Pics aren't the best, but will give an idea of how the plant stands now. Sorry about the distracting Christmas tree in the background (that I should've been taking down instead of perusing the garden centers LOL).

Currently in west facing exposure by patio doors. I can't see what kind of potting soil is in the pot, it's covered with a layer about an inch or so thick with granite colored gravel, but a skewer indicates medium is damp, pot is a bit heavy too.

I tried to move it aside, but the gravel keeps filling the hole I've made. I suppose it can stay just as it is until springtime. I don't want to fool with it too much until it can go outside.

The largest trunk is 4.75" around and the other 2 a respectable 4" and 3.75".
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Nice pot of plants!
You might want to remove some of the gravel to encourage the mix to dry out more readily during the Winter.

Josh

Good idea.
Let's see what's under there, shall we =)
Be back with pics...

So the stringy stuff you see there has to be weeds that I suppose the nursery decided to stifle with a good layer of the stone mulch. No way this was grown here in NY.

0_o
Icky-girl dance complete with multiple shudders, as I saw a slow moving centipede while moving away the mulch with my bare hands. It took a moment to register.

The last thing I want to do is re-pot this sucker. Though I see the soil is not very gritty or even open for that matter. This plant is in there rock solid, so the mass of roots is likely keeping it from getting water logged...for now.

Every time I take a Jade plant this size (or near-abouts), bare root and re-pot it fails to thrive. I've read recently (internet search) that c.ovata in particular do not like being re-potted and the 'expert' (to whom the person wrote in to about their plant) said that Jades should never be re-potted.

Ever hear of any such thing?

After removing the stone top dressing, I see that the largest trunks (numbering 3) are all one plant, the other 3 large stems look like they might've been branches that were cut or broke off, the rest looks like leaves that fell of and rooted.

Ol' triple trunk used to be a quartet, but the 4th looks to have rotted off & shrivelled as about 1" stump still remains.

This post was edited by hookilau on Mon, Jan 5, 15 at 13:39

beautiful plant! I am jealous! I can never find plants like that in Iowa!

The pot it is in is plenty big. i never heard of not repotting them. I've repotted several jades and they lived just fine.

I think that dark mix will dry out a bit better now. I think the Jade should be fine until next Summer. I've re-potted lots of Jades, and they've always done better afterward.

Josh

I thought the 'never re-pot' thing sounded a bit hinkey.

I've repotted many times with mixed results, want to be careful with this one though =) I can be too heavy handed sometimes.

@ Deva;
we never get plants like this here in NY either....neverrrrrr.
I haunt CL for people who are tired of their overgrown plants in hopes of a large display plant to compliment my wee ones.

About 2 years ago, there was a lady in Nassau growing massive jades, but still not as big as this one I just got. She wanted 35$ for each, which I gladly coughed up, as they are a dime a dozen when small. Not so much when more mature though!

She sold out her backyard stock of about 25 jades in less than a month. All had trunk diameters of about 2.5-3"

There are 3 greenhouses here on LI that I haunt looking for 'special' plants, it doesn't happen often, but sometimes luck out =D