AusBonsai

Today, I have been looking through the forums and have noticed that there has not been many post about Portulacaria or "Money Plant. is there a reason for this or is this species not very popular? I have heard that many beginers have cut there teeth with this species but have not seen many mature trees. I personally have a Soju or double trunk of this species and I believe that it makes a convincing Bonsai form.
Any ideas or pics on this topic would be good,
Slug

There's a nice one in the sale section with a few tips on care
cheers
Dave

Portulacaria afra make very beautiful bonsai, as was shown by one tree that was on loan from Queensland to the National Collection for one Summer, I believe in 2008-2009. After that it had to go home, as it could not stand our low temperatures in Canberra. Being frost tender has to be one of the reasons for its lack of popularity in the cooler/colder parts of Oz. Also, depending on where they grow, they can take a long time to develop a worthwhile trunk, and good branching plus the development of foliage pads really takes ages. I've got one that I grew in a very sheltered spot here in Canberra, and found that it grows fastest in the ground, in part shade, with a lot of ferrtiliser to stimulate it. Also, it likes a moist, well-draining soil. Being a succulent, it can probably withstand a fair amount of drought, but then it wouldn't grow very well.

Lisa

Just saw Dave's tree that's for sale. Over 30 yrs old! Geez, Dave, in your place I coudn't bear to part with that Jade.
And at $750 it's cheap.

Depending where you live, Jade powers on this time of year in the central west. I have one over 100 years old that was mums mums.
Also one 50years that im in the process of training. Im reluctant to chop what im suppose to. Knowing this plant is old. So im
holding out till time tells me to do the chop. For now i will carry on with the training. Heres 1 I found whilst on holidays
in Qld. Almost bought it, realiseing i had to get my own in practise first. They all seem to have the same look, havnt seen a great style yet .

At the begining of this post I did not include a photo of mine. A little history, I purchased this tree about 9 years ago from a Sunday market at Springfield ( maybe the same one as Petra?) for $10. I placed it in the current pot and repotted every second year after that, needs another one soon.
It does need more water than i expected, maybe 3 times per week and it tolerates the humidity here well. The tree itself is age unkown. Her is a couple of photos Slug

Here's a pic of my one and only candidate of this species. Had him for a little over 6 years and have found it indestructable. The guy I bought it off ($50) had dozens he was fattening up in grow beds..all I was told were cuttings. A little word of warning though. When making chops or lage cuts, try and execute them with the foresight of hiding the cut area (if that makes sense?). Mine has a large chop mark about a third the way up the trunk that hasn't healed/closed over at all since I had it...so be aware!. Other than this, they're a very pleasing subject to work with.

Cheers!
Anthony

Here is mine:
Information and a very nice example here:

http://www.mellobonsai.com/care/Mini-jade-bonsai.aspx

Lennard

Here is one of my Portulacaria's. Formal upright is a bit hard with this species because the lower branches get heavy.

This is a large group I am working on.