Beginner Elephant Bush Bonsai | Four Examples of How I'd Start Them
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- Опубликовано: 2 авг 2024
- Hey there!
Who's ready for some dwarf jade? Here is a video that I made based off some requests I've received. Some of you have been asking how I would begin the process of bonsai-ing elephant bushes (portulacaria afra). I have 4 different examples of how I personally would begin the process. There are several ways to begin the bonsai process on a new plant, and I'm sure others would do things differently if they had the same 4 plants, but I hope this is helpful for you as you consider how to bonsai your own elephant bushes! :)
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Thanks and we'll see you on the next video!
-Chris
This has inspired me to start an elephant bush bonsai! Thanks for the great information and for showing us how it’s done!
Me too! I have several old plants I'm going to look at very differently.
I bought one because it's pet safe for a succulent bonsai. Watched this twice now. Mine came with four little healthy stems about 3" high. I guess I'll plant a forest!
A lot of these comments do not pass the vibe check, I very much enjoyed watching this video.
I love how you approached the cascade style tree. Myself being a beginner I wanted to dabble into a cascade style tree and your video helped me out a lot with some ideas for my portulacaria afra cuttings and other similar plants which I'm experimenting on.
Oh awesome I'm so glad it was helpful! :) I'm always just experimenting and trying new things, and this cascade one seems to be turning out alright! I'll do an update on that one soon. Thanks for watching!!
So fun! Thank you for sharing different options!
Very helpful to observe the process. Thanks! Plus, my new favorite expression is “straight up cascade” - love it!!
Thanks again! Poor Man’s Video.
Learned lots in this one and a 1/4.
Lol. I’m ready to cut up and pot up my Elephant’s 🐘 this weekend 👍🏼
Some are leggy and some are very bushy 🤞🏼🤞🏼. Plus, (I bought new scissors ✂️). . Lol. . Taking you’re tips, because they’s
Gonna be Bonsai’s now.
Great everything! Saved this one to refer back to. I’ll need it. 🤗 🌱 🤗
Great video! I'm just getting back into bonsai plants again and this was very helpful! Thanks for sharing this with us 🌱
Great work. Loved how they look.
Yay new bonsai channel to watch
Such a versatile succulent. The leaves are so refreshing eaten in a salad. 💚
I've got to try that! :) I always forget to eat them while I'm working on them haha.
Nice little video and because I am soon will get the hands on some cuttings of Elephant bush this will be one inspiration. Subscribed btw .
OMG, I've never seen anyone twist, thump, twang, pinch etc. plants as much as you. They must be tougher than I thought!
Fascinating.
i got some elephant bush plants from the clearance rack at lowe’s that were dying. they are doing better now and your video gave me some ideas of what to do with them. thanks!
Great to see you back and well
Thank you! Yes it's nice making videos again and spending more time with my plants.
@@PoorMansBonsai perfect time of year, to have a bit more time with your plants.
Nice job! I'm a newbie and just got my first bonsai plants. I picked up an elephant bush today so that I can start my first bonsai project.
Hope to see a update on the "bad boys reaching for their dreams". Ha, ha. Loved the video and the four different varieties.
They are so cute!! Hope they will grow well
Thank you so much!
Please make more videos ! I love these
Thank you so much. I just started a bonsai succulent hobby too. I appreciate the advice
Very helpful video
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching.
So helpful..
Awesome tute.. I'm definitely giving this a try..
Beatifull plant friend and nice collection... fantastic essenze!!
Thank you very much! I appreciate the kind words!
Great video! Learnt a lot. Keep it up!!
Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed it!
good video
Bagus bagus om👍👍👍
Would be nice for you to explain where and why you are cutting at certain places
Thanks for the insight! I'll try to be more descriptive in future videos. Thanks for watching!
I have alot of different succulents. Can I use most of them? Love your easy to follow video.👌
Elephant Bush AKA Dwarf Jade
Nice Channel! You got a new sub (:
Niceeeeee
Lovely 😊
Thanks! :)
Mantap bos ku
Thanks going to give it a try. Show progress please🤩🤩💜
The leaves are yummy to eat , wash it chop fine add to pasta for a mild citrus flava.
👏👍muito bom seu trabalho.
Obrigado!
Didnt catch in the video if you shared your soil mix for this species? Cheers and thx!
Yes I didn't really mention my soil mixture, but I'm pretty sure I did a mixture of sifted potting soil and crushed lava rock. :) Probably about 50/50. I've found that the elephant bush are pretty forgiving of the soil I give them. But I try to stick to a ratio of at least 50% gritty stuff, so it drains well. I live in Southern California though so I'm always experimenting with how much organic and moisture retaining elements I should add, since things dry out so quickly in the summer. Sometimes instead of crushed lava rock I'll use the oil spill cleanup stuff, with is diatomaceous earth. I get it from tractor supply in a huge bag. I'll do a mixture of that and potting soil. I hope this helps! :) Sorry for the long answer.
Don’t you grow the cuttings? They were beautiful? I do. I put them all in soil and let them grow Roots. It makes me sad to think that you throw those beautiful cuttings away. From one jade plant my son bought home from preschool 20yrs ago I finally separated all the trunks and made cuttings. I didn’t throw any branches out. I have over 25 different size pots with jade plants and a long shallow tray with dirt I throw all the short cuttings and leaves into. Its very satisfying to raise them. I give some as gifts and the tray looks like a lush lawn most get roots. Thank you for the video. I was timid about cutting and where. Your video made it clearer. 🙏🏻
Just curious after a year what do they look like?
Mine is a bonsai and I only have 1 leave left. What to do?
Two requests.
Can you try to bonsai a Natal plum, and can you try to bonsai a Moringa oleifera.
Thank you!
Ooh those would be cool! Both of those are pretty drought tolerant right?
@@PoorMansBonsai Yes 🙂
😮😮😮 good job how to grow more?
I saved a piece of elephant bush off the floor of Walmart. They had sprayed all succulents w a powerful hose & ripped them all apart :-( Tried to water prop, didn’t wait long tho. Put her in soil just now. Fingers crossed
Thanks,what is watering
Hi I’m a newbie! I had a huge elephant Bush in the ground that I dug up and am interested in making some bonsai. Thank you for this Video. How did you attach? Or put wire in that pot? You didn’t show that? Is there a rock in the pot?
Nice video.Where did you place it after repot Full sun or Shade?
I kept them in partial sun. I'm not sure the best placement for these after repotting, but I generally keep them on a bench that gets sun half of the day. They seem to be enjoying it!
do these need cut paste
How do you make the trunk thick?
Good question! I kind of experiment. I'm still learning the best way to do that. Maybe letting it grow wild for a bit might help? I actually am about to upload an update to these 4 plants so check that out! I feel like the trunks got thicker just in the last few months.
Thanks for tuning in!
Always heard it was damaging to try and wire succulents. It scars their skin too easily. Most people trim their way to shape. Will be interesting to see your results over time.
I'll keep an eye on it. :) Succulents do have soft bark/skin. I might have to do more trimming to shape it rather than wire if it starts causing damage. Thanks for the heads up!
How to i do one from seed ? I planted seeds for the elephant plant. I forget what it is called. I juat have about 2 inches to 5 inches and I toed acoupke together to try to get a thicker twisted look. Do I just let it keep growing for a year before and do I definitely put them in a small pot
Any new videos coming?
why is your trunk so much igger than mine? I've had mine for about a year and a half but I got it when it was already a decent size. The plant has grown but not the trunk thickness. How do I get it to grow bigger. (I also have portulacaria afra variegata)
I'm honestly not sure. I'm still really learning this species. Some of my plants I just let grow for long periods of time and it seems to thicken up the trunk. :) I don't know if that helps!
This is a dumb question, can you eat the leaves? 😂 Asking for a friend
Hahahah I've been told in comments that you can lol. I've yet to try them yet hehe
do you cut at the leaf to encourage branch splitting? What action exactly induces the branch splitting?
Just cut the older stems with a clean scissor right above the node stem. Most of them will grow 2 stems. They really like sunlight.
I love the music, I’d buy it on iTunes if it’s available!
That's very kind of you! I've considered putting it iTunes (and other music platforms) before. Maybe I'll have to :)
@@PoorMansBonsai Well please let us know how to find you on iTunes!!
How come no tray under pots for drainage?
Good question! Sometimes I will do that to really let the trees get some good soaking in. I should probably do that more often in the dead of summer where I'm at. It gets so hot! Thanks for the comment!
None of these look like my elephant bush, mine literally looks like a bush 😩
I guess I'm just gonna have to cut them however I can lmao
Same
Man those scissors are dull. crushed before cutting.
Haha I'm sure they could use a nice sharpening. I've had those little pruners for years. I'm sure it doesn't help that elephant bush has a very soft, fleshy texture, being a succulent. Thanks for the observation! I'll check them out and see if I can sharpen them.
None of those plants look particularly healthy, and seem to be growing incredibly slowly for P. afra. The amount of growth you're reporting took "a year or two" can typically be accomplished within a month with a healthy plant. Are you sure they're getting enough sun? The long internodes suggests that the plants are seeking more light.
I'm with you and I don't think some of these are the variation that most people use. They seem to have larger, paler leaves than ones I have and seem to be growing very slow. Could be soil he has them in or maybe he strictly is growing them inside. idk. Maybe he might see these comments and chime in.
@@Iosis6 Yes, he has one example of the variegated variety which does grow slower (less green = less chlorophyll = less photosynthesis). That one actually appears to be the healthiest of the bunch! The others are the species typical P. afra (the white marks are a sign of their poor health, not variegation) and should be growing much more vigorously. I strongly suspect they aren't getting enough sun and in addition are being way over-pruned.
For example, the choice to cut off the two long cascading branches on the third plant was a huge mistake as those were by far the healthiest on that plant (huge internodes as they were seeking light, then very short ones with many leaves when they found it). He pruned them off thinking it would re-direct the energy to the more vertical branches, instead, he was actually cutting off the plant's best source of energy (that's why it was growing that way!) which distributes through the whole system, ultimately benefiting all the branches.
Too early to worry about redirecting energy when it barely has any to begin with.
One way of keeping them without the overflowing appearance would be to stake them or wire them to be vertical, which could look quite lovely. If he wanted to get rid of them, well, he didn't have to keep them on for the final design, but he cut them way too soon. At the very least, it's a clear sign that he needs to give those vertical branches more light if he wants it to grow up and not sideways.
Adding insult to injury, cutting all the vertical branches to just one or two leaves was also a move which contributes to extremely poor health, because now with only 5 leaves it can barely make any energy from photosynthesis.
@@mirandusings Yeah I see what you mean. The really long internodes, all of the spots on them. These jade are definitely not in good health.
@@Iosis6 Indeed. It’s a pity that this video has so many views and upvotes, because it is teaching thousands of beginners precisely how to give their jades a long slow death.
This man’s poor bonsai...
Hey Tora and Iosis6! I'm finally chiming in! :)
I tried commenting on this earlier today and it wouldn't post my comment. :( Anyway, thank you both for your insights! I was reading through your comments. I'm sorry that I have caused much anguish within you. I'm still totally a beginner! :) I've always tried to be intentional about letting my viewers know that I'm a beginner and I frequently ask for insights in the comments, so thank you for them! :)
My channel is not meant to be a teaching channel as much as just documenting my journey in the hobby of bonsai. Even the title of this video is "Four Examples of How I'd Start Them" so as not to tell people to do as I do, but rather just watch along as I process the decisions I make, whether good or bad.
I'm always trying to learn and grow in my knowledge and skills as a bonsai grower and always appreciate peoples' insights. These plants all started out in this video as neglected plants that I did little to no care with, so they are all doing much better now, now that I am intentional with them. :)
I learned a lot from your comments, so I will continue to try to improve as I go. Thank you so much!
Blessings,
Chris
I think too many people cut too much off of these plants. You’re cutting off like 9 to 15 months worth of growth when you can wire most of it imo. I mean the first plant in your montage was butchered.
Did you know that Elephant Bush is edible?
I can't recall if I've heard that or not, but good to know! I'll have to snack on some the next time I'm trimming them :) Thanks!
Put them in bigger pots !
Why?
These are goofy wadte of time , just buy a cheap juniper, cotton, better starters
You're kind of a klutz eh? LOL Seriously, you don't seem to have a tender touch, a bit rough!
Haha I suppose I am a klutz....lol yeah I know I need to be softer on the plants. I think I have a tendency when I'm filming videos to worry too much about how the shot looks or if i'm getting the right angles/saying the right things, and that makes me a little more frantic/careless on my plants. I just need to slooooowwww dooownnn haha. But i hope you still enjoyed it! Thanks for the comments.
OMG dude ?? first look how to wire tree
Poor man's Bonsai????? Give Elephant bush some good hype, jack up the price, keep raving about it non stop.... and there you go... you will have "Rich man's" Bonsai.
Why does he say "Bonsai" like that ?? lmfao
This isn't "starting" an elephant bonsai though. These are well grown elephant bush already propagated. I was gonna ignore than until you pointed out your own washer and dryer and poor editing. 🤷🏻♂️. Just very disorganized and lacking clarity, you loose a lot of credibility in my eyes.
Good luck 🫡
sorry, but that wire is useless.