Thickening a Dwarf Jade Bonsai Trunk

Hello, all!

I have a dwarf jade bonsai and I read where allowing it to grow throughout the year and get a bit crazy looking is what is needed to thicken the trunk. I just read where pruning more often it thickens the trunk. What say you?

Thank you!

Pruning more won't thicken the trunk faster, but pruning can be necessary while thickening depending on your goals. For example, if you have multiple branches coming out of one section and you are not planning to chop that are away in the future, you should prune some to avoid inverse taper. You may also want to prune foliage if it's shading important branches below. Otherwise, if your only goal it to thicken the trunk and you'll chop it low in the future, you can just leave everything and let it run.

Just put it in the sun. Water fertiilize and let it grow.

The way I used to do it when I fattened up the trunks was to sit the pot on the grow bed soil, and cover the bottom of the pot with half an inch soil. Leave it there for a few years. That thing will explode with growth...and fatten up the trunk.
You can do very careful and selective pruning to guide it...while its growing.

fredman said:

The way I used to do it when I fattened up the trunks was to sit the pot on the grow bed soil, and cover the bottom of the pot with half an inch soil. Leave it there for a few years. That thing will explode with growth...and fatten up the trunk.
You can do very careful and selective pruning to guide it...while its growing.

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frost-free in Wellington?

leatherback said:

frost-free in Wellington?

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Yeah I think it should be possible. I'd be more worried about it being too windy and too wet for this species to survive outside year round in Wellington.
Anyway, the guy asking the question is not in Wellington but in a place where it definitely freezes and snows more often so it was poor advice anyway.

My mother in law keeps jade trees in her unheated "solarium" year round, because it's unheated it's sealed off from the house in winter to keep the cold out the house. The temperature inside the soliarum definitely dips below freezing on very cold nights. Venturing inside that solarium in winter definitely reminds of New Zealand winter, a cold humid blast that seeps in your clothes and bones. Plants seem to enjoy it though. The jade trees absolutely thrive in there, the trunks are as thick as beercans. I bet they havent been repotted in a decade and never had a trim either, just occasional watering.

To stay on topic:
Just let it grow (wild). Probably the best and definitely the easiest method.
Well timed pruning could help create more ramification thus more leaves and thus more trunk growth on the long term, but it will hinder growth on the short term.
Pruning too often will definitely hinder growth.

leatherback said:

frost-free in Wellington?

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We had a few frosts this winter so far.

oranjeaap said:

I'd be more worried about it being too windy and too wet for this species to survive outside year round in Wellington.

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Yeah the wind is a bother, but they don't seem to mind the wet. All mine has been out on the bench all winter...and its been unusually wet.
I've been growing many over the last 20 yrs here. They grow slower here than in warmer weather though.
When I started out I used to try and keep them dry...now I water them regularly.

fredman said:

All mine has been out on the bench all winter...and its been unusually wet.
I've been growing many over the last 20 yrs here. They grow slower here than in warmer weather though.

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hm.. So are you saying these are frost-hardi?

leatherback said:

hm.. So are you saying these are frost-hardi?

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They certainly can take frost yes. Where they grow naturally it frosts regularly during winters.

Someone Somewhere started calling it a tropical...and that has gathered quite a following I see.
Its actually quite the opposite. It literally grows in arid areas...naturally.
They are master adaptors though...not much fazes them.

Mine do better when i keep them cool, even into the mid 30's, in my attic under a skylight for the winter. The foliage is greener, they just look healthier. When i try to keep them with my tropicals and tropical Orchids during the winter they look awful. As soon as the outside temps stay in the 40's I put them out in my unheated greenhouse where they seem to thrive.

fredman said:

They are master adaptors though...not much fazes them.

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cold & wet feet seems to bother them though?

Russ1 said:

as the outside temps stay in the 40's I put them out in my unheated greenhouse where they seem to thrive.

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Good idea. I keep mine in unheated rooms and wait longer before putting them outside. But I do have a small unheated greenhouse which stays frost-free if it just an overnight dip. WIll give that a try in spring too.

leatherback said:

cold & wet feet seems to bother them though?

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Yes..extreme and consistent cold slows them down, but they still grow well in cooler temps. They definitely do better with plenty of water.
My 30 (ish) year old stood in a pot with garden soil for 20 yrs (outside in this wet winters) prior to me taking it over.
Just this past summer I cut it up to pieces. I'm redesigning it. This is some of the cuttings i've put in. They're in store bought cactus mix
They went in last summer and spent all winter out in the rain, wind and some frost...no protection.
Just brought them into the cold frame last week because they need potting up





This one has been inside its container and in the ground for 2 seasons now. The trunk is rapidly thickening.



No doubt...these are tough plants that don't need pampering. In fact they grow better when challenged.

fredman said:

No doubt...these are tough plants that don't need pampering. In fact they grow better when challenged.

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This certainly matches my experience. Last winter I kept three small ones under a grow light with other delicate plants. By spring they looked terrible--largely defoliated. In contrast a much larger forest planting spent the winter in a cool, sunny window and only watered once or twice a month. It looked great in the spring.

fredman said:

My 30 (ish) year old stood in a pot with garden soil for 20 yrs (outside in this wet winters) prior to me taking it over.

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fredman said:

They went in last summer and spent all winter out in the rain, wind and some frost...no protection.

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OK, that goes against all that is commonly recommended. So I will need to try this. I am going to assume frost is wellington frost, a sprikle of cold whether and not -10C. But it does mean I can keep them outside way longer than I do now.
Great!

leatherback said:

sprikle of cold whether and not -10C

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I don't know how cold they can handle. What I do know is where they grow naturally it frosts more than here in Wellington....but the air is also dryer there in winter.
What still astonishes me is how much water they tolerate...and do good with, without negative effects.

fredman said:

What still astonishes me is how much water they tolerate...and do good with, without negative effects.

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Yeah. That seems the biggest mistake people make. They let them dry out fully. Then water. And let them dry out again. That is very hard. Whereas during the growing season with warm weather I water them every day, and they love it.

Despite having no idea when to trim, I have noticed the dwarf jade and the regular jade plants I have will consume a lot of water. I will be increasing the organic content of the soil when I repot them in the future.

I will try to find a picture from the easily spring and I will take one as it is now.

Just read on a few different sites where growers hammer their dwarf jade bonsais with a high nitrogen fertilizer, like Miracle-Gro, quite often throughout the growing year. What do you think? I ave a 3-3-3 bonsai fertilizer, but 24N seems pretty aggressive??

Chisai Ki said:

I ave a 3-3-3 bonsai fertilizer, but 24N seems pretty aggressive??

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I have been using Jack's Classic 20:20:20...