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by Jacki
(Grand Forks, B.C.)

crassula goblin fingers 21883037

Crassula ‘Gollum’

This plant has the weirdest leaves. They are tubular, and yes, they do look like Gollums fingers. They’re rather spatulate (wider at the top end) and all goblins are green, aren’t they?

There are a wide variation in the shapes of the leaves. Some are flatter and shorter, others more twisted, some just tubes with reddish tips. Whichever shape yours comes in, enjoy the infinite choice of nature!

Like all Crassula, they like to be dried out before their next watering, and kept in a slightly too small pot. This encourages them to grow, and although I’ve never heard of this plant flowering, it will also trigger blooming.

This guy would be great as a bonsai succulent – if you try this, let me know.

Comments for Crassula ‘Goblin Fingers’

Nov 18, 2019
Goblin bonsai
by: KimiNoNawa

Thanks for a very neat article, simple and informative.

Gollum makes a beautiful bonsai. I have one that is around 6y.o at the moment (I am not sure what age it was at the time of purchase, but perhaps around 2). Got transferred into a bonsai pot just last month.

To get a “bonsai” it needs to be kept in the tiny baby pot for quite a few years. Mine basically had only the rootball filling it, with no soil left whatsoever. Was watered more then recommended, some two times a week, all that time.

Minimal trimming, only the dying leaves gently removed. Too much effort to shape by trimming just encouraged new leaf growth instead of the stem. I found it a bit harder to train then other succulents in general, had to just leave it alone and let the tree take shape itself. Loads of tiny “crown” leaves starting to poke their heads right after the reporting.

Mar 08, 2018
Wow!
by: Jacki

Kathryn, it sounds like you’re in the exact right conditions!

Mar 08, 2018
Crassula Gollum
by: Kathryn

I have an 8 year old “tree” of Crassula ‘Goblin Fingers’ which I grew from a cutting. It’s approximately 1 square metre, with a thick trunk and branches.

It’s robust and growing well. It grows slowly as a tree in the ground but when I’ve potted up cuttings in Autumn, they’ve grown like mad.

I live in Australia and it’s still rather warm in early Autumn with 30C being the top temp most days and cooler evenings. Last Autumn after I had made loads of cuttings from the parent plant, flowers developed on it in two areas. The flowers took ages to grow and once open were a pale insipid pinkish-white. Unlike the Jade plant, once the flowers opened, they were gone within a week.