66) Chinese Jade or Portulacara afra ideal Bonsai Trees for Beginners

Chinese Jade or Portulacara afra are great Bonsai Trees for Beginners, they are forgiving and don't mind the occasional missed watering, and can practically survive all by themselves. They can acquire their own moisture from the atmosphere. This How to do video shows you whats need to look after these simple yet exotic and magical plants. Portulacara afra is the Chinese or the oriental Jade. It’s commonly called the Dwarf Jade. It has smaller leaves, very small leaves compared to the African Jade. Again, it’s given as an auspicious tree and usually it's given rather than you buying the tree. It has fleshy round leaves and at the back is scraggly. Slate gray to slightly brown and it's again another significant carbon fixer so it doesn't need to be fed too much. In terms of style, it makes small to large bonsais and there's some very, very old specimens of them around at the moment. It's grown best indoors. Again, it doesn't like to get too cold as it can actually damage the tree quite significantly, so from October onwards, if it's grown outdoors, bring it indoors, at least in the UK and in the colder parts of Europe. It doesn't need to be watered too much as it gets a lot of its water from the air so water as and when you have the opportunity Feed it a balanced fertilizer. You don't need to feed too often, just once a month is more than enough Pruning. Again, it's a chunky growing species so prune only as and when you need to to keep it in shape. Again to keep it in size, just pinch the growing tips and it will contain it. If you need longer branches, let the branches extend and then remove 4 - 5 leaves on the back so it becomes, it shows a nice branch. Try not to repot too often, and when you do repot, don't water. Let the roots settle for a week or two weeks before you you water the tree. Best not to wire. Use the pinch and grow or clip and grow method to shape it.