Gollum Jade

Gollum Jade (Crassula ovata 'Gollum') is the jade plant with tubular, finger like leaves, each one flared at the tip like a tiny suction cup and often rimmed in red. It builds slowly into a thick trunked little shrub about 80cm tall and 60cm across, more sculpture than shrub. Neglect suits it: overwatering is the one thing that reliably kills it.

Why you'll love it

• A shape nothing else has. The tubular leaves and gnarled trunk give it a bonsai look with no training required.
• It thrives on being forgotten. Drought tolerant and heat tolerant, it holds enough water in its leaves to ride out weeks without a drink.
• Indoors or out. Bright light suits it either way, so the same plant can live on a windowsill in Melbourne or a hot balcony in Perth.
• Cool season flowers. Mature plants carry clusters of small white to pink starry flowers when most of the garden is quiet.

Where it works best

Pots and containers. This is its natural home. Use a pot barely wider than the root ball, with a drainage hole and a gritty mix, and let the plant grow into it slowly.

Indoors. A bright window with a few hours of direct light keeps the leaves compact and red tipped. In dim rooms the stems stretch and the shape falls apart.

Balconies and rockeries. Salt tolerant and heat tolerant, it handles a hot coastal balcony or a gravelly rockery pocket in any frost free garden.

Growing Gollum Jade in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun to bright indirect light. It suits warm temperate, subtropical, Mediterranean and arid gardens in the ground. It is frost tender, so in cool districts grow it in a pot you can move under cover for winter.

Soil. A free draining cactus and succulent mix, or potting mix opened up with coarse sand or perlite. Rich, moisture holding mixes rot the stem at soil level.

Water and feed. Soak thoroughly, tip out the saucer, then let the mix dry right through: every two to three weeks in the warm months and monthly over winter. Half strength liquid fertiliser twice over spring and summer is all it needs.

Pruning. Pinch the growing tips in spring to encourage branching. Larger cuts are best made in warm weather, and every piece you remove strikes readily as a cutting.

What to expect when it arrives

It is grown in four sizes: 140mm packs of 10, 200mm packs of 6, 250mm packs of 3 and single 300mm plants. The smaller sizes are young and lightly branched, ideal for potting several or filling a rockery. The 300mm plants have thickened at the base and read as a specimen straight away.

Succulents travel better than almost anything else, though a leaf or two may come loose in transit. Leave it dry for a week before the first water. Delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95, and every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Browse the wider succulent range for plants on the same watering schedule.
• Compare it with the ripple jade, a curlier relative.
• See other plants for balconies that cope with heat and wind.
• Work out the right pot size for a potted plant.

Common questions

Is it safe around cats and dogs?

No. Jade plants are toxic to cats and dogs, and chewing the leaves can cause vomiting, loss of coordination and lethargy. Keep it up high or choose a different plant if your pet chews foliage.

How often should I water it?

Every two to three weeks in the warm months, monthly in winter, and only once the mix is dry through. Wrinkled leaves mean it is thirsty; soft yellow leaves mean the opposite.

Can it live outside in a cold garden?

Not in the ground. It is frost tender and a hard frost turns the leaves to mush, so in cool districts keep it potted and move it under cover for winter.