Please help me with my Jade plant!

[KTMay]

Hey guys!

I'm very good with succulents; I have about a dozen very healthy plants.

Due to this; my freind asked me to "fix" her plants, but I've never seen this before.

This jade is growing horizontally. If you look closely you'll see some roots forming along the stem of the plant.

I want to help it grow properly. I was thinking of repotting it, then using a bamboo skewer to hold it up.
Its probably 8 or so inches long though. I'm just not sure if that would help it.. I don't wanna kill the thing if I can help it.

I appreciate any advice!
Thank you

[imafan26]

This may be a problem of apical dominance. The original branch may have been a side branch instead of a branch that was actually growing upwards (vertical). The branch has a memory and knows what kind of branch it is. I had this issue with my brown turkey fig. I wanted the fig to be a tree so I could under plant it with plants that needed more shade. However, it decided it wanted to mainly grow sideways. I could not convince it to do other wise, so I have a brown turkey shrub instead of a single trunk tree. It just doesn't pay to fight with mother nature.

You could do a few things with this plant.
1. You could pinch the ends and encourage it to branch more so it would look more like a multi stemmed shrub.
2. You can cut it into sections. The sections where the branches are growing in the right direction can be wired or trained to keep growing in that direction. make sure the light source is overhead or the plant is outside.
3. You can drastically cut it back. Save the cutting for new plants. put the plant out where the light source will be overhead. When the jade branches grow, select the most upright branch, pinch out the rest and stake or train the remaining branch to grow up. It will have to be staked a long time, but remember not to leave the wires or stake on too long or it will cut into the branches. If you just lift the branch, you will need to cut off all of the roots. That will leave scars and the leaves will all be on one side. So, that is actually the least desirable thing to do. It also depends on how flexible the branch is. Jade breaks easily, to stand it up , you will have to reset the base and it might not be as flexible at the base of the plant.

Jade grows fairly fast as far as plants go. It is very forgiving even if you make a mistake.

[KTMay]

Thank you!! You are very knowledgeable! I appreciate your advice:)