. It's a place where people offer and ask for all sorts of things they want. You'll have more luck searching for large jade in cities, if you're in or near one, since we city folks generally don't have the space for full-grown jade. Of course, gardeners often offer and ask for other plants and garden supplies on it, too.

Also, from what I've read in several sources, many folks buy those close-to-dead $1 jades (and "lucky bamboo") from dollar stores and work them up to larger sizes. They are slow growers, but you can speed up the process by taking them outside during the warm months. (Just paraphrasing what I've read -- not claiming expertise. LOL)

I sure hope I've helped a little, since I know I'm asking for a lot! Sorry.

Lynn

It's funny because I live in the fourth largest city in the US and can't find a large jade like that beauty. I buy most of my stuff at Wally World. I have recently bought three multi-stemmed jades in 6 inch pots for 5.99. Not bad at all. I bonsai a lot of them and want to start experimenting with the fastest way to fatten up the trunks. I also did an experiment with vegetative propegation with my fifth graders. I have created 46 more succulent crazed 11-12 year olds. HeeHee.

Lynn, the answer to your question is they are leaves not petals. Hens and chicks will send up a shoot from around the center of the plant and a flower will open on the end of the shoot. Of course it can offset this way too. I have seen h & c spread out and up. Most when they are sending out new leaves open up with their leaves going up, but as they grow larger they usually spread out. Some do stay more erect while other flop out quite a bit. There are just so many species of every type of succulent, you really have to see pictures to know what you are dealing with. I know there are some that are winter growers, others are summer. It's such a facsinating family of plants. There is a constant learning curve. The only general rule I know of is well draining soil and deep infrequent waterings.

Lynn, according to a plant book, Donkey's tail or Burro's Tail is Sedum morganianum..got this info from older books, so the names could have been changed..

Tanyag, every so often Home Depot carries large Jades/Crussulas. 50.00 and up depending on size and pot.
I think semi pot-bound, (when plant is young) grows faster. Plus a good amount of sun does the trick. I started a Jade from 1 leaf which grew quick, considering. Adding extra fertilzier will not work, in fact it can harm a plant. But I'd say, feeding during growing season helps.
Of your bonsais, do you grow one main trunk or several? Love the way they look when bonsai'd..LOL Do u have any pics? Toni

I just bought a 3gal. jade in beautiful, very full condition at Walmart for $11.99! They had about 8 of them, all equally nice with several pretty thick stems in each. They were so full that I had to look under the canopy of leaves to check out the stems, they were some that were about 4inches around! Oddly enough I had just checked their cactus/succlent section and they only had 6in jade pots but then on my way back out of the garden center I saw the huge jades at the end of the flowering plant section. I'll try to take a picture tomorrow, have never posted pix here before. By the way, I'm in So. Orange Co, CA.

Michele

Here's a look at the trunks in the pot, they vary from 1-3 inches around now that I look at them closer. I haven't decided whether to separate one of the thicker stems to grow in a pot by itself yet, it's so pretty just the way it is but I also love the single stem look.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:554527}}

Here's a picture of the whole plant

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:554528}}

Sounds good to me, make sure your sand is coarse washed construction sand/ add pebbles/ only 20% potting mix.
The plants look terrific, you can always add one or take 2 out. I like to use uneven #'s I use 5-7 plants and two interesting rocks, or drift wood, snarled wood from a desert, forest tree roots. Cover the soil with beige top dressing pebbles, or red lava rock looks good if you want it to look natural. Just have fun. Mix your textures and colors. You have a good start. Do not leave the drip saucer with water in it. Put a piece of screening over the holes to keep the bugs out. Be careful not to over pot your plants, that could cause rot, I don't know what else to tell you. These are ideas for you to use or not to. Norma

Thanks for your post Norma. If you only knew that I have been studying all of your posts for the last couple of months, LOL! You alone are responsible for my all consuming love of jade plants. It started with a small succulent dish garden that I bought on a whim and now I have 4 regular jade plants of various sizes (the above is the largest), 1 new 3in pot of sunset jade, another small tricolor or variegated jade and several of the gollum/hobbit looking jades. Can't quite tell them apart yet since mine seem to have a mix of both types of leaves.

I did repot several jades into a builder's sand/perlite/c&s mix blend but didn't know I was supposed to wash the sand first to remove the finer parts. Do you think I should repot? They've only been in this mix a couple of weeks so far.

I have bought a bag of pumice, can buy some coir at the pet store or could get pine or redwood bark fines. What do you think? I really want to stay away from peat after having trouble with it in my dracaenas, constantly turning yellow even though I only water about once a month and then rewetting them is difficult.

Michele

Christy,

The plants in the first picture are:

Senecio mandraliscae (top center)
Echeveria, possibly 'black knight' (top right)
Anacampseros rufescens (bottom right)
Sedum 'jellybeans' (help, Norma, I'm having a sr moment)
Aeonium 'sunburst' (top left)

You should know that Senecio m. is a spreader and may overtake the others. All of these plants have basically the same water requirements. I'm not so convinced of their light requirements. Anacampseros may not like as much light as the others. Also, Aeonium will go dormant when temps get really hot and should not be watered. Be prepared to move these two into shadier locations in hottest temps. Aeonium IS a winter grower and will need water in active growth (the others may not appreciate that).

Five is a good number for your pot. "They" always say to use an odd number for groupings. Don't put too many in so there is room for growth.
It is a very attractive grouping, best of luck!

HTH - Jo

Thanks, Jo. I ended up bringing in the Anacampseros, and replacing it with a small Gollum. Instead of planting them in the same container, I put a saucer upside down in the middle of it, and put my variegated Jade in the middle. So 5 around and one higher in the middle. After rain, I make sure to empty the saucer. I've found that the Senecio needs more water than the others. That one really pouts without water :) Good to know about Aeonium we've had temps in the upper 90's lately. Thanks for the info!! Christy