Portulacaria Afra Progression

[JoeH]

I just cut em and throw them into straight pumice. Root every time.

yep, just jam them in a pot and they root every time for me.

 

[Afasnacht83]

Hi! This is my first comment or post on here so I’m not quite sure what I’m doing yet. I just got a itsy bitsy little guy back in April from my university during an earth day event, and he’s my first ever plant or succulent of any kind. I didn’t really put too much thought into him until a couple months later when I noticed how much he’d grown and thought it was so cool! I just started doing a lot of research on him and proper care and discovered a whole lot of stuff. He’s a Portulacaria Afra for one! After going to Instagram I seen a lot of them as bonsai and was immediately blown away. I know he’s quite small rn and I have many many years before I’ll ever get him that big (if he survives ) but I definitely wanna give it a go. I’ve attached some photos of him from the first day and some I took today. I was hoping I could get some tips on where to start (or when cause he’s still just a baby lol) with anything from getting a thicker trunk or more foliage to even just everyday care . Anything helps! Photos also are really appreciated I’ve noticed a lot of people’s progression photos usually only have one main stem growing and his has three. Idk if that causes any problems with bonsai or not? How early do you guys start training them or wiring? I know it’s probably way too early but I just figured I’d ask. Thank you for any tips!! I really appreciate it and can’t wait to see where it goes over time! I also made him an IG: @daddyplant83 (I named him daddy, I know I know )

 

[Todaru123]

First thing you’ll need to decide is what your aiming for. If you’re looking for a bigger bonsai, I’d put it in a bigger pot and just let it grow on for a few years to get some thickness into the trunk. I’ve also tried to loosely style them as their growing, removing branches I don’t like etc. they are incredibly hardy and bounce back from all sorts of treatment! A free flowing soil mix works well. I find that they can take a lot of water and feed in summer but we have very hot summers in Melbourne. And pull back during the cooler moths. In my experience, the grow like crazy. Good luck

 

[Afasnacht83]

First thing you’ll need to decide is what your aiming for. If you’re looking for a bigger bonsai, I’d put it in a bigger pot and just let it grow on for a few years to get some thickness into the trunk. I’ve also tried to loosely style them as their growing, removing branches I don’t like etc. they are incredibly hardy and bounce back from all sorts of treatment! A free flowing soil mix works well. I find that they can take a lot of water and feed in summer but we have very hot summers in Melbourne. And pull back during the cooler moths. In my experience, the grow like crazy. Good luck

Thank you! I definitely want a decent sized one. Will the fact that there are three main branches affect the thickness or growth? I noticed most of them started out with a single main one.

 

[PeaceLoveBonsai]

Thank you! I definitely want a decent sized one. Will the fact that there are three main branches affect the thickness or growth? I noticed most of them started out with a single main one.

Initially, the multi stem won’t matter much. Best not to cut off any of the plant right now. Let it grow. Maybe in a year or so, you can think about cutting the side branches. Good luck and keep us posted!!

 

[Todaru123]

Agree, would let it grow on before removing side branches...you might find as they grow one may be a better trunk than the others and remove accordingly. Until then feed and let them grow

 

[Todaru123]

Despite its poor rap, the portulaccaria is a pretty cool bonsai IMO.
Here is a huge one I have started training last week (left derelict and growing in a pot for only god knows how long - it was huge - as well as some cuttings from last summer now starting to take shape. All just branch cuts from a huge tree and placed straight into a good potting mix. As you can see they take very easily with some already in training.

 

[Michael P]

Good advice above! I started with some rooted cuttings last fall that were potted in standard potting soil--very high in peat and very moisture retentive. They sulked, lost leaves, and looked terrible until I repotted them in a very free-draining soil. The is a huge amount of information on bonsai soil, but think "cactus mix" and you will be on the right track. Keep it outside in full sun, give it some fertilizer and watch it grow.

 

[Carol 83]

think "cactus mix"

That's what I use. Plain old Miracle-Gro cactus/succulent soil.

 

[coltranem]

Is it me or are the ingredients in miracle gro cactus potting mix pretty much the same as any other potting mix? Mine looks like mostly peat with a tiny amount of perlite. They say they some sand in there too. If so it is fine grained. I found it stayed too wet for my cactus.

 

[JoeH]

How often do you repot
@Todaru123 ?

 

[Todaru123]

Usually every 2 years during Spring or Summer in a very loose soil mix. But for cuttings (particularly thicker ones) I leave undisturbed for 3-4 years in order to develop some thick roots to create a decent nebari. Take them out too early and generally find just lots of long stringy roots.

 

[JoeH]

Usually every 2 years during Spring or Summer in a very loose soil mix. But for cuttings (particularly thicker ones) I leave undisturbed for 3-4 years in order to develop some thick roots to create a decent nebari. Take them out too early and generally find just lots of long stringy roots.

thx, I am doing a few in tiny basically Chinese Tea Cups for fun cuttings off my main one that I've had in the same pot for a year now.

 

[Insect]

Todaru123, whats the age of red pot one? Looks great! Did you do any scarring to trunk to enlarge it, I see some lateral patterns? What are the black cylinders in soil?

 

[Todaru123]

Thanks! Yeah it’s a beauty. I found it as a tangled mess about 4 years ago as I was walking my daughter to school one morning. It’s was in a pot thrown in the front yard of an old house deep in the middle of a geranium bush. It must have been there for years and I’d passed it a hundred times and never noticed it it was in so deep. I asked the owner if I could take it and did. The roots had grown through the pot and were some 3 feet deep in the soil. Anyway, I got it home and trimmed the roots back to a manageable size. I let it grow for a season and then started styling it. I was pleasantly surprised to see an awesome tree in there. It was actually repotted yesterday for the first time in 3 years. I moved some branches and changed the potting angle and pot. I think it’s a more interesting tree now. It should fill out nicely now that spring is here and I will keep refining this year and maybe show it at our next Bonsai club exhibition! By the way the black things in the pot are fertiliser pots. I fill them with Osmocote. They’re great as you don’t lose fertiliser with water run off. Really cheap too. Buy 50 pots for around $15 on eBay. Here’s an updated picture of the tree.

 

[Todaru123]

And here’s the photo
Having trouble downloading photo. I’ll post a picture later

 

[Todaru123]

Here’s a photo

 

[PeaceLoveBonsai]

Did a little work in this guy this morning. Here’s some dated pictures of progress, including today.

 

[PeaceLoveBonsai]

Happy New Year BNuts! Here’s another Afra I’ve worked with, including a trim today.

 

[Forsoothe!]

Finally. Someone who actually styles while growing-on. Thank God. I'm tired of seeing growing-on without improving anything. Just bigger is not praiseworthy.