Hello Helen, that’s a Portulacaria afra you have there, often called baby jade or similar but it isn’t a Crassula, it’s a completely different species....that’s why it’s always best to use their Latinised ‘proper’ name as opposed to their common name to avoid any confusion...you seem to know that already though, so maybe just needed it’s real name :-)

They do need a bit more water than you would imagine else they can drop leaves at an alarming rate.

I’ve never tried to propagate mine so don’t really know if they’re easy or not, I would imagine they are. It is quite a small piece isn’t it though?

Gill

I have few Porulacarias started from cuttings and they are all growing. I did have 1 or 2 in past that didn't root - can't tell why (probably my fault). They seem to grow slower than Crassulas, but not awfully slow.

IMO, that branch could be cut off - especially if you think plant will/may be taken away. It would be best to ask the owner - I would be very angry if somone just cut off any piece of my plant without asking. Variegated plants may be slower growing, but should root same as all green. If it was albino branch (white), it could be difficult to root. Variegated plants may revert sometimes, but out of 6 rooted Portulacarias I have, none reverted so far.

Gill, yes I knew there was a different species, not even a Crassula, but thought there was also a small leaved Jade that was very hard to tell apart from the Portulacaria afra. So thanks for that.

Rina, thanks, and I agree about asking, I would be angry too and wouldn't think of cutting even a twig without asking. But normal things aren't always best here, and the only ones on my floor likely to have brought in a nearly dead plant are not in the real world most of the time.

So if I was to cut the twig including some of the branch with it, that would be more likely to take. I'll see how much I could take without altering the look of the plant first.