Prune Portulacaria afra like this in October for faster growth and a more beautiful shape, turning one pot into many

Portulacaria afra belongs to the purslane family as a perennial evergreen succulent shrub, also called the purslane tree. Its stems are upright, its posture is elegant, and its leaves are emerald green. When it grows to a certain height, it needs to be pruned into a beautiful shape, supplemented by wiring. If the potted Portulacaria afra kept at home is not pruned for a long time, it will grow rather messy; the more you prune it, the better it will grow.

When growing Portulacaria afra in October, prune it like this for faster growth and a more beautiful shape, turning one pot into many!

The pruned shape can be done according to your own preferences. Generally there are these styles: formal upright style, curved trunk style, slanting style, cascade style, and so on.

If those pruned shapes seem too complicated, you can simply give it a single cut, leaving more branches on one side and fewer on the other, cutting it into a scalene triangle. This looks very clean and attractive.

You can also prune freely according to your own ideas, then bind it with string and the like to create a unique shape.

The best time to prune is in spring and autumn, especially autumn. At this time the temperature is mild, neither too high nor too low, and the sunlight is not particularly strong. This is the growing season for Portulacaria afra, so after pruning the cuts heal more easily.

When pruning, as long as the main stem is not damaged, it is fine. Keep the thick branches and prune the thin ones as you like. Cut off leggy branches and overly dense branches.

After pruning, loosen the soil for it. You can add some leaf mold to the flower pot, and you can also water with some organic fertilizer water, such as diluted animal manure, bone meal, cake fertilizer water, and so on.

Do not waste the branches you cut off, because a small section of branch, 10 cm is enough, can be directly inserted into gritty sandy soil, or into vermiculite and peat soil.

The insertion depth is about 2 cm. Then spray the soil moist and place it in a place with indirect light and good ventilation. It roots very quickly, and the survival rate of cuttings is very high. After pruning one pot, you can propagate several pots. As long as you have enough empty flower pots at home, you can grow more than a dozen pots.

When growing Portulacaria afra normally, apart from shading it from direct sun in summer, you can give it more sun in autumn. This makes the plant grow stronger and more lush and improves its cold resistance.