Elephant Bush, Rainbow Bush 'Variegata' (Portulacaria afra)

Elephant Bush, Rainbow Bush 'Variegata'
Portulacaria afra

Los Angeles cactus and succulent show 2007 being grown as a bonsai shrub

Hi PalmBob,

Been a while since I have said hello. Hello, LoL.

I am intersted in this photo because of the shallow pot it is in.

I wonder why the plant does not fall over in such shallow dirt?

Do Cacti & Succulents not need deep dishes?
How do their roots keep them upright?

It is so interesting to see such a thing, well done very very nice.

Debi
DownUnder LoL

PalmBob,
May I ask how you would successfully remove these little buds for potting?
They are baby Agaves sprouting.
Thank You.

That is not my plant, but in most cases succulents do well in shallow pots... but most need support after transplanting into such pots until their root systems can support them. Or else that plant was grown for some time in that pot.

As for your baby Agave attenuatas, I would wait another year before removing them so they will have a better chance of survival

The Elephant Bush grew several years in the ground. Then they dug it up and trimmed roots and branches to apply a natural balance, then wired the root to the hole in the bottom of the pot then applied the dirt. Wa Laa

Wormfood, that is interesting. I have a big pot with several plants with good sized trunks I've been trying to get the nerve to try and give them some special attention, especially since 2 or three of them have special peronalities to expand. guess it won't hurt to try.

Succulents like this tolerate root pruning very well, normally... hard to kill them (unless you overwater)

google Portulacaria afra bonsai and check out the beauts


I always forget to wire the roots to the pot, they end up falling over

This message was edited Dec 5, 2010 10:58 PM

Thanks Wormfood, I been there done that and they are fabulus. Bought books,and bought books, down loaded pics... but that didn't get the job done. been drooling over bonsai for years but have waited a bit late in life to get the bug again. but what the heck .... maybe I can create an ittsy-bittsy one that won't take over a few more years....LOL, Who am I kidding I don't know enough about pruning hardly to keep my Basil and Rosemary in good shape! Thanks for the idea; I'll go Google and drool some more : ) and tommorrow I will break that pot open and take a look at them Buffalo roots.

I've done some puttering myself. I'm going into my 3rd year in a group but missed alot due to work. I figure by the time I retire (ever?) I'll have some sort of knowledge, but I think the best learning comes from doing. When I trim up a tree and it doesn't look so good it grows back. That's pretty good 'cause the first year they all died. I'm getting better. Good luck

LOL ...at least that's progress! I tried a Jade plant few yrs ago; looked fair but barely. It did live until a fatal frost ..that pretty well trashed that experiment Just keep trying as you are young enough to have time to creat some fabulous ones. I had a cat that lived to be 24 yrs old. I won't get another cat as I won't live long enough to raise another like her. I can't count on doing a really fabulous bonsia as i've read it takes that or longer to creat the really well tuned specimen. In the next 25-50 or so yrs you could create a bunch of really fine specimen. If that is something you would really enjoy doing, go for it.!! I would that I had not been afraid of failure.
My best..
tvksi