Need Ideas. For Rescued Jade Plant And A Lemon Cypress

[Peoplearestrange.anna]

I am very new to bonsai but I am not new to gardening.

I have a couple of jade plants and I think they would make good bonsai but I need ideas. When I bought them they were struggling and looked unhealthy. Their soil was not good. Now they are in better soil and healthier.



And



On the first one there was a second stem that was as ling as the other one but it dropped and hung vertical down from the pot. I tried to see how bendable it was today and it broke. I am looking for ideas! I have no idea where to start, I have images in my mind but dont know of they are possible not how to do them. So I was hoping you folks could give me an opinion on what you think would be a good idea and some steps towards that.

I also have a lemon cypress here (miniature) and I have the same question



Let me know what you think!

 

[Peoplearestrange.anna]

The cypress looks like it's browning in that picture but it's just the lighting. It's quite healthy. I can post an image of the close up of the trunk if need be, but I'm running into issues uploading images

 

[Housguy]

I believe the jade you have is the bigger leafed species, not great for bonsai, but will work as a good training tree. The lemon cypress is nice, will need to get some movement going with that tree unless you going to do a broom stick type style bonsai with it.

 

[penumbra]

Where are you? Lemon cypress won't live in my zone.

 

[Peoplearestrange.anna]

For the jade I know it's not ideal for a traditional bonsai but yeah I want to train it in some way. I want to bend the lemon but I'm not sure of the best way/when/where to do it and how it relates to pruning. It had just been pruned when I got it a couple of weeks ago so I dont know If I should prune it more just yet.

@penumbra I'm in southern ontario Canada, I dont think they winter outside especially this small but I know they work indoors because I know others who have had one for years. This will be my third, the other ones before died they dried out and started dying no matter what I did, they're water hogs but you can't overwater them, instead I mist it almost every day. This one is a lot larger than others I had bought before so it is more established. I see them for sale all over the place this time of year around here, I think a lot of people buy them as decoration for the holidays and then toss them. But I love them.

Edit: These are my first bonsai. I have never done bonsai before and dont have the money for pretrained trees

 

[penumbra]

I commend you on your efforts and i welcome you to bonsai. I think both of your current choices are quite demanding as far as making them look like bonsai. Please consider getting a few plants that are easier to work with and much more rewarding. If you interest is bonsai indoors, you can't have too many ficus. If outdoors ,,,, well there are so many.

 

[BonjourBonsai]

I commend you on your efforts and i welcome you to bonsai. I think both of your current choices are quite demanding as far as making them look like bonsai. Please consider getting a few plants that are easier to work with and much more rewarding. If you interest is bonsai indoors, you can't have too many ficus. If outdoors ,,,, well there are so many.

I've got no experience with Jade but I've tried a few lemon cypresses. Here's what I've learned:

• They don't forgive you if you let them dry out.
• They need sun.
• Branches 2 years old or older are too hard to bend and you risk breakage.
• Pinching the tips of the leaves rather than pruning with shears is better.

Like @penumbra said they can be very demanding. Don't give up on bonsai though! A ficus or a shefflera might be less demanding trees to consider. Good luck!

 

[sorce]

You Naders and Dem Lemons!

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce

 

[BonjourBonsai]

Here's my lemon cypress about a year ago. I had it inside in a sunny spot and then outside all summer. In October, I brought it in to a different sunny spot but it did not like it and gave up the ghost in October.

 

[Peoplearestrange.anna]

Thanks for the welcome. Okay I didn't trim the lemon but I have the branches tied so they point outwards. But the jade has brown dots on it. Is that fungus or insects???

 

[Housguy]

Send pic please, best way we will be able to help. Mine are outside and we had a couple of cold nights that got into the 30s and caused brown spots to appear on the leaves, but other than that the tree is super healthy.

 

[Peoplearestrange.anna]

Okay so I untied the branches and they are not pointing straight up anymore. I want movement in the trunk, and I'm probably going to let it grow for a good season before trimming anything, as per the large pot. Here's what I have. Is this harming my tree much??? And yankow what, the brown spots are barely anything I'm not worried anymore about the jade

Why can't I post pictures ????