How to make a bonsai from a Jade Plant (Portulacaria afra): one branch grows into a full pot in half a year and is shaped into a cascade-style trunk

When growing a Jade Plant, it is usually trained into a bonsai, with a beautiful shape, vigorous and powerful, and very high ornamental value. Today let's talk about how to shape a Jade Plant bonsai yourself

If you want to grow a bonsai trunk from a Jade Plant, first you need to decide on the shape you want, and then style it. This small bonsai trunk of mine was grown from a single branch cutting half a year ago,

Others saw that I did a good job, so based on this large bonsai trunk, I made a small cascade-style bonsai just like it

If you want to grow a bonsai trunk, you need to use a large pot to grow the Jade Plant, letting its root system grow without limit, and watering and feeding it generously. That way, the Jade Plant grows fast and is easier to shape

Today I pruned it into a cascade style. When it was cuttings at the time, it was a single branch. First, you need to wrap it with wire and shape it, making it bend, bending it multiple times to create a shape. At each bend point, keep a cluster, then at the next bend node keep another cluster. On the branch section in between, prune off the side buds, leaving a stretch of bare stem

If the branches kept at the nodes grow too long, you need to prune them off. When pruning, keep two pairs of leaves, that is, two nodes, and prune off all the rest, so it sends out more side branches, as dense as possible. That way, the shape will be beautiful

The lower part here is cloud-layer shaped, and the branches also need to be cut back short, so they grow flatter and form a cloud-layer shape. The cloud-layer shape should grow outward as much as possible to be beautiful. Both the upper and lower ends of the cloud layer should be pruned off, keeping the middle branches to grow outward, so it has a flat shape

At this bend at the bottom, you also need to keep a cluster of branches, cut the branches short, and shape them

In this way, the general shape comes out. Later, through constant pruning and the growth of side buds, you achieve the goal of shaping

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