Interesting looking color, may I pls. ask why you're considering repotting?

The pot it's currently in is cracked on one side. It's ok for outdoors, but will be messy indoors.

I also must admit the pot is kind of ugly and in a bad condition. But I can take it for a few months if it's not a good time :)

I didn't even know there is such a thing as a sunset jade.

No one is answering you, so I'll put in my 2 cents. I don't know your zone nor do I know whether repotting at this time would be recommended, but since it looks like a standard nursery pot, I'd suggest getting a similar pot and cutting the broken one off the plant and reinserting it into the new pot. At least it will be tidy for the winter. That would also give you a chance to look at how wet it actually is and what the soil looks like. You don't want soggy or smelly soil. I hope someone can chime in about repotting. There is another thread here about a jade which might be of interest.

I've never kept a jade in the house, but you'll want to be sure it gets plenty of light and take care not to overwater.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/4176751/very-sad-looking-jade?n=16

It's really beautiful, Jo. I can't advise about the repotting, since you say you're not that experienced. I'm sure you'll get plenty of input here about that. Personally speaking, I repot whenever I want to. If you could find a pot the same size exactly, you could gently get it out of that one and into another until later. Or find a cover pot and stand it in it to hold any falling soil for the moment.

Hi Jo,

Thanks for explaining. I think you may have found a real gem there, Congratulations.

Yes. it does look old, that trunk's gotta be 4-5" diameter at least, right (so hard to judge that)?

I'd suggest you pls. wait & give this at least a few days for folks to weigh in about any potential repot.

There are some seasoned Jade growers on here, but it may take a few days before they see this.

MeyerMike has some beautiful Hummel's Sunset; you could search for "The Great Wall of Jades Where Kitties Lurk", just off the top of my head.

Jades (Crassula ovata) are quite different from Houseplants, even from many succulents.

For instance, they're going into an active growing season soon (Nov - Feb ish) & if they bloom, they do it Dec. - Feb.

So they're not slowing down in growth like other plants are going into winter.

I'd hate to disturb it now or disrupt any potential bloom by unsettling it unnecessarily. It looks really healthy to me. I'd want to just stand back & enjoy ;>)

In the meantime, some Searches for "Jades, Crassula ovata" will bring you plenty of reading about mixes, pot size, most aspects one would wish to learn.

Look forward to seeing more of it!

I keep Jade plants inside, in as much sun as possible, and water when dry. They do great. They make wonderful house plants. Bright light is the key.

Thank you everyone for your input. I did read about the normal Jade, but wanted to ask specifically about this one in case I should do anything different.

The plant does look in good condition overall, but it does have some damaged leaves were it was struck by ice (we did have some bad hail in the area about 2 months ago). Should I remove those or just let them fall on their own?

Good idea regarding the decorative pot to place this one in, that way I can give it time to accomodate until spring.

I know everyone recommends pots with drainage holes but I'd like to find a way around this, if possible, for two reasons:

1. Wooden floors

2. The plant is far too heavy for me to lift and empty the tray so the water would be sitting in the tray anyway.

I live in Romania, in a very temperate area (warm, sunny summers and cold winters).

There also seems to be a shortage of big pots around here. I've been trying to find one for my date tree (it's been outside all summer) with no luck.

I must admit that, for me, plants have the purpose of beautifying a place and an ugly pot is an eye sore :)

I did find a variety of planters I like from Lechuza, like this one for example (for a different plant tho): http://www.lechuza.us/Planters/CUBICO/CUBICO.html?dwvar_CUBICO_color=white%20highgloss&cgid=Pflanzgefaesse&dwvar_CUBICO_Size=mini#cgid=Pflanzgefaesse&start=1&hitcount=24

I'm thinking worst case scenario I leave it drip in the planter, take the plant out and empty the excess water.

Today is the day it's arriving home :) together with a beautiful croton. I'll be posting lots of pictures!

Jo

Do not leave any succulents to sit in the saucer/tray/cache pot with drained-out water. You are thinking right: after watering, take the plant out and dispose of the extra water. It may take 15 min or much longer, depending on what kind of media it is potted in. Best for succulents is the mix that drains fast. There isn't really any difference in care - all succulents need to be in fast draining mix, potted in a container with drainage hole, good air circulation and very good light. There are few that will tolerate lesser light, but majority should have as much sunlight as possible.

Damaged leaves could be removed or left on - depends on how 'bad' they look :)

Hello, that's a great looking plant you have there! One word of warning though....a pot must have at least one hole to drain properly, without it the Jade could well develop fatal root rot...we've seen it happen far too often here, both with jades and many other c/s. It's going to be a fair task to inspect the roots once unpotted due to its seemingly obvious size. New compost needs to be gritty and free draining, no peat or sand please!

If as you say the plant is too heavy to lift to drain any run off from a large saucer type tray, how about this as a possible solution? Keep the plant pot and its drip saucer Raised even just a few inches from the floor, after watering if any run off collects in the saucer, place a shallow container next to the drip tray, run a strip of fabric from the collected water into the shallow container below and it will wick out by capillary action and just protect the floor temporarily for any mishaps.

To tidy the plant a bit, if it were mine...and I wish it was!...I would trim back all of its thin branch ends to within an inch of a thicker one. This would tighten the growth. That's just my own personal thought, others may well disagree, so may you :-) It will be interesting to hear what others think.

I hope it travels well and you get to enjoy your lovely new plant...any chance of a few more pics from different angles when you get it as we may be able to suggest a few tips? If you do post some for us, if you can put a specific object beside it for scale that would be even better as its hard to judge accurately without a reference...ie a pencil for a small plant, or in this case maybe a family car as it looks huge!!

Gill

Turkey baster also works well to remove collected water :)

They both arrived today and are in good condition, not much damage done during transport (it was a short distance anyway).

Here's the croton:

And here's the Jade (with the door and a 0.5L bottle for reference) - we're still doing some construction work outside so excuse the mess:

It was full of ants, so it's sitting on the terrace at the moment until I find out how to get rid of the ants. Suggestions?

It's HUGE! I'm 1.7 and it's almost as big as I am (I'd say about 1.6 m, planter included).

Also, it weighs more than 50kg, so there's no way I could lift it to empty a tray. greenclaws, that's a great idea! As an alternative I'll have to think of some way to elevate and to improvise a mess free drainage.

The soil doesn't seem to be fast draining and I did see a bit of sand in the mix. I forgot to take pictures of this aspect, but I'll do it tomorrow. It has been staying outside and it's been raining for the past week so I assume it got a lot of water.

I remembered to ask about something. We have floor heating and the floor temperature in winter is 26-27 degrees Celsius max. Would that be ok?

Thank you :)

Did you get it in a new pot, or is that the same one?

Here's what I would do: get an adequately large tray or pan to put under the plant, then elevate the plant on something like small bricks (several). It does not need to be high, just so the pot is not flat down on the tray. When you water, which shouldn't be often, the water can go in the tray. You can wipe out or let evaporate if its not too much. I know it won't be beautiful, but it's a work in progress, right? Also, I would not recommend double-potting, in other words, putting this pot in another more attractive pot.

Sorry, I cannot answer any of your above questions.

This is stunning! Great find!

Wood flooring

A plant stand available at a decent garden and supply shop in your area are available in a wide array of sizes and heights place any type of drip pan or tray on the wooden floor or use as an insert directly under the pot, it would need to be checked now and then for the drained residual water.

Nice find looks like two trunks have developed rather nicely when re-potting keep together or spiting them in to two is an option. Not the best at ID'ing them it looks to be a variegated variation of Crosby compact by the pic.

Along those same lines, I once had a redwood plant platform on wheels. It had a large hole in the bottom so my large pot would drain. And I used a pie tin to catch the runnoff. The wheels were convenient when I wheeled the large pot in and out for the winter, too.

Unfortunately, the darn thing disappeared during our move to Florida!

That is quite a nice jade.... I find that mine tend to go yellowish in full sun, similar to yours... I, like others, strongly recommend repotting sooner than later. It will look a lot nicer having done so, too. Good luck!

Brilliant Jade.
Definitely re-pot in a very porous mix, so that the mix will dry readily during the colder Winter months. And, of course, give it as much light as possible. Great specimen.

Josh

I've looked a bit more at the Lechuza planters and it seems it would be really easy to take the excess water out without lifting the pot by using a manual pump.

While browsing their site I stumbled across their Lechuza Pon (mineral plant substrate) and was wondering if it would be a good option for the Jade?

Have also looked at the mix here: http://www.succulentsandmore.com/2011/10/my-recipe-for-fast-draining-potting-mix.html

Jo

That site recommends some good stuff, but some of it I would avoid:

vermiculite - decomposes too fast; water-retaining

gravel - excellent, but not 'the smallest size you can find' . It needs to be about size of sifted perlite (I buy chicken grit from farm supply store, size #2 - grovers size; approx. $10/50lb)

I have many succulents, and they are grown in a mix of grit, perlite and some turface (DryStall is good substitute for it).

Lechuza Pon has been mentioned before - not familiar with it, but from description it sounds suitable. It does include fertilizer but I didn't see any info on it. Hopefully, it is formulated in good ratios...

I've found this regarding the included fertilizer:

"What is LECHUZA-PON?

LECHUZA-PON is the plant substrate from LECHUZA for house and pot plants. It is the ideal alternative to
conventional potting soil — particularly in combination with the LECHUZA sub-irrigation set. LECHUZAPON
stores added nutrients which are then released to the plants as they need them. It can also retain up
to 40% of its volume in water while at the same time maintaining the optimum air pore volume. LECHUZAPON
supports aeration of the roots while providing optimum dosage of water to the plants.

What is LECHUZA-PON composted of? Does LECHUZA-PON contain fertilizer?

LECHUZA-PON plant substrate is made up of pumice, zeolites, lava and fertilizer. The following fertilizer
declaration is applicable to the fertilizer: 1 liter (approximately 1 quart) LECHUZA-PON contains 3g slowrelease
fertilizer 15-9-9+3. NPK fertilizer, coated, contains magnesium and trace nutrients effective for 6-12
months. At the end of this period fertilize the plants as usual using commercial liquid fertilizer in the water".

Jo

I am not sure what +3 in fert stands for. The most often recommended ratio of NPK is 3:1:2. I am posting a link that explains why. It is quite long read, so if you are interested, please -click here- and read reposted Fertilizer Program - Containerized Plants III in first post.

The +3 added to the NPK ratio means that the fertilizer also has magnesium, sulfur, and trace elements (boron, iron, and zinc) added.

Thank you Sue...

Thank you very much :) I have began reading the topic last night and spent a few hours past my bedtime looking for fertilizer :|

I'll post a question there, regarding the fertilization :)