Washing out jade plant roots

Question

I bought a house and it came with a large jade plant. It was well over grown and in a small old ceramic pot. Last summer I repotted it into a larger barrel style pot and trimmed it up. (I had to smash the ceramic one to get it out) I tried loosening the roots as much as possible. Last month I got a more suitable pot for my dining room and repotted it again. I noticed that the roots where still clumped into the same size shape as the last pot and none have branched out. The dirt is hard and isn’t easy to get loose. My question is, am I able to submerge the clumped roots in a large pail of water and wash all the dirt out and repot with fresh soil? I know they are supposed to be rooted bound but this way I could check the health of the roots and loosen them up.is this a bad idea for the health of the jade.

Answer 1

Jade plants actually do prefer to be root bound.

Working with a large Jade Plant can be difficult and you may another person to help you with this task.

You can try to loosen some of the old soil.
Only go up one pot size to avoid overwatering and root rot.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/houseplants/hpgen/should-you-repot-your-plant-happy-root-bound-house-plants.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/houseplants/jade-plant/pruning-jade-plants.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/houseplants/jade-plant/jade-plant-care.htm

Answer 2

The plant was doing good since last July when I potted it in the large barrel. The new one I got is smaller then the barrel but larger then the old ceramic pot. Would removing the old dirt help it extend roots and become more root bound?