Bonsai and Portulacaria

"Bonsai" is often translated as "tray planting", although the trays can be anything from clay pots to rock cavities to pieces of slate. Whatever the tree is planted in, the idea is the same-to make a small tree look like a very old tree as seen from a distance. A word to the wise-any bonsai enthusiast who grows plants that propogate by cuttings will quickly foist upon you numerous cuttings to take home....and the excuse "I have no room" does not work with bonsai! I found this out first hand and now having a growing collection of cuttings on my back porch (thanks Chuck!). Right now the majority of them are Porticulata afra (a.k.a "Baby Jade) cuttings. I also learned rule #1 the hard way: Goats + Bonsai = stems...... luckily, most people get to skip this rule!

If you're one of the lucky people who get started with Portulacaria's, the bottom of the page has some advice for working with them as bonsai.. Meanwhile, here's some pictures of the smallest in the group:

In my travels of the local Home Depot stores I have come across a few Junipers that caught my eye and followed me home. My favorites are the curved trunk ones.... and I am not allowed near the plant section until I find more spots for plants! The Junipers have a completely different look than the Porticulata's, looking more like a "traditional" bonsai plant. However, the spiky foliage compliments the flat leaves of the Porticulata nicely and make for an interesting display.

Interested in using Portulacaria's as bonsai? As long as you can keep them above 40 degrees F or so, and give them plenty of light- you have it made! If you live in the southern states (like Florida!), you have it easy-the outdoors is perfect for them (just protect from freezes).

Portulacaria's backbud (grow branches at old growth nodes) well, so you can do a lot of their styling just by trimming branches back to a node, waiting for the new branches to come out at 90 degree angles, pick the branch going in the direction you want and pinch off the other one, and repeat... They can also be wired (although I've read accounts to the contrary). The trick with wiring P. afra is to let the plant dry for several days before wiring. This is a trick I learned from Chuck Faile, who has been my mentor with learning Portulacaria bonsai. When the branches aren't freshly turgid, they take well to being wired and can be wired severely.... and even at times when you've thought a branch was broken, if left alone it can recover..... although this does seem to only apply to the normal colored P. afras (see below). If a branch cracks while wiring, applying Elmer's glue will help it heal (keeps the moisture in the wound). I've broken some large branches almost completely off, wired them back together and applied Elmer's glue (white school and carpenters both worked) and the branch lived.

Lately I've been doing some work with variegated P. afra and there are definite differences in the way you have to treat them. The variegated P. afra's are much more structurally delicate that the "regular" version-wiring is possible if the plant is left to dry almost to the point of wilting, and caution is used. The growth is denser on the variegated, with smaller leaves and closer internodes in the same growth conditions in my experience. The growth tends to be slower, and new leaves are often pink and purple edged, coming in almost white and developing more green as they grow. The delicacy of the variegated variety does make removing unwanted leaves easier-one touch and they knock off! The branches tend to grow straighter, small cascades often have to have the ends weighted or they grow straight out. Cuttings root as well as normal colored P. afra's. The plants seem to enjoy even more sun than their normal colored counterparts (if that is possible!). The variegated P. afra in my windowsill is not nearly as happy as it's normal colored counterpart right next to it.....

Another neat aspect of Portulacaria's in bonsai is how quickly the root structures can become interesting. They do tend to grow straight down and boring if not trained early-keeping them in smallish pots will help with this. You can root trim almost any time the temperature is comfortable-just avoid scorching days and cold of winter. The first thing I do when repotting (or digging up a young cutting) is cut off any thick tap roots growing straight down (unless it's the only root, then I trim half of it off and repot the cutting). The remaining roots are then spread out in a radial pattern. When repotting, make a mound of soil in the middle of the pot and arrange the roots radially around it, no matter how small the root system. This is a trick I learned from Chuck Faile, who has been my mentor with learning Portulacaria bonsai. Chuck also showed me how to lift up the existing rootball, add more soil to the bottom of the pot, and place the plant back in (adding soil in the gaps around the edges). As the soil washes away from the now higher rootball, it will slowly expose the roots and cause them to grow thicker.

Chuck uses his yard sand mixed with kitchen compost and sometimes ash/charcoal from a firepit for his Portulacaria. I have plants planted in just about every kind of soil, although lately I've taken a cue from others and started using Turface (a fired clay soil conditioner) mixed with a coarse planting mix (Jungle Growth is one example). This mix seems to work well with my watering schedule (a few times a week). I do mix in some goat manure and occasionaly a slow release fertilizer. I have found that the packaged cactus soil I was using contains a lot of peat, which is hard to rewet when dry and if I submerged a pot to water the plant floats out! The yard sand (or garden soil would work) works better if you do not want to water much. Soils I've done experiments with growing Portulacaria in straight bird gravel (needed daily watering but nice roots), straight sand (playground sand packs too much, had to keep an eye out for overwatering), mostly perlite mixes (interesting roots but floated out of pot when watering), and a mix of yard sand and pine bark (had to break up the bark pieces smaller, but works well). I have two rock plantings that were done on featherstone using potters clay and packaged cactus soil that are doing well, although I do have to add more as the watering washes away the soil.

So now you want your own Portulcaria? You can usually find cuttings of Portulacaria being sold in box stores in the cactus section. Under $10 and you usually get 8 or 12 young cuttings. If divided (I soak well in water, use my fingers to tease the roots apart, then don't water for two days after I repot them) and potted individually, these grow well. For much nicer bonsai, check local nurseries or the internet-I've gotten cuttings off of ebay for reasonable prices (the plants ship well during the warmer months!) and when I asked the seller for the biggest diameter pieces they had, they were happy to oblige. If you live near a bonsai nursery, espically in the southern state, you may be able to obtain nice P. afra from them.

Since Portulacaria root so easily from cuttings, to propigate them it is a simple matter to cut off a branch and stick it in a pot (or the ground). Water sparingly until new growth appears (wait until the big leaves just start to wilt) to reduce the chance of rot. The bigger cuttings (finger diameter) seem to do better if left to dry a day or so in the shade. This is in South Florida, so if you live further north this may not apply, and I've not lost any plants yet even if I don't dry them out first. Portulacaria are pretty determined growers, even a leaf can sprout roots! This has happened to me when whole leaf is knocked off and lays in the soil under the parent plant. Several times I go to move a leaf and there's little roots coming out of it! The ones that are knocked off and sit in the sun seem to dry out before they can root, and only whole leaves will do this. I grew a couple of them for about a month, but they only grew another set of leaves and I decided it was quicker to stick with stem cuttings. The branches themselves will root if they lay undisturbed on the soil for a length of time. My plants on the ground with trailing branches have to be lifted every few weeks or I end up with roots-big surprise to have a plant pulled out of the pot because the branch has rooted into the ground! The roots come from the internodes (joints) that are touching the ground. I've also had several plants start throwing roots where there was severe damage to the internodes and they plants were kept in a moist area. This means that you can start out with a few plants and end up with several hundred within a year (gulp!).

If you see little brown flat areas (1 mm in diameter) like freckles on your plant, don't worry-these are on several of my plants and don't cause any harm that I can tell. (The monograph linked about mentions them). If the affected leaves are picked off, the new leaves that regrow don't seem to get the bumps in the same quantity-if they get any at all. Also, be careful of spraying the plant with any kind of oil based spray-Jim Smith of Vero Beach has told me that the plants don't like oil on their leaves. I haven't tested out this theory, but there are so few pests that bother my plants I hope never to have to. The few times I've brought a plant home with aphids (rare) or scale or any other critter (rarely), immersing the whole plant in a bucket of soapy water seems to the trick. I use only Ivory clear dish soap, a good squirt worth in a 5 gallon bucket, immerse entire plant and leave it for about an hour. Take plant out, let it dry out well before watering again. I also hand squish any remaining pests. Some people just mix up suds and apply the suds to the plant-but my weather is so hot the suds would dry before doing anything.

Here are links to some good Bonsai books: