First Portulacaria afra

Just started working on this species. I picked this one up at Jupiter bonsai. Great material. Let me know what you think.

Looks like Portulacaria afra, not a Jade (Crassula), which make much better Bonsai. Great taper in a little distance, this one should be fun to work with!

I agree with Joey; it is Portulacaria Afra, and you have a nice one!
I have 5 P. Afra plants; it grows fast during spring and summer, and they are real fun
Before you start wiring branches, you should stop watering for a week, then branches become soft and easy to wire (after June/July). Otherwise branches are broken like a biscuit.
It grows fastest in these months, so I strongly recommend you to remove wires, otherwise they can bite into branches so quickly that you can never remove them later
I am sure you'll be surprized with its development just within a year.
Enjoy it!

Taner

Awesome material to start with, it's amazing how fast they grow down here! How is Jupiter Bonsai? I've never been and have been wanting to check it out for a while now. School and work have been so busy that I've been unable to make it to any of the nurseries in that area for 6+ months.

Nice one I agree with joeye and the others its not a jade tree, we call them spekboom here in south africa , and you have a great one ,the leaves are edible and they really need very little water,enjoy

Dolphie-
Do you have any photos of them growing wild in your area? I ask because it would be interesting to see some of the shapes these take and how the trunks turn out with natural growth. Nature is usually suprising this way. For instance.. elms here can be thin with little taper, but add harsh conditions and maybe the effects of chomping by cattle or deer and suddenly you get some great Bonsai-worthy trunks.
Thanks!

I will tAKE SOME PICS FOR YOU ,THEY GROW UP TO 2.5M IN THE WILD AND MAKE FOR GOOD HEDGING AS WELL

Thank you Dolphie!
Maybe in a new thread so we don't clutter up Hiram's nice post too much? Plus using the search feature, I couldn't locate anyone showing Portulacaria in their native habitat. I think it will make for an interesting post. Especially since many folks over in this part of the world view them as a tropical houseplant!

LordEOfBeckley wrote:Awesome material to start with, it's amazing how fast they grow down here! How is Jupiter Bonsai? I've never been and have been wanting to check it out for a while now. School and work have been so busy that I've been unable to make it to any of the nurseries in that area for 6+ months.

Jupiter Bonsai has the best bonsai raw material I have encountered and Allen is an amazing artist and also a one of kind friend. You should take the time call him and drop by, you will not regret it.

hiram wrote:Just started working on this species. I picked this one up at Jupiter bonsai. Great material. Let me know what you think.

Standard not that high

carlos wrote:

hiram wrote:Just started working on this species. I picked this one up at Jupiter bonsai. Great material. Let me know what you think.

Standard not that high

what do you mean, Carlos?