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Hello everyone,

This is my crassula, it was my first plant in my life and I got it when I was about 6 years old. I didn't knew bonsai by then, but I was very interested in nature. First it was just a little plant that grew straight upwards, but because of the weight it bended down till it touched the ground. Then it began to grew upwards again. I never thought of making a bonsai from this plant since a while ago.

These pictures are made yesterday (06-11-11) and I've never changed anything about it, so I've never pruned it, or repotted it, once in a month I give it a bit water and I feel at the underside of the pot when it has enough water, it begins to feel cold because of the cold ground. I do this because there aren't any holes in the pot (shame on me :blush: ) because I have it now about 10 years and by then I didn't knew that holes into a pot is very important. But all these years it has done well, it has never been sick or dropping it's leaves and I don't have any cascade pots so I'll just let it in this pot for a while. I've also never fertilized it.

It has now become very good material to turn it into a bonsai. All ideas of styling this tree are welcome because I haven't thought about how to style it yet. Often different ideas from different people helps a lot, so please say your ideas!

Picture one: the first side
Picture two: the other side
Picture three: close-up of the movement on the end of the tree
Picture four: close-up of the trunk and the first three branches

Thanks for all the tips!

Hi Youri,

This is a very healthy and lovely Jade plant. I have never seen a trunk grow like the long, drooping one has and then form all the upright branches...that is so cool! I have two possible ideas for styles. Well...maybe three or four?!

The first is to leave it as it is as a cascade or semi-cascade and start pinching back all new growth at the tips to encourage branching on the branches and on the tall trunks growing up from the pot. Does this make sense? The only challenge I can foresee with this style is, as the branches growing out of the long, drooping trunk develope their own branches and grow heavier, the trunk would also need to grow and thicken in order to support the branches. :whistle:

My second idea is to create a forest style as this plant has so many different sizes of potential single trunks. The Crassula roots extremely easily so you could cut the long, droopy trunk into sections, each with it own little tree and plant each section into soil...they will have new roots starting within days. The tall trunks at the top of the pot could be gently separated and planted in the foreground of your forest, with the smallest near the back of your dish creating an illusion of atmospheric distance or perspective. Again, pinch back new tip growth continuously to encourage branching.

I just had a great idea! The forest style could be taken even further by creating a Penjing landscape. :woohoo:

I also thought of the possibility of creating a raft or boat style however, I'm not sure if the long, drooping stem would be suitable for that? Just a quick, passing thought. :huh:

What do you think?

Nooo waaaays!!! Its always been said that crassula cant be cascaded.. Not now

joncoh101 wrote: Nooo waaaays!!! Its always been said that crassula cant be cascaded.. Not now

LOL! I know...this is *very* unusual but...there they are! :lol:

Thank you for your replies!

Yes, I have never seen another crassula in this style too, but nature have done this, so it's possible!

thanks for the reply Leslie, yes they are all options, cascade style it's growing now, raft style is also an option, or forest and penjing, but the last option I wouldn't choose. It's just that it's my first plant in my life and I don't want that it will be cut, if you know what I mean.

Personally I like the cascade style because it's so different to see this tree in cascade style. It needs some more secundary branches though and it needs more refinement and there is a lot of work to do, but the basics are there.

If anyone has ideas to style it into cascade, future thoughts etc. please let me know!

howdy youri,

now that i can see it,the site was freezing up last night,
i think it is beautiful just the way it is .it reminds me of tall pines growing on a mountain side.maybe adding a nice stone for the cascade to rest on but i love it

Hey Youri,

Look at the second pic I posted here:

On top of the rock is a jade, in cascade. They seem to just trim side-branches and keep trimming them in order to create ramnification.

In order to force growth more to the cascade, you will need to remoce a lot of the verticalmaterial. If you wold do this in spring, place the plan outside over summer (Let it get used to intense light, before placing it anywhere near a full-sunshine position or it will get burn-spots!) you shuld be able to grow quite a bit of material over the summer.

These plants can grow 10+cm per year without problems, when given proper sunlight and water. Under bright light conditions the truncs will also grow best. Irregular watering stimulates trunk fattening (Water storage).

Thank you very much for the link and tips leatherback!