Jade Bonsai Progression (2018- Now)

This is my Jade bonsai that I started from a leaf. I am trying to grow as bonsai and I will be going through its progression below.

It is still has a lot of development, but I still think it’s coming along nicely.

If you want to watch it in video format, you can watch the YouTube playlist below. The videos show the progression every month throughout the year, sort of like a time lapse.

Just be aware some of my earlier videos are not the best quality, but just like my trees, the quality slowly improves over time, so stick with them and they both get a little better towards the end.

Jades are succulents and are found all around the world as house plants. They can be used as bonsai, but they often get a little large and leggy. If you can give them the correct conditions they can actually grow pretty well and as they are a succulent, they are very easy to care for.

You can read more about their suitability in Is Jade A Good Tree For Bonsai?

2018

In 2018 I was on holiday in the Canary Islands and was walking the area. I went past a jade bush and snapped a leaf off.

I let the end dry out and took it back home. I just filled a small pot with soil and placed it on the surface. After a while it started to root and send out some new leaves.

It actually grew really well so I transplanted it into to a bigger pot.

It was sat by a south face window that got plenty of light. During the summer it got smashed by direct sun on a really hot day. I thought it should be able to handle this, it’s a jade and it was from Spain, but I was wrong.

This nearly killed it and most of it died off. The strong direct sun was too much for the young plant.

I had to remove the top and try and re-root that as a fresh cutting, luckily it worked and the tree survived.

2019

It was looking very sad after being nearly killed from the sun but it pulled though and was doing okay at the start of 2019, but was still a little weak.

However, I moved house in spring and the new house was too dark, so it nearly died again from the lack of light.

At this point a few of my trees where struggling so I bought a grow light and this jade was placed under it. Luckily it responded very well, so it was now saved for a 2^nd time.

As it was so weak, I actually moved it to a smaller pot. I wanted to make sure it wasn’t over whelmed in the lager pot it had been.

It had hardly any roots at this point, so really it needed less room and I think it was much happier now.

It then grew like crazy under the grow light for the rest of the year.

2020

It doesn’t even look like the same tree, but it is. It just exploded with growth.

As it was growing well I decided to repot it in spring, where I put it into a small brown bonsai pot.

It then continued to grow like crazy.

It was at the back of the grow tent and I didn’t realise the tent was not perfectly flat. Water was pooling in the back corner, which is where this tree was sat.

Basically I wasn’t watering it, but it was still sat in a pool of water and it got root rot. As I wasn’t watering regularly I didn’t notice until the trunks started leaning over. I thought as it was too heavy, until I realised what the issue was.

I had to just cut both trunks away from the roots and start over as two new cuttings. So this now was the 3^rd time I had nearly killed the tree and luckily the two cuttings took.

I also sat the tree on a little stand, so it wasn’t sat in a puddle any more.

2021

In 2021 it was left to recover and more importantly and take root and start growing again.

This meant I didn’t touch it all year.

2022

In 2022 I had two trees now growing in the one small pot, which isn’t ideal. I decided to prune one tree back, which I will keep in this pot and keep as the bonsai. The second tree I left untouched.

In the summer I repotted the trees and as I said, kept the smaller one in this pot and the other is was planted else where.

Now the two trees are split, we will only be following the progress of the smaller tree.

2023

In 2023 the tree was mostly left alone. It was pruned at the start of the year and again the summer. It has generally grown well this year.

2024

The plan going forward is just do more of the same. Let it grow out and prune it back when needed. I may repot it, but we will see. Jades can be happy enough when pot bound, but I will decide what to do after spring.

(You can read more about – Can You Use Succulents For Bonsai and How Are They Different?)