Crassula over and over again...

This is a plant everybody has at home. Crassula ovata.
This one is my last Indoor and will stay so for a while I think.
It has been prepared over the last 30 years just for today.
30 years without getting a fitting pot but always with the idea to design a tree.
Every shoot on the base was cut away, it also was cut for branching every year.
So today its a real broom. For a crassula I think it is quite passable.
Now it slowly has to do the final steps forward to becoming something like a Bonsai.

Base 9 cm Height 60 cm
The pot (from german potter Erwin Grzesinski) was just available.
So I don't think I will keep it for this tree although it has a touch of Africa.
By now I think something unglazed would be much better. Maybe someone wants to do a virtual?...

I think such a Crassula is acceptable even if one usually doesn't do indoor Bonsai anymore...

Best wishes
Max

Max Engels wrote: one usually doesn't do indoor Bonsai anymore...

Not sure what you mean. If you mean you personally, that's your choice. I don't know about Europe, but in the US indoor bonsai are all the rage, because so many people are interested who can't grow temperate bonsai.
Iris

Sorry Iris, I forgot about this. In Europe it is mostly common to leave Indoors behind when you do Bonsai with a bit ambition. Most people say this is the best choice because a tree that stands outside has better fitting conditions than most Indoors could ever have.

Here too. A lot of people start out with enthusiasm, then give up when they discover that "indoor bonsai" means indoors in the winter, preferably in an enhanced environment, and outdoors all summer. They also disappear when they find out bonsai is not a spectator sport and they have to work on the tree regularly.
Iris

You are right, Iris. I vividly remember how disappointed I was when I found out I couldn't
just plop a baby tree in a tiny pot for instant bonsai.

Libby

This is a beautiful Crassula,and the pot choice is fitting.Just be careful that tree is well secured,as large Crassulas are very top heavy and prone to tipping or leaning over.

just a short update.
Hope you like it.

hello,
crassula can grow outdoor from may to september if you want to have flower in november indoor.
no water from november to february.
A larger glazed pot will be better i think, and clear color .
New soil ( pure akadama ) will be better also i think.

[img][/img]

photographie off my crassula ( not ovata ) .Cutting 12 years, trunk 18 cm , high 70 cm
[img][/img]

Max wrote:just a short update.
Hope you like it.

This is a great crassula Max!!!
Adding some cool surface roots will make it better.

Taner

Max wrote:Sorry Iris, I forgot about this. In Europe it is mostly common to leave Indoors behind when you do Bonsai with a bit ambition. Most people say this is the best choice because a tree that stands outside has better fitting conditions than most Indoors could ever have.

I probably have to agree with you. I had maybe 30 indoor bonsai but now I have only 5. My personal impression is that my indoor bonsai are "on display" while my outdoor bonsai are part of me, particularly the larger ones. In other words I "see" my indoor bonsai but I "feel" my outdoor ones. I can't explain it better than that.

Very nice, Max, I like it a lot

Very nice!\You have inspired me to make one.

abcd wrote:
photographie off my crassula ( not ovata ) .Cutting 12 years, trunk 18 cm , high 70 cm
[img][/img]

Why don't you think it is C. ovata? What species do you think it is.
Iris

Looks almost exactly like mine, which I know as Crassula Argentea. I believe the two words (Ovata and Argentea) are synonymous.

Rick36 wrote:Looks almost exactly like mine, which I know as Crassula Argentea. I believe the two words (Ovata and Argentea) are synonymous.

Exactly!
Scientific / Latin name: Crassula ovata = Crassula argentea = C. portulacea
Common name: Crasula ovata

The correct botanical name is Crassula ovata. All the other names are synonyms. (A synonym in taxonomy is not the same as a synonym in the dictionary.)
The common name in English is jade plant. Technically, I don't believe it's a tree. Even big ones I've seen do not have a true woody trunk.
Iris

bonsaisr wrote:The correct botanical name is Crassula ovata. All the other names are synonyms. (A synonym in taxonomy is not the same as a synonym in the dictionary.)
The common name in English is jade plant. Technically, I don't believe it's a tree. Even big ones I've seen do not have a true woody trunk.
Iris

Hi Iris,

I perceive bonsai as a work of art living in a pot.
As long as it has artistic value, aesthetic view, and as long as it gives the impression a natural tree, I dont mind if it is a real tree, bush or succulent.

Taner

They can grow to 10 feet outdoors in their natural habitat, South Africa...

Crassula ovata

Also, search for Kerky bush (Crassula ovata) on this page:

Albany thickets

So, what about Berberis or Cotoneaster horizontalis then?

But I admit it needs a very well-trained Crassula to evoke a tree in an African environment. One thing I like with Max's tree is the colour of the pot which suggests a sandy, dry, sunny environment. The bark itself is a reminder of other species like baobas. Place figures in colourful clothes under the shade of its canopy, and you'll get a palaver tree.

Or put an elephant next to it, and that's it!

The correct botanical name is Crassula Ovata (Miller) Druce - currently, and some would say from 1917.
"When I was a boy" and my Crassula was an office cutting taken by my now wife, it was called Crassula Argentea according to Lamb 1955.
Isn't taxonomy nomenclature wonderful? Who knows? In a few years time The "correct" name could be Crassula Irisii? Crassula Rickii? Crassula Sakakiii? Crassula Maxii? ( I think he is the only one who may have time to achieve the change!!)
Plus ca change.....as I think they say over the Channel.

...plus c'est pareil / plus c'est la même chose ...

For once a crassula I like Probably because of the serious size; most other crasula's I come across are a poor substitute for a bonsai. This may make a nice tree on it's own. Nice job.