Wiring a portulacaria afra (dwarf Jade) for bonsai can be tricky. Here's a video I made explaining my process with a few simple tricks for basic wiring a little jade bonsai.
I saw a little pot of portulacaria at Home Depot on my last trip, and of course the plant guy in me is depressed come winter time so I had to boost my spirits a tad. Get home and start doing my research on what I got, and here I have a plant that I can have so much fun with over years!! Thank you so much for sharing everything and bringing us along the journey with you. I am definitely going to be consulting your channel :)
Thank you for doing these videos. Most of the vids I see are on other bonsai and I know our Portulacaria are little different. You worked your magic and turned it into one of the loveliest tree ever.
Thanks for the video , I have 2 Portulacaria Arfa that were given to me as a gift, I’ve hopefully cures the saprophytic fungus issue, and now need to take the plunge and try and prune or maybe wire them, I have no idea where to start , but this video has helped me a lot. Please keep posting !
Thanks for the video - your enthusiasm is contagious! You do a great job explaining everything. I love the idea of the tree style 'jumping' out at you; it must be more interesting than trying to make it conform to your ideas.
Thanks for this! Gives me some hope for my Mediopicta Dwarf Jades. I got them in a bunch, planted them really close together in a circle, and used a stick to train them to grow straight, which ended up causing me some problems. I realized they would block light from the inside, and it was making them unhealthy. I untied them from the stick and let them lean apart so the insides can get sun. But now they’re curved and starting to stiffen like that. Good to know they’ll still be easy enough to shape after next springs repot.
These grateful little trees are right up my alley cuz I'm always messing with my plants. I just potted a little Y shaped plantlet and it only has rabbit ears on one branch. It's an experiment 🤗. Thank You!
Thanks, I like your video and it workstation for me . I am a Portulacaria Fan and have a couple of them. Keep it up with your videos they're very educational. I am from Puerto Rico 🇵🇷
So glad to have found your channel. I’m in TX too but in zone 8a, probably a little colder. Had already bought a couple portulacarias just for house plants was looking for health and care tips. Didn’t know one could do such fun things with them. I envy your collection. Now what ideas I’m getting! Thanks too for the soil recipe. Really hit the jackpot here ^_^
Enjoyed your video. Many years ago I was a member of a Bonsai club and I learned alot from the members. Im now retired and started again on my own. Your explanation on wiring is soo spot on and explained very well. You provided ideas on where to purchase wire and scissors that cut wire also which I appreciate since on a fixed income makes this hobby much more reachable for me...do u have more videos on other types if plants?
Great video brother! I would love to see your take on soil still. Every day is a chans to learn and I want to know how you do it because what ever you are doing seems to work well.
Thanks for this. I started a grocery store tree two months ago in order to learn Bonsai. I was wanting to know about how long to leave the wire on and you answered my question. 6wks to a year or so.....R
Hello Jade, thanks for all the insights to your experience! it made me interested in the Jade trees. They are amazingly easy to shape, arent they? do you only grow super small or do you also take larger ones and turn them into bonsai? you know, .. there are so many ugly Jade trees in peoples windows, - i often ponder to get one of those and make them become beautiful bonsai trees. would be nice to see a video about such topics as well. thanks and greetings from a curious beginner...
Keep up the great videos. Have just got my first Dwarf Jade inspired by your collection and videos. Think I read somewhere you had a book on the way? If so look forward to it!
Any chance we can get some update videos for some of the trees that you've highlighted in your videos? Love your channel and you do an amazing job with the little jade. Keep up the good work!
Great informative video, I learned a lot to properly set up my jades for wiring. Can you provide a link to the type of wires you buy for your plants? Thank you!
I wish i could find someone in my area to help me wire mine :( no one here knows how and that’s because i offered to pay lol. I love your detailed video i guess i’ll be stuck with just admiring since i don’t think i’d wire mine myself.
Hi, Gilbert. I live in NE OH and have brought my ports in for the winter. I loaded the top layer of soil with osmocote throughout the summer with great results. Thanks for that tip. Would you recommend removing that top layer of soil to get rid of the fertilizer over the winter?
Mr. Cantu how much water and sunlight do they need? My jade tends to have dry leaves that fall off and when I started watering it more the leaves just fall off. Thanks.
What does bending the Portulacaria Afra do to water distribution, if anything at all? You mentioned not to water it for about a week prior to wiring, so I'm wondering what effect wiring will have once you do water it.
Great question! When it’s watered, the branches fill out and become plump therefore making it extremely easy to crack or snap a branch when wiring. If you let it dry out, the branches become flexible and can be wired with less chance of breaking a branch.
In much of traditional Bonsai they go by the two branch rule. That entails having branches on each side of the trunk that are about even with each other. They are wired with the same wire. This opens up the tree so that the trunk is more visible and it has a continuity to it. I much prefer smaller trees. A foot and a half being there tallest. I have seen trees that are much taller but not all people have the space for that.
That was great but holy shit you talk a lot. That said, the content once you got into it was super helpful. I don’t know how my geriatric jade is going to enjoy being a bonsai but if it doesn’t, I’ll try again with a younger specimen. Thank you. 😊
