[Thursday – Plants 101] Pruning Rosa the Jade plant

Meet my adorable Jade Rosa. She’s a sweetheart but I haven’t been pinching her back. The result is that she’s tall and top-heavy. Here, take a look:

Rosa the Jade

So I’m going to prune her back now. Jade is another one of those fantastic houseplants that don’t need to root before you can plant them.

My clippers are pretty cheap, but they work well. Here’s where I made the first cut, as close to the base as I could get.

Of course, I’m not going to throw away the piece I just cut. I’ll plant it and use it for a gift.

Here’s what Rosa looks like after her first cut:

How to prune a Jade

I’ll make another cut, like so:

How to prune a Jade

I trimmed off another little bit after that, then pinched off some baby leaves, and that was it. Took less than 5 minutes.

Look how much better she looks:

Newly pruned Rosa the Jade

I’m going to use all the cuttings, and the leaves, to make new plants. Jades are great. You don’t have to root them at all. You just let the fresh wound scar over, which takes a couple of days, then you put the stem or leaf in the dirt. That’s it!

Freshly pruned bits of Jade

See how the cut is fresh right now? You need to give the Jade a couple of days to scar that over, just like a strawberry on your knee develops a scab, then you can plant it in dirt.

I’ll go hunting for cute containers for the cuttings, and post what I find here on Saturday. Jade plants are considered good luck in finances, so who wouldn’t want a baby money tree plant as a gift? The holidays are nearly upon us, afterall.

Look at the bounty I got from one quick prune. Rosa’s going to be so much happier now!

Rosa the Jade plant and her cuttings