Well, the easiest way is to buy a new plant that is a larger trunked cutting from a large plant. You basically look at the main trunk and branches, and determine if the plant has a good structure in which a miniature tree can be formed. It can be tough to find jades with a good single trunk form, as they like to branch, which is where growing one from a cutting comes in. This method requires a lot of patience, which is a given in bonsai. Basically, start with a cutting that has a single stem form, if that's what you're after of course, and focus on getting a healthy root system. After that, you prune and pinch growth to establish the tree shape you're looking for. Don't jump into pinching out all side growth in an attempt to form a single trunk though, as the top will get heavy in a hurry and tip over. You want to pay attention to the main leader growth, but let the side branches grow along with it, to establish trunk strength and thickness. You can eventually prune them out down the road. Just so you know, this process takes years.

Also, some jades are better suited for bonsai type growing, due to leaf size, but bonsai is an art, and each artist sees thing differently. Personally, I grow all of my jades the same way, which is in miniature tree form, based around a single trunk. The most appealing to me, for their form, are Crosby's Compact for the small leaf size, and the several varieties of Gollum, for their dense leaf growth. One can't forget the "mini jade", which is not actually a jade, but portulacaria afra.

Joe

Thanks Joe! I believe I came across a pic of yours when I was searching, and they looked great. I really like the mini tree look. I have a Crosbys compact, so that's the one I'll focus on!

Step 1: find a huge old plant and dig it up.

Not too many huge old jades to dig up in Wisconsin!