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greenman28

Frozen Jade - back from the dead....

Happy Easter, garden friends!

The Tale of this Crassula ovata goes back at least five years, when it was but the humblest of cuttings.

Now, as the oldest of my Jades, I've dubbed it my Mother Jade, and it is very important to me...thus my horror at the prospect of its death!

This was my Mother Jade in October, 2009:

{{gwi:531651}}

For additional reading, container soil tips, travails, and pictures of this Jade and others, please pick through these Threads at your leisure:

Plucked my Jade's leaves (pics)

New Jade Cutting - (progress pics)

Jades and Jade Cuttings - (update pics)

_______________________________________________________

Although I have had this Crassula ovata for quite some time, the most recent chapter in the story sources from last December, when this Jade nearly froze to death...I had returned home in the wee hours of the morning from a military homecoming party (for a close friend), only to discover that I'd left this Jade and another out in the cold. The temperature was 28F, and had been so for a while.

The following day, I removed the Jade from its container, cut off the mushed, frozen stems, and set the Jade in a cardboard box to dry. I loosened the soil in anticipation of a drastic root-pruning. After a few days of drying, I pruned the Jade's roots, washed them clean, and re-potted in a mix of predominantly Perlite, with a bit of pumice, bark, and quartz for extra weight and grit.

It was difficult to watch my Jade shrivel up and begin discarding its limbs. Deep wrinkles appeared in the trunk, and I thought for sure that the trunk was hollow with rot. I didn't water until I had evidence of new growth...and even then I was worried that the Jade wouldn't make it. Within the past two weeks, however, those deep wrinkles in the trunk began to plump up. Plus, I just noticed new growth a day ago...

Here are a few images of the slow but gradual recovery.

For the full series of pictures, please view the slideshow: Frozen Jade Recovery

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Josh

Comments (27)

  • PRO
    Kaveh Maguire Garden Design
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Oh no! With the time line of pictures it is pretty horrible seeing it just keep getting smaller and smaller like that. But it is good to see that you were left with something and didn't lose the entire plant.

  • jojosplants
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Josh!
    So good to see this!

    I told you she'd be fine.. now don't you have someone to forgive? ;)

    JoJo

  • gumbomike
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    We have several Jades that have all been spawned from the same mother plant that I bought my wife for her birthday in 1991. Actually its more work trying to keep them from taking over the yard than it is to start a new plant.

  • greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
    Original Author
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks!
    Mother Jade...frost-pruned by Mother Nature...
    Ah, I think it's a work of art, freed of all those distracting branches! *wink*

    Okay, JoJo, I guess I've done enough penance, lost enough sleep, et cetera... ;)
    Baby steps to forgiveness...

    Josh

  • cactusmcharris, interior BC Z4/5
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Josh,

    Coincidentally, I just read an article in the New Yorker about a couple of folks and their cryogenics institute. While no mention was made of an operation in Northern California I'm assuming that that's because you're publicity-shy?

    Congratulations - your efforts are paying off handsomely.

  • jojosplants
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Good to hear Josh..:)

    JoJo

  • puglvr1
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Josh, I am so glad it is looking so much better and recovering. I'm so happy for you. It will look like it used to in no time you'll see!

  • haxuan
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Congrats, Josh. Like what Nancy has said, your plant will look fine in no time.
    Bet you feel really good, don't you :-)

    Xuan

  • greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
    Original Author
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Good morning!
    Xuan, I sure do feel a lot better! Even if more segments of the trunk are discarded,
    at least I know there are healthy roots that will sprout back and ultimately survive.
    I'm very happy with the centralized trunk-column that I've been left. I'll certainly be
    using this Thread for updates this Spring, Summer, and Fall!

    Jeffrey, this cryo-experiment nearly had me in tears ;)
    It is something I hope not to repeat...well, not under these extreme conditions.
    I *might* subject plants to a light frost in the future, however...scare them straight....

    Nancy and JoJo, thank you so much for encouraging me through this transitional period! ;)

    Josh

  • ashley_plant_addict
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi everyone!

    Hey Josh! Yay! I know it would come back Josh! I know it seems silly now to have worried so much, but if I was in your shoes with a plant so dear to me, I'd have worried just the same. Glad to know the trunks are plumping up again and shes coming back to life! :)

    Hey JoJo, Jeffrey, Xuan and Pug! :)

    Ashley

  • greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
    Original Author
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hello, all!
    After three weeks' time and a bit of sun, the Jade's looking much better.
    I *still* think it's going to discard more of the upper branch segments....but now I'm sure it will survive.
    Not the best pic (had to use the flash).

    {{gwi:531661}}

  • jojosplants
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Looks great Josh!
    So happy to see it's comming along!

    Thanks for the updates, always love your pics.

    JoJo

  • puglvr1
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Its looking like its going to survive Josh! So happy to hear it. Thanks for the update. Its recovering very nicely.

  • meyermike_1micha
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Josh, Bravo!!!

    Hello Jojo and Nancy!:-)

    Josh, thank you for the updates. I really enjoy them without having to ask.
    Wow, what a resilient plant..

    Mike..:-)

  • greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
    Original Author
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Good evening, everyone!

    An update on my Mother Jade....healthy, happy, and fat again.
    The uppermost growth is doomed to die eventually; but that's a small price to pay to save the plant!

    {{gwi:531662}}

    Josh

  • puglvr1
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Congrats Josh!! Nice save and well worth all the effort! Its looking great! Thanks for the update!

  • haxuan
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Nice job, Josh. Congrats.

    Xuan

  • meyermike_1micha
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi Josh..

    How does the Mother plant look now? I was wondering if you brought all your jades in yet and didn't make the same mistake...It must be frosty there now?

    It certainly is here..20's tonight and a month early..:-((((

    Please post some updates..Thanks..

    Mike

  • greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
    Original Author
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Howdy, Mike!

    Yes, my Jades are coming in for the night lately...it isn't too cold yet (only in the low 40°F's),
    but there's a lot of dew in the early morning. I haul my plants back out when I leave for work.

    Keep in mind, the top few inches of this Jade are going to fall off eventually. That's just the cost of survival.
    In the last picture, you can see that the stems are deflated and that the nodes are separating right at the first fork in the trunk.
    There's a green spot of growth at that node, which is where a new branch will be.

    When all's said and done, this Jade will have been frozen back to a stump. A lesson hard-bought.

    Here we go - my Mother Jade:

    {{gwi:531663}}


    {{gwi:531664}}


    {{gwi:531665}}


    Josh

  • puglvr1
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi Josh, glad to see its still alive and doing well...just a little shorter than before that's all. No problem, it will make a NICE Bonsai Jade.

  • jojosplants
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Josh,
    It's great to see the mother jade doing so well! Thanks for posting an update!

    Lugging them in..back out.. good exercise. ;)

    JoJo

  • haxuan
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Josh, it's so interesting to follow the journey to recovery of the mother jade.
    Thanks for sharing update photos. I always love to look at Before & After pictures :-)

    Xuan

  • greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
    Original Author
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Nancy, JoJo, and Xuan, thank you all!
    I appreciate that you've followed along with me during this journey....
    I'm very glad that I haven't killed the plant completely! At least not yet...

    Nancy, it will be very *bonsai* when the top finally drops off ;)
    Hopefully that will happen some time this winter. Who knows, though? I might get impatient and just
    chop the top off myself...to force new growth from the lower nodes.


    Josh

  • greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
    Original Author
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Nearly a year later, and time for an update!

    Well, the top of the Jade never dropped off....
    but at the end of May, I couldn't wait any longer. I was tired of energy going to parts of the plant
    that I didn't plan to keep. So I removed the upper section where I could see the nodes separating
    (and a bit of green tissue beneath the callus).

    End of May - looking healthy, but looks are deceiving.
    See next image for the separation of the nodes.

    {{gwi:531666}}


    Collapsed side of the trunk, with nodes separating toward the edge.

    {{gwi:531667}}


    A blurry pic after I made the cut.

    {{gwi:531668}}


    And here's my Mother Jade today. I tried to take the photo at the same approximate angle.

    {{gwi:531670}}


    Close up of the new growth that I've been waiting for. Notice that the upper two nodes
    show damage from the freeze, and those'll have to go eventually. The lowest point of
    new growth will become the next main branch.

    {{gwi:531671}}


    And a top-view. Always nice color of this Jade.

    {{gwi:531672}}



    Josh

  • meyermike_1micha
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Such a good job Josh!

    That is one good looking plant and I guess your work and smarts is paying off.

    Thanks for teh update:-)

    MIke

  • greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
    Original Author
    6 years ago

    Thanks, Lynette! It was sad to lose that Jade, since it was the first cutting and first Jade I'd rooted and grown. Thankfully, I still have the other Jade that froze the same night...that one's trunk is much thicker, so it survived and has grown well.

    Josh