Digging a big Portulacaria afra on Monday

[cre8ivbonsai]

Wow that IS huge mate, makes the spray can look tiny, should have some fun with that!

[Josh]

Wow that IS huge mate, makes the spray can look tiny, should have some fun with that!

Yeah it is huge. It was heavy as and that was after I cut 600mm off it. Think I'll get a couple out it.

Josh.

[mugen]

Looks great josh I like the proposed chop to create taper. It will leave you with a large scar to deal with but from the photos you have shown that seems the best option. The scar will eventually heal up and ad feature. Does it have a good root spread? Couldn't see from the photos.
As far as back budding goes you should get heaps. You should be able to create a really nice tree out of it and some nice cuttings from it as well.
Look forward to updates .

Jac.

[matty-j]

Hey Josh, Looks the goods mate!

I forgot to mention, I was told that when taking large cuttings of jade, its best to leave them in the shade for a few days before potting them up.
The reason for this is that jade will rot really easy from the bottom up, so leaving them for a few days before potting them will allow time for the cutting to seal its self off at the node so rot won't set in!
I was also told that wound sealant won't work and is actually bad because it traps moisture in and you want the cut to dry out and fall off, to start the healing process.

I did this method in summer and struck two 60mm cuttings and both are powering on.
This is just my

Cheers
Matt

[Josh]

Looks great josh I like the proposed chop to create taper. It will leave you with a large scar to deal with but from the photos you have shown that seems the best option. The scar will eventually heal up and ad feature. Does it have a good root spread? Couldn't see from the photos.
As far as back budding goes you should get heaps. You should be able to create a really nice tree out of it and some nice cuttings from it as well.
Look forward to updates .

Jac.

Thanks Jac. The roots are bit of a mess with one big one wrapped around. I've got to clean it up about. I'm away for the weekend in mildura and next week is my last week at work so it's flat out. I'll have do something with Monday. Once I clean it up ill post more pics.

Hey Josh, Looks the goods mate!

I forgot to mention, I was told that when taking large cuttings of jade, its best to leave them in the shade for a few days before potting them up.
The reason for this is that jade will rot really easy from the bottom up, so leaving them for a few days before potting them will allow time for the cutting to seal its self off at the node so rot won't set in!
I was also told that wound sealant won't work and is actually bad because it traps moisture in and you want the cut to dry out and fall off, to start the healing process.

I did this method in summer and struck two 60mm cuttings and both are powering on.
This is just my

Cheers
Matt

Hey Matt no problem letting it dry out a bit, I haven't had time to do anything with them since digging Thanks for the added info. I'll have some big cutting to put in that's for sure. Plan on getting into it this week if I can find the time
I'm looking forward to playing around with this one.

Josh.

[Josh]

Ok so finally got around to doing something with this tree. It's been just sitting there this whole time and honestly it hasn't made any difference to it I think. I potted up the main tree with a few chops to create taper.

7.JPG

7a.JPG

8.JPG

9.JPG

10.JPG

Josh

[bodhidharma]

If you get a chance to bend Don Deluca's ear (lives in Hay) do so. He loves these and has some great subjects. You are going to have some fun with this guy, a great learning tool.