Fertilizing portulacaria afra.

[goofyboi]

Hello! I'm brand new to bonsai, and as my first plant I got a 1 year portulacaria afra. I have a couple of questions about fertilizing it. I'm planning to use bone meal 4-12-0 to help it develop some strong roots since it is still a pre bonsai. I'm wondering how often often should I fertilize it with bone meal, or should I just switch into a more balanced fertilizer completely like 20-20-20. Thanks a lot for looking and helping

 

[lordy]

the soil the plant is in will have a bit to do with frequency of feeding. Garden or potting soil will retain food much longer than bonsai (granular) soil. Bonsai substrate will allow the water, and therefore food, to wash right through except for precious little that is captured by the planting medium. With bonsai soil, most will dilute it to half strength and feed more often, say once a week vs. perhaps once a month with potting soil for example. Hope this helps.

 

[Poink88]

I've read that a good NPK ratio is 3:1:2

You need more N because it doesn't last. Not sure what is best of your plant though. I don't do succulents.

 

[tokai]

I would use a fertilizer that is more suitable for succulents. Which means lower on the N, but higher on the P and K parts. Usually a cacti fertilizer will do the trick.

I use a 8:16:24 mineral nutriment (called FLORY 4, not sure it's available where you live) and mix it down to like 10% and feed every 14 days over the growing season.