Portulacaria afra (Baby Jade) - bonsaiTALK Community

26-May-2008

#11

K3JAE

bonsaiTALK Artisan

Join Date: May-2008

Location: Fayette County, Pennsylvania

Country: USA

USDA Zone: 5B-6A

AHS Heat Zone: 3 4 5

Posts: 118

Quote:

Originally Posted by nsmar4211

The yellow leaves probably will fall off. However, P. afra will recover if given a chance... and by given a chance it needs to be not watered for a while. The best growth I get is when the plants are allowed to dry to the slightly wrinkling point and then watered well. Buds pop out everywhere! I have plants that fell under benches that weren't watered for many weeks that were fine... and I live in Florida where it's a lot hotter than PA

I will refrain from watering until I see wrinkles.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nsmar4211

And you'd have a tough time over fertilizing a p. afra with osmocote

. I don't mean plant it in straight osmocote, just follow the package directions. Jim Smith (a well known name in P. afra) told me that the plant would take everything you can throw at it and more, unlike most succulents and unlike regular jade. Regular jade you can over fertilize a lot quicker- ports are different. Some people do 1/4 strength water soluble fert. every time they water, Im too lazy to mix it up that often though LOL.

I was going to use liquid fert but decided to go with the pellets as they are more reliable being "timed release" type pellets, and like you do not wish to mix a special batch every week just for the P afra.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nsmar4211

I've never lost a portulacaria plant bigger than two inches from underwatering it. I've killed several from too much water standing in the pot.

BTW, are there holes in the bottom of the pot?

Yes there are two holes in the bottom of the plant with a humidity tray. The humidity tray is kept empty but not totally dry, if that makes sense. I am trying to allow the humidity to remain around the tree a bit. Although it is currently 80% humid right now that should not be a problem.

Glad to hear my overwatering may not have hurt it too badly since caught early enough.

__________________
John

Bonsai Guru... riiiiiight...
But I'm gettin' there... in about another 100 years I should be right around the bend from it.

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26-May-2008

#12

K3JAE

bonsaiTALK Artisan

Join Date: May-2008

Location: Fayette County, Pennsylvania

Country: USA

USDA Zone: 5B-6A

AHS Heat Zone: 3 4 5

Posts: 118

Quote:

Originally Posted by nsmar4211

I just saw your soil post....... if the rocks are glued (gulp) on the surface, time for a bit of work... get them off! Poke them and see if they move. If you've been watering that much they may be loose enough to just take off in clumps. Would explain the too much water also, the rocks hold in moisture. If they're just loose on the surface leave em

. If they are glued and you want to reuse them, pry them off gently and soak them in water until the glue is gone, dry well, and then put back on surface. And turn it over and make sure there is holes in the bottom of the pot!

Mercy me, if the rocks were glued I would never purchase anything from that specific vendor again since they "pride" themselves in being bonsai "experts." That was the FIRST thing I checked when unpacking. I even moved the decorative rocks away from the trunk a bit to allow the soil to dry around the trunk today. I may actually move all of it off the pot until I get a good idea of drainage and composition after it dries a bit.
~makes mental note to do tomorrow~

__________________
John

Bonsai Guru... riiiiiight...
But I'm gettin' there... in about another 100 years I should be right around the bend from it.

27-May-2008	#13
K3JAE bonsaiTALK Artisan Join Date: May-2008 Location: Fayette County, Pennsylvania Country: USA USDA Zone: 5B-6A AHS Heat Zone: 3 4 5 Posts: 118	Wet P. Afra Update: I reinspected my tree today (now 24 hours later) and some of the yellow/black leaves are shriveling up. Most of the leaves are fine. The ones taking the beating, as it were, are those on the ends of branches and from the middle up. All bottom leaves and inner branch leaves look fine. I removed the tree from the pot. Allowing it to air dry as much as the high humidity will allow. I placed the tree, now less the pot, on a paper towel and after a few minutes the towel was damp but not soaked. I "patted" the remaining sides of the soil ball and without disturbing roots or soil pack was able to soak some more water out of the soil. I am planning on leaving the tree "pot-less" (almost like having no underclothing on now ) for about 5-6 hours and will place back in pot prior to night night time for me. If I am NOT satisfied I will remove the pot again when I leave for work tomorrow and allow it to dry throughout the day, when the air is warmer and less humid (no rain forecasted for tomorrow). BTW: Suzie, the soil is a very sandy mix with some peat. It also has a fair amount of clumps. Cannot determine for sure what else is in the mix. I will add a few pics taken today once I get them off my phone and will edit them into this post. __________________ John Bonsai Guru... riiiiiight... But I'm gettin' there... in about another 100 years I should be right around the bend from it. Last edited by K3JAE : 27-May-2008 at 06:28 PM.

27-May-2008	#14
subnet_rx bonsaiTALK Expert Join Date: Feb-2008 Location: Hattiesburg, MS USDA Zone: 8a AHS Heat Zone: 9 Posts: 175	If none of the roots are rotted, I don't see the reason for taking it out of the pot. If they are, you need to cut those roots off. Otherwise, putting it in the pot, in the soil, and in the sun should do it. The plant seems very stressed right now, and I'd say leave it alone in a pot in a sunny place.

27-May-2008	#15
nsmar4211 just me :) Join Date: Jul-2006 Location: South Florida Country: us USDA Zone: 9 or 10 AHS Heat Zone: ? Posts: 392	Subnet, John joined us in the chat room and after some discussion I advised him to do the "out of pot" thing in this case. The plant is suffering from too much water, and that is one way to remedy the problem.. I've seen this method used on portulacaria that were suffering from overwatering at a local bonsai nursery, they were removed from the pot and allowed to drain thoroughly. I also used this to save a plant that was watered with a can of coke at a county fair (I now know to never enter a plant in a pot without drainholes!). The biggest demise cause of these is overwatering. If he loses this plant due to my advice, rest assured I can replace it for him eyeballs yard..... John, sandy soil is good for these. Next spring you'll probably want to switch it over to a different free draining mix, but for now it's fine. However, if the water starts beading on the soil surface instead of soaking in a repot may have to come sooner. As I've said, outside, these guys are tough . __________________ www.susanszoocrew.com www.acuteaffliction.com

27-May-2008	#16
K3JAE bonsaiTALK Artisan Join Date: May-2008 Location: Fayette County, Pennsylvania Country: USA USDA Zone: 5B-6A AHS Heat Zone: 3 4 5 Posts: 118	Well I have good news of sort: I went back out to my stressed plant a few hours later to just check on it and as much to my surprise and as if I won a million bucks there is a large amount of new growth on the tree!!! I did not inspect for new growth the first time (did not expect to see any), just concerned for the growth and leaves already there and wanting to get a few pictures. Little tiny singles (4) and a few doubles (3) are growing out or near the previously pruned ends. I originally spotted what I thought was possibly new growth or a bug/mite on first inspection... turned the tree to a position that I could remember where it was. When I went back out about 2 hours later (while the entire plant was "potless" and the sun came out and shined directly on it for probably 1/2 hour this little shoot I "marked" actually progressed further and now is a teeny tiny leave as opposed to a green spot. This happened in 2 hours or thereabouts. I also placed a moisture meter into the soil at various places as well. The meter reads a "4" (on a scale of 1-10) on all locations which is just inside the "MOIST" area of the meter which tells me it is drying nicely and uniformly. I did verify there are 2 drainage holes (seem rather large for this pot (about 3/4" each)) and both had mesh between the pot and soil over the drainage holes. I feel a bit more confident about the survivability of this tree now. More so than originally felt. I still will not water this little guy until I notice leave start to wrinkle. __________________ John Bonsai Guru... riiiiiight... But I'm gettin' there... in about another 100 years I should be right around the bend from it.

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