Portulacaria afra

[Hornet]

So taking Matt's advice i decided to stop thinking and just take a cutting off my jade for bonsai. Only took a small one due to only having secateurs to cut it with atm. I'm unsure where to start but i think i could get a few tree's out of this. What do you guys think should be done?

[Luke308]

Id suggest looking for a trunk with some movement rather than a dead straight one.Leave the cutting outside for 2 weeks to dry a little, and split some tabs/wedges in the base as per the how to produce dynamic fig thread to help produce radial roots. Just my

[Hornet]

In my experience these dont really get natural movement so you would have to train it into them before hand

[kcpoole]

Cut it above a branch and use that as a new leader
ken

[Luke308]

In my experience these dont really get natural movement so you would have to train it into them before hand

Your right, it is not common for them to have natural movement, but you can find good examples if you look. Check out the curves in some of the ones Ive posted here viewtopic.php?f=130&t=11299
I know mine is far from being a bonsai, but the movement was all natural, selected from a garden specimen in my backyard. Maybe you could use weights to pre-train it before severing?? To me dead straight is dead boring, but that is only my opinion

[kcpoole]

they are easy to wire into contorted shapes so do not be to gently with them.
Bend away
As luke says, sometimes they can be found with natural bends.

Ken

[Hornet]

The good thing with being a succulent aswell is they do have a bit of give in the branches. Will get onto this guy in the next few days