Risking It All for My Portulacaria afra Bonsai?? (+ Rosemary update)
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- Опубліковано 1 лип 2024
- For the first work on my Portulacaria afra bonsai, I'm doing it all - pruning, wiring and repotting! I do have a new secret weapon though...
My dwarf jade (Portulacaria afra) really suffered last winter, living in my north facing conservatory, it didn't get enough light. But, I have a new tool that I think is going to become invaluable:
MarsHydro TS1000
US: ebay.to/2Dt1wbQ
CA: ebay.to/2Dt1wbQ
EU: bit.ly/marshydro_eu
AU: bit.ly/31UmKsE
RU: bit.ly/marshydro-ru
#sponsored
I'm excited to see the results and will post updates showing any progress of my Portulacaria afra (and rosemary!) bonsai.
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Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:27 Cleaning
1:45 Pruning
14:57 Wiring
24:14 Secret tool
24:49 Repotting
35:29 Over-wintering
39:50 Rosemary update - Розваги
In south africa we buy them for less than £1 at nurseries. 90% of what u cut of can re grow, light water and sun. I have outside some that are 1,3 meters high
Stunning!
I really like your PA updates and playlist. It’s one of my favorite plants and you always provide good information and a good video. Please keep following up on this plan. Thanks
Thanks for the feedback Michael! I was wondering if viewers were getting a bit tired of the updates so it’s good to know you find them useful
The final tree looks great. Nice work!
Glad you like it!
I like the new grow tent, very cool. Nice work on the jade. Thanks
Thanks Matt
You'll love it. @marshydro lights are amazing I have three and they save my trees every year. Saving for a new light now..
Interesting, what species do you keep?
@@grobonsai A few ficus, Benjamina, Tiger Bark and Fukien tea. Dwarf Jade and some fruit trees also. Plum and apple.
wow friend ... what a spectacular specimen !! I love this essence .. I bring my plants home only towards the middle of November .. then all the rest of the year I leave them in full sun ..
Like 👍
Thank you 😊
Agreed, the dwarf jade is probably the only tree I would consider repotting and pruning at the same time... in autumn! It will bounce right back, especially in that grow tent.
Hope the Rosemary recovers okay, very nice trunk on that. 👍🍺
Thanks Dave
Great tree and video mate. 👍
Very beautiful jade bonsai 💕👌
Thanks
Ah great stuff. I was thinking about your light yesterday, wondering when we would all see it. Lol. The Port will be very happy in there. Give it like 6 weeks and it will pushing new leaves. No problem.
Also very interesting about your rosemary. I’ve normally kept mine inside all year for the last few years, but last winter I put it in the shed. So like no light for 3 months. Mine seemed happy enough with that abuse lol
It’s so useful to compare notes on rosemary there’s very little info on them for bonsai. I thought it was light but if yours are ok in a shed, I wonder if it was staying too wet in the greenhouse - being plastic it suffered condensation when the door was down 🤔 or maybe it was my crap wiring and bad timing for the work last year...
@@grobonsai yeah maybe it is too wet. I only put mine out there as i wasnt going to be able to get the temperature down enough inside. i was a little worried about it, but it was fine. Also any die back i have had has been a direct response to my manhandling, so might be that too. lol i hate when its so hard to tell whats wrong
Very nice, I have had trouble overwintering my Portulacaria, it seem like it had some kind of internal fungus desease so it just died quietly. When it comes to wiring, use two smaller gauge wires than one large, it does have a much better holding capasity, but I guess you know that already. The rosemary looked to me that it would suit a triangular crown like a pine.... it is very nice still, but that is just my opinion......fingers crossed for it all.....
I live in NE Lincs UK and Rosemary's thrive outside round here. In fact it's a bit of a carpark shrub. Great for bonsai, I have a couple in training...and you can use your prunings for cooking! It's all give :)
Sounds great!
I had to do some re-pottings, too. It had to be before winter as they trees were about to burst the pots. No fingers crossed that nothing happens
Fingers crossed 🤞 thanks
I bought this plant by accident recently. There's a version called "elephant food" that drapes nicely in a hanging pot. Glad to know I can do something interesting with my mistake!
I keep my big Rosemary (not as thick trunk as yours, though) outside in a big bonsai pot all year round, and it's thriving. Actually, it really doesn't like being inside. Last winter I made an experiment keeping two of the little ones (airlayerings from the big one )inside in an unheated room and they died, whilst all the others are perfectly well in the garden, flowering a lot. I live in SE England
Thanks for your video
Thanks that’s really interesting info. Hmm I’m not sure what I should do now
SE England? What part? I think my city might be SW but it looks center of the south coast on a map to me.
I would cut the lowest branch complete. IT hides the trunk too much.
I bought a bunch of Spider Farmer lights for this winter, I'm excited to see how much growth I get.
Very exciting, let me know!
I use a mars hydro light on my Jades year round. Works great. The tent is unnecessary, but Jades grow faster in humid conditions. The trade off is a shorter life for your plant, and a way higher susceptibility to rot. It's great if you keep a close eye on them, but be careful.
Personalty, I use the tent for young developing Jades, and cough* cough* other things....
Hehe nice 👍
Hi
I've just come across your channel and my, your bonsai are very nice.
I've just purchased a small grow tent and light and was wondering what temperature do you keep with your port/afra at ?
Kindest Regards and I am looking forward to checking out more of your videos.
I find between 20 and 30 celsius is good for growth
Great background music. Sick t shirt
thanks!
Nice work, How is this getting on, have the cut wounds calloused over ?
Thanks there are a few updates in subsequent videos, it is due another update. The wounds look ok, I think they need some attention, but they’re producing new shoots so definitely going in the right direction
Mantap bos
Very nice. I want to aquire a Portulacaria afra too. :)
Very neat with the indexing of the videos in chapters as I believe you done before.
I will continue watch the whole now just had to comment.
Am amazed you dare to wire it - I thought such succulents would snap easily?
Thanks for watching. I was nervous to wire - we will see if Ive done a more careful job than the rosemary!!
There is only one way to kill this plant and that is by overwatering. It it is indestructible. I found a cutting at the tip that had no leaves. It was around 45cm tall and 15cm at the base. I put it in potting mix a week after leaving it sitting on the paving and it is now a bush.
How long did it take for yr amazing plant to grow this big? It is simply beautiful
In the U.K. climate I’d estimate 5-10 years, but honestly I don’t know it was that size when I purchased it
I still cant believe you are growing a Rosemary as a Bonsai!
Have you seen some of the Thyme bonsai? Very nice, but not so easy to keep alive - I'm told (at least in the UK climate)
Sorry if I missed it - are you doing any prophylactic sprays or treatments? I didn’t this year and I’m battling a mealybug infestation 😡
I hadn’t thought about that, good point - thanks! Sorry to hear about your bad luck
Good content, but please have a think about binning the background 'music'. I had to disable the sound and switch on subtitles. It was like teacher's chalk screeching on the blackboard. The content speaks for itself, you don't need the distraction.
Thanks for the feedback. I’m afraid there is an old refrigerator in the garage workshop that emits a sound even more annoying than royalty-free music! Sorry about that
What do you mean when you say cutting just outside the segment in relation to where a branch meets the trunk? Thank you
The stems are made up of segments, the junction between segments is where new buds may form. By ensuring the cut is done so that the junction (also known as a node) is left intact, and so new buds may appear. If I cut below the join, new buds are less likely to form. It becomes clear when you can get close and see the segments and junctions for yourself. A good follow up question is: why is all that important? It is a sustainable way to work with the tree - by ensuring all potential bud sites are viable, there are more options for the tree to regrow in the event of disaster, or perhaps a drastic re-design. Hope that helps
@@grobonsai Thank you so much for the great explanation. That does help😊👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
i kept my rosemary outside over winter. It was mild enough, it survived.
Interesting, maybe mine was staying too damp in the greenhouse which was full of condensation. It’s good to compare notes, thanks
Yeah, temperate rosemary wants dormancy and relative dryness in winter, maybe half or a quarter the amount of water (don’t quote me on that one, that particular memory is poor). If your worry is the frost/wetness and the fact that it’s in a bonsai pot, you can absolutely compromise by keeping it in a garage or shed with some supplemental light to mimic a mild winter. Maybe do 4-6 hours of light in the morning. Don’t have to go as hardcore as a Mars Hydro either, probably a $10 GE led grow bulb and a clamp fixture will suffice. But if you want to start it early then a powerful light will obviously be better, but at least a month or two should be “winter” with greatly reduced lighting for proper regulation.
Tropical/equatorial plants like ficus and spekboom don’t need that winter dormancy so just keep them warm, moist, and blasted with light for best results (they can be sensitive to stuff like photoperiod change and simulated dry/wet seasons tho, but I’m not sure how off the top of my head. I know some tropicals won’t flower without a simulated seasonal cycle and so they’ll go years without flowering living in a person’s house until something like a move or being brought outside for a few weeks shakes them up and tricks them into flowering again).
what a great specimen :o would you like to say how much you paid for it? :D good pruning decisions, damn your cuttings are as big as my bonsai :U ..the plants in the tent will burst like you've never seen outdoors :D
Thanks! I honestly can't remember, I feel like it was around £200
What kind of soil mix do you use for this tree?
Hi, it is 1:1:1 akadama pumice lava in the 4-8mm size range
Hello, i have a Prosopis alba, of around 4 years that I've never transplanted to a bigger pot. Its really small and I decided to go for making him a bonsai. What do you recommend doing first?
Hi, I am not familiar with the species, but in general I prefer to style the branches first. The repot comes after. But it does depend on the material and how the species behave. It is because the tree will back-bud more if the roots are not disturbed
By the way, if you would like to share some images, feel free to join the Gro Bonsai group on Facebook.
@@grobonsai Perfect, that's what my intuition told me to do hahahaha. So, the repott for next year? Or for summertime?
@@grobonsai And thank you very much for your help :)
Generally spring is repotting season as the buds are about to extend. But it does depend on species and climate
Excellent video, I’ve got a Portulacaria that will need repotting next summer, what was the soil ingredients & percentages you used?
Thanks for watching, good question! I used akadama + pumice + lava 1:1:1, in 3-8mm particle size range approximately. It's a mix ideal for species that prefer airy soil and not excessive moisture in the root zone
Gro Bonsai Appreciated thanks. I’ve just started Bonsai ,, using nursery stock (Junipers & Lonicera) & find your channel very
helpful. Thanks again
Nice tree Darren. You dont need the music i find it distracting.
Thanks for the feedback! The music/sound is proving difficult to sort out...
I thought the bravest part of that prune was the wiring
:D
Love the video. I've read that Portulacaria shouldn't be watered up to 3 weeks after repotting because of the risk of root rotting. What is your experience?
I watered initially to wash any dust out of the pot, then allowed it to dry before resuming watering. This is my first Portulacaria though, so I will not see the results until next repot. My grow tent is very dry with the light and fan, so the soil dries very quickly. I think you’re correct, it would be good to wait to reduce rotting 👍
I do love a portulacaria bonsai. Where bouts in the UK you from, fella?
I'm near Worcester, which is between birmingham and bristol
@@grobonsai so you're in Hampshire too? I'm from port's outh myself! Nice to know there are more hobbyists in the county at least!
@@JazSung no, not that far south. More midlands, north of Bristol about an hour on the m5
@@grobonsai ah lol I don't know our own country's geography that well, I need to be sent to the dunce stool and caned like in school! Lol
Someones been watching Mr canucks
I am from India, how many years old this plant and what soil mixture you have used to grow it gigantic look and so much bushy please let me know.👍
Hi, I did not grow it so I'm not sure. I do know it was grown in a mixture of pumice, fired clay, lava, pine bark and maybe akadama. From research, the best way to grow them is to fertilise a LOT, let them get pot bound, then put into a larger pot without disturbing roots. Up-pot several times until it reaches the size you like. Don't cut roots while you want it to grow and thicken. I am only in the first year of trying process, and in the uk they grow slowly, so i do not know how well it works for myself. But trusted experts have recommended this approach.
“Indoor” bonsai is heretical enough from a tradition standpoint, I’m really surprised that more people in the community haven’t tried artificial/supplemental lighting or grow tents to boost their spekboom/schefflera/ficus trees in winter. I know people in the tropical houseplant and orchid scenes who swear by humid grow tents.
Putting in a humidifier might be unhealthy for spekboom but I’ve heard of people getting really good results and even inducing air root growth in ficus and schefflera by keeping them in very humid tents. If you decide to play with ficus you might have to get a second one and run one dry/one moist.
Good point, I wonder if the rosemary wants light but not necessarily the heat of a tent.. hadn’t thought of that. Thanks for writing
I’m resistant to the idea because it’s a bit antithetical to the idea of bonsai as art. Growing my trees in a grow tent would probably result in better growth than even outdoors but I’m growing them to enjoy them, not to harvest lumber. It’s possible to have an indoor light setup that fosters growth AND looks decent - but a grow tent is not that. Just my opinion though, I totally understand the other point of view
HallowedBeThyGame I know what you mean. The tent is practical and helps with overnight temperature fluctuations. If I had to use lights all year I probably wouldn’t bother with the tent for the same reason as yourself
For what it's worth I live in south Portugal. These grow pretty big with no attention (in the ground). I have messed about with these and even have one, for 2 years now, growing in no substrate whatsoever. Sits in the bottom of a cut out 5 liter water bottle and gets a watering when I water my other tree's. In general we naturally are very dry here with zero summer rain......(let's see how the GSM changes things ☺️) 👍🏼
I have found that different types of plants need different kinds of light when using artificial lighting. What works well for vegetables does not work for a succulent. Study what type of light your plants need before putting out money for lighting that may not be adequate or may be too much for what you are growing. You could do more harm than good.
There are many people out there that have learned through trial and error. It is better to use their experience rather than losing the money put out for lighting and your plants as well.
Of course “free” is usually good IF you are using the correct type of product on your plants.
Two questions
1. What is your name?
2. After how much time did you work on this?
Hi, my name is Darren. I purchased this tree as pre-bonsai material. I kept it for a year then started work.
@@grobonsai Merci
you know, you can cut the trunk and branches with the sheers...
Thanks for the tip, it didn’t occur to me 😁
Lose all the lower branches on the PA and show the trunk off. It has good flare, if you leave them they’ll develop a bulge and it’ll look ridiculous.
Thanks! Are we talking that first one near the base?
Gro Bonsai yeah, show the trunk off.
Me gustó tú bonsái pero lo destrozaste muy feo pero al último te quedó bonito saludos des de México...ok
*facepalm* you never water ports after repotting ( roots may rot ) for at least 1 or 2 weeks, the cuts need to dry up. you can cut all the roots risk free, just don't water it for 1 or 2 weeks. try to study the species a bit befor working on them, not all bonsai are the same, they may require different methods of care. Love the styling tho, looks great. Pro tip: if you want to wire a port, don't water it for some time, till the leaves get shrivelled up, the branches get more flexible if the tree is a bit dry.
I watered to wash remaining soil fines from the pot. I then let it rest for 2 weeks in the warm dry grow tent. It has 15cm roots growing from the drainage holes, I think it is fine. Thanks for writing the tips though I’ll be sure to use them for future work
1. The tree seems like it's been neglected. It never should have been allowed to develop so many (at least 4) trunks.
2. Armpit growth everywhere should not have been allowed.
3. You advertise for a sponsor and never actually show the product.
Omg . what the hell are you doing? Pruning the tree is not like this. You will kill the tree. This is really nonsense.
It’s ok my friend, the tree is really growing well. Can you tell me what I should do differently? Thanks
@@grobonsai I was shocked when I saw your video. you cut very strong and thick branches. I think you are damaging the tree. hurt the tree by pruning deep. This tree is delicate and brittle, It is brutal to prune this way. sorry for my bad english
Thank you for taking time to write
I would cut the lowest branch complete. IT hides the trunk too much.
Thanks 🙏