Mini Jade (Port. Afra) backbudding

[KeithE]

Is it possible to get these guys to backbud? I let my small jade get away from me and I'm trying to re-compact and ramify the canopy. My past defoliation attempts have not been helpful. Leaves regrow near the cut ends or nothing regrows and I'm left with a empty branch stump!
Has anyone successfully defoliated a PortAfra to achieve backbudding? Is there a technique (aka full sun, or shade, less water, spare a few leaves, etc)
Attached an old pic of the one I've been torturing for years. The branches are getting too thick.

 

[sorce]

These are similar...

From another thread.

Crassula grinds to a halt when it runs out of growing space. This can be good for bonsai purposes (or just for having a low-maintenance house plant), but not so much for thickening the trunk. If you keep up-potting, they'll keep growing, and the trunk will keep thickening.

Also, you can prune just below any node to get an almost guaranteed rooted cutting. And you can prune just above any node to get an almost guaranteed 1-2 new branches. They behave incredibly predictably, so if you want the trunk of your behemoth to look differently than it does, don't be afraid to prune and re-grow.

Also....

Sorce

 

[Velodog2]

Yeah my experience also says keeping them in small pots produces tiny ball-like internodes. And defoliating under these conditions plus full sun and fertilizer will produce slow steady back budding. Don't be afraid to prune back overthick branches to where you want.

 

[just.wing.it]

Yes you can!

 

[Diolated]

I have had some luck getting good back budding, but it seems to be a drawn out process. I let the growing tips run run run while pruning all lower leaves on the branch off. The longer they run, the more back budding happens at some nodes along the branch. Then I cut the growing tip off and back to the new back bud where ever it may be. Then repeat until you get the branching as far back along the original branch as you are looking for. Again, this take a couple "generations" of growing out and cutting, but it seems to work well for me. They do put out buds at the strangest places though. Also, I fertilize the heck out my dwarf jades from early spring to late fall -- they can't seem to get enough -- and I repot in the early spring every other year. Not repotting seems to really slow them down. I like ports because like was mentioned above, they seem to respond pretty consistently to whatever you do to them, good and bad.

 

[KeithE]

Just found this guy on YouTube who has some solid videos on defoliation of Ports..
not in English but you can get the jist of what he's doing.

 

[f1pt4]

These are similar...

From another thread.



Also....

Sorce

So basically, just spit on it and it grows.

 

[KingJades]

They back bud very easily. Good sun and pinch the growing tips every ~3 days. Your choices are basically grow the tree taller or backbud. Pinching the growing tips forces backbuds to grow.