Cutting open the root of a jade plant?
I am actually completely new with regards to bonsai. I bought this jade plant recently, it is about 1 and half feet wide and tall. I like the look of a forest jade bonsai where they have multiple small bonsai trunks line up in a row. I was wondering if is possible to basically cut open the root to the middle of this plant and unwrap the trunks where it lines up in a row. Will the plant survive this torture? What's the best way to go about performing such a surgery? Thanks!
To elaborate, right now the plant has about 7 or 8 trunks roughly the same length in a cluster. What I want to do is cut the root system and unwrap the trunks so that they are in a straight line but still connected to each other via the root system (hopefully). Is it possible to achieve that without killing it?
I don't know, if you cut it you will need to be careful or the base might rot. Most of the time when I have cut jade, it has a fibrous root system and to keep it from rotting, I have to callous off the end a bit first. It doesn't take long, sometimes only a few hours or a day. I usually do not try to cut the main trunk, I only take off the branches.
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yliao,
I think that you will have some difficulty trying to create a straight line as you wish, I expect the flesh will be too brittle. You might be better off to seperate the trunks, establish them individually, then later re-pot as desired. Make sure, as imafan26 mentioned, to allow the cut portions to dry well before you re-pot the pieces. It won't hurt to leave them unpotted for several days.
Norm
I think that you will have some difficulty trying to create a straight line as you wish, I expect the flesh will be too brittle. You might be better off to seperate the trunks, establish them individually, then later re-pot as desired. Make sure, as imafan26 mentioned, to allow the cut portions to dry well before you re-pot the pieces. It won't hurt to leave them unpotted for several days.
Norm