Portulacaria afra work

JakeH

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So I've been wanting a little indoor tree to develop for a while and found this little Portulacaria afra at Lowe's for about 10 bucks.
IMG_20190302_161615.jpg
I pulled it out for a repot and all of the roots were pointing straight down. I wasn't sure if this technique could be used on these succulents, but I spread the roots out and screwed it into a piece of plastic to make all the roots radial (which actually worked really well). The succulent has some decent radial roots so far.
IMG_20190303_125709.jpg

Are there any other techniques to build a nice nebari with these?
 

Petebak

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Did you remove all the feeder roots? don't see many roots! :/
 

Bonsai Nut

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Are there any other techniques to build a nice nebari with these?

I will be watching to see how this turns out. I would have to say your approach is what I would try. Just be careful not to overwater and to use the right mix that is low in organic matter.
 

EJG

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I’ve been growing this cascade for several years from a large cutting. It has been wired and repotted along the way. The nebari seem to improve when they are spread out and exposed. Any advice about next steps?
3A2638FE-3EA0-45E4-9AFC-BABE4FB9AF4F.jpeg64394705-5A73-485A-B7D1-458850153610.jpeg
 

hemmy

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Are there any other techniques to build a nice nebari with these?

You got it, just flatten the roots. When you take cuttings put them on the bottom of a container so new roots come out perpendicular to the trunk.

6B6AC163-8479-483A-ABA5-10F235ACB3FB.jpeg
 

hemmy

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Any advice about next steps?

Try to get/keep an acute angle to the cascade. I have one that has a larger curve and it doesn’t look right. Also prune and wire the lower cascade branches into pads. You can also let some runners go on the bottom to keep some vigor or tilt it, if the lower growth slows too much.
 

EJG

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Thank you for your helpful advice. One question though; when you say “acute angle” do you mean an angle of less than 90 degrees to what? The pot? Where should the angle begin and end?
 

hemmy

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Thank you for your helpful advice. One question though; when you say “acute angle” do you mean an angle of less than 90 degrees to what? The pot? Where should the angle begin and end?

To the trunk and the branch segments relative to the trunk can change angle. You don’t need a protractor. But see Wigert’s quote and article below. Then go look at google images. The good ones have dynamic angle changes and don’t look like rainbows. I’m no expert, I just know I made an ugly rainbow once.


“The angle of descent should be 45 degrees initially and may be as much as 90 degrees further down the cascade.”

 

EJG

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That article answers my question. Thank you for the article, your patience and experience. In theory it ought to help me take the next steps, however, I still need to muster enough bravery to make a few bold cuts to create more bends and lose the “rainbow” effect. So far, I repotted, spread out the roots and used pumice as my medium. I think I need to gather courage before I do much else. Thanks again, EJG
 

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Waxman

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As a more drastic measure you can root any cuttings off the parent plant and use approach grafting of these to correct poor Nebari on Portulacaria's- As much as they root very easily they are slow to develop good roots sometimes- I've not successfully got the base right on this tree ( ex nursery stock from which I inherited poor roots) for quite a few years- I've now got rooted cuttings ready for grafting on the leading and trailing sides of the base-
 

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hemmy

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however, I still need to muster enough bravery to make a few bold cuts to create more bends and lose the “rainbow” effect.

For the record, I think your branch has a good angle. In your post #4, I like the “kink” created by the branch junction right before it drops over the pot. I think any further angle changes in cascade branch can come in the form of shoot selection, not necessarily bends. Plus these are hard to bend and you need to let them dry out to lose water turgor pressure before serious bends.

For reference, this is what an “ugly rainbow” looks like:
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LCD35

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That's brilliant. I'm sitting at work laughing at "ugly rainbow" while people keep looking at me strange.
 

EJG

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Here it is again in a different pot with a little bit more growth and some wire. Still has a very long way to go.
 

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As a more drastic measure you can root any cuttings off the parent plant and use approach grafting of these to correct poor Nebari on Portulacaria's- As much as they root very easily they are slow to develop good roots sometimes- I've not successfully got the base right on this tree ( ex nursery stock from which I inherited poor roots) for quite a few years- I've now got rooted cuttings ready for grafting on the leading and trailing sides of the base-
do you have any photos of grafting on some roots? or maybe a link to a good how to? Keen to see how to do this. Thanks
 

EJG

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Oops. I already posted an update as a new thread. Should have posted my cascade portulacaria here. I’ve been trying to refine it with wiring, pinching back and extra light but still lacks good back budding. Advice on styling, health of plant and how to improve it. Thank you.IMG_1794.jpeg
 
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