My Jade, after the storm...

I had bought 3 Jade stocks Portulacaria afra 2007 from a horticultural fair held each year in June, where I live.
This Jade (let's call it No. 1) was hard pruned immediately after bringing it home, and many unwanted thick branches at the wrong positions, were chopped off.

With the flush of new growth I kept on prunning the shoots to get a compact branch structure. Then it was put to rest in the winter till new growth started to appear in March 2008. By the year end I did some wiring on the thick branches very carefully, as the stems are very succulent and tend to get damaged easily.

In 2009 spring, I planted it in an olive colored ceramic oval container, applied fertilization, and the shape was being maintained with constant pruning and thining out fine shoots from the trunk and stems to give the specimen a more tree-like appearance rather than a compact bush-like canopy. Regular removal or thinning out the new shoots is very essential for Jade bonsai.

The tree was doing fine till a nor'wester storm last month (which lasted only for half an hour) brought the pot down from the rack kept on the roof. Next morning, when I got up to tend to my plants, the sight was shattering...... the pot was broken into pieces, the bonsai having fallen from a height of about 5 ft with the weight of the pot and soil, resulted in many broken stems and branches. So sad.......

Then I rescued it and potted it in a grey-black terracota container and hope to work on it this year to regain new branches and foliage. Here are pics of the tree, after the storm recovery. The main objective now is to get the tree back to its health and vigour till it is ready for the next step.

Shaukat

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happy to hear that plant has got new pot...
i have never saw such a beautiful jade in my area....
i am searching for such jade since long....what i always came across are bush type jades and usually nurserymen ignore them as cheap plant,so health wise are also in bad condition.
you have got a very good jade indeed...

Thanks for your words....
If you let a jade grow freely it will grow very fast resulting in a compact bush. But fwg are few important points to grow a nice jade:

1) To use less nitrogen based fertilizer..... rather use one where nitrogen content is less and potassium and phosphorus content are high.

2) To keep the tree under full sun, and prune or remove the stems and new shoots, on a regular basis.

3) To keep the apex under control, by pruning, so that the lower branches thickens to attain a nice balance with the trunk vis-a-vis the branches and foliage.

I will post dev pics soon.

Shaukat

nice suggestions about jade,
i have kept mine jade where there is no direct sun, now i will place it in full sun.regarding fertilizers, i am using general home garden fertilizer(slow).

You will really have a nice jade, under the full sun.

If you use natural organic fertilizers, it is fine.... which we also use, made with cow dung, mustard cake, bone meal, etc.... but I think bone meal contains lot of phosphates/phosphorus and also keeps the soil very dry.

I also use tablet fertilizers (slow release type and quite good), which are hassle free, and we get in 2 types... one nitrogen based and the others mixed minerals.

What is your home garden fertilizer made of?

Shaukat

i am using cow manure in all my plants,along with this, i am using fertilizers for it,mine one is mix minerals slow release (6 months)

Oh, now I could make out why your baby jade leaves are so thick and fleshy.... the cow manure is doing the trick.

Shaukat

Hello everyone!

Here are some dev pics of my jade, after I had let it grow for a while under full sun.
As you could see, a lot of foliage has developed to fill up the broken branches/leaves after the storm.

Jade needs to be controlled to keep them in shape, as the growth is very vigorous.
Now it is ready to be pruned.

Shaukat


Before Image-1


Before Image-2


Before Image-3


Befor Image-4

Now getting back to the actual styling, lot of branches were removed and pruned to attain a natural look. The apex had to be reduced to keep the growth under control.

After an hour's work, the tree now looks as per the images below.

The front planting angle might be changed a little, and the tree would be ready in another 2~3 years' time.

Shaukat


The apex was thinned and reduced a lot to control the growth.


The left side view.... after pruning.


Back view, after pruning.


Front view-1


Front view-2

nice growth Shaukat,
really its very healthy tree. though its looks by pics that you have planted it in ordinary garden soil.
is it final pot or you will change it?

You are right, Majed..... it is ordinary garden soil.
I had no choice but to use whatever soil / pot was available, after the original pot had broken.

This pot is too big for the jade, and I will change the pot; most likely an oval or round ceramic pot later this year. And I would use this pot for a Ficus rumphii or some other tree.

Shaukat