Portulacaria Afra check in (help!)

[SpruceWillis]

Hello my fellow enthusiasts,

I posted about this tree a little while ago and could use some advice.

I repotted my little portulacaria afra on June 18th (totally dry, as per Adam’s advice), into my homemade mix of lava, pumice, turface, coconut husk and some granite.

I then waited a full 10 days to water (it was looking pretty dry and I felt it was time), but didn’t necessarily see new growth at the time - many of the articles I read said that waiting a week (or until you see new growth) should avoid the threat of fungal infection.

It’s now been almost a week of regular watering since then (basically every day since my mix dries out quickly), and I haven’t seen any obvious new growth… I see a couple new buds that I thought were new, but I’m not positive.

Some of the leaves look healthy(ish) but some still haven’t bounced back. Is this a normal timeline? I was expecting her to bounce back a bit faster.

I know it’s normal to lose leaves during the repot process, but I could use the opinions of some of my trusted BonsaiNut comrades. Did I mess up?

What do you guys think?

Thanks in advance,
Spruce Willis

 

[Colorado]

It looks very weak. It may take awhile to build up some vigor. Just continue to focus on good watering and it will bounce back eventually if conditions are adequate.

 

[Calnicky]

I have one of these! WEAK is its middle name. I repotted it in March 2021 after a friend gave it to me (beware of friends bearing "free" bonsai). It was badly in need of a repot but has never regained vigor. If moved will drop leaves.

One thing you might try (although it doesn't seem to have worked for me) is watering LESS. I had heard you only want to water these once a week at most.

I'm hoping it survives an upcoming move to a new (sunnier) house. If it doesn't it will go into yard waste.

 

[Paradox]

They definitely dont like to be over watered. A friend of mine is pretty good with them and always says to be very careful about watering and not leaving them out in the rain

 

[SpruceWillis]

They definitely dont like to be over watered. A friend of mine is pretty good with them and always says to be very careful about watering and not leaving them out in the rain

Thanks Paradox!

Just curious - do you know what sort of medium they grow in? Mine is in almost completely inorganic bonsai mix so I’m curious if theirs is the same

 

[Calnicky]

Thanks Paradox!

Just curious - do you know what sort of medium they grow in? Mine is in almost completely inorganic bonsai mix so I’m curious if theirs is the same

Mine is also in inorganic mix (acadama/pumice/lava). I think I went a little heavier on the acadama though.

 

[SpruceWillis]

Mine is also in inorganic mix (acadama/pumice/lava). I think I went a little heavier on the acadama though.

Interesting! If I find anything new here I’ll send it your way as well - a little vigour would be nice lol

 

[Paradox]

Thanks Paradox!

Just curious - do you know what sort of medium they grow in? Mine is in almost completely inorganic bonsai mix so I’m curious if theirs is the same

He says you can grow them in bonsai mix. Well draining is a good characteristic because they dont like to be very wet and can rot if they are.

 

[p_anova]

This guy will definitely sulk for a while, especially if you did an aggressive root prune. Its building new roots right now but once it is established, you will see new growth. I did a huge root prune on mine and it dropped a ton of leaves. I did not water on a schedule but let the soil get fairly dry before hitting it with water.

 

[p_anova]

I have one of these! WEAK is its middle name. I repotted it in March 2021 after a friend gave it to me (beware of friends bearing "free" bonsai). It was badly in need of a repot but has never regained vigor. If moved will drop leaves.

One thing you might try (although it doesn't seem to have worked for me) is watering LESS. I had heard you only want to water these once a week at most.

I'm hoping it survives an upcoming move to a new (sunnier) house. If it doesn't it will go into yard waste.

This guy should be outside in full sun and you will see a big difference!

 

[Srt8madness]

Full sun full sun. These things can take every noob mistake except lack of light. I just root pruned and repotted 2 or 3 last week in hi 90s Temps, a bit of shade for a few weeks and they'll be ready for full sun. I dropped 3 into the ground this weekend, they're bigger and I just broke up the roots a bit. Theyll be fine. I have a ton and can't remember ever killing one, seriously, the less fuss the better.

 

[dparker818]

I have had slightly more success repotting ports into a slightly more water retentive soil than the typical bonsai soil mixes and watering less often. I use an aggregation of fines I keep in a discard bag from sifting soils that I add which helps with moisture. I’d say it makes up no more than ~10% of the soil mix

 

[Bonsai Nut]

These are succulents. They grow freely in SoCal landscape where they don't get water for 9 months straight. How to propagate? Knock off a branch, leave it lying on the ground for a couple of weeks, pick it up and stick it in a 100% inorganic mix. That's it! As a succulent, it takes a while for their roots to get established, and they can easily pause for two months when you transplant them. Leave them alone and they'll pop back. They thrive on neglect.

As succulents they need direct sun.

Here's what they should look like... a couple chunky ones in pond baskets in 100% pumice.