Portulacaria Afra

9/24/2021 I got the inspiration to repot my #ElephantBush from a friend who has hers in a tall planter. I'm not sure why it didn't occur to me sooner but I think this #PortulacariaAfra will be much happier without its branches resting on the ground. And it needed a repot anyway.

8/6/2020 The plant that "started it all" a couple years ago when a friend gave me a plant to care for when I mentioned I wanted to try growing plants but thought I had a black thumb. She advised how to care for it and, once I kept it alive for a bit, started trying new plants and here we are today. #elephant-bush #portulacaria-afra

Very nice~~Beautiful!!! ♥️♥️♥️

3/25/2019 The #elephant-bush in the terra cotta pot is my first attempt at growing a plant from a cutting! She's doing great! The other was a later attempt that's also doing well. These were cut from a plant a friend gave me and it helped me rekindle my love of plants so these have a special place in my heart. 😊

@susanar I cut off a stem when it was about six inches long then lightly dipped it in rooting powder, let it sit out for a couple days, then just placed in the soil. When I first placed it in the soil, I watered it thoroughly. But after that, I would spray the plant with water every other day or so. It would be pretty easy to tell if it needed water because the leaves would be drooping and/or appear to be wrinkling.

@susanar As you can see with the one on the left, I used a stake and garden tape to support the cutting while it was rooting. But I've tried propagating even the tiny pieces that break off by just using rooting powder and burying their stem maybe a half inch into soil and spraying with water and they've all eventually rooted. Providing enough sun likely helped, also. I have a cheap grow light from Amazon that I used for the Winter that I'm sure helped!

@susanar I hope that helped. I ran out of typing space. My friend who gave me the first plant told me to water when the soil was dry about two inches down and that was enough for me, it seems. When I spray the planted cuttings, I almost douse them with water. Since they don't have roots yet, they can't really fully absorb water from the soil (and you risk them rotting if they're sitting in wet soil).

@susanr My established plant will drop leaves. I usually figure my dog or I accidentally rubbed against it but I'm not sure. It did so more when it was indoors. Now that it is outdoors, it hasn't dropped any leaves and none are drooping either.

12/15/2018 I murdered my #elephantbush with my desire to propagate it but it's doing well. And it's starting to fill in along the base nicely. I decided I wanted to try letting it spill over the pot instead of staking it. It's stem is nice and strong, though.

I may have been too ambitious with the clippings from my #elephant-bush so I've told myself no more until the Spring. I also think I should maybe place it in a smaller pot, but I'm not sure.

My first clipping from my #elephant-bush is doing nicely. I'm pretty sure it's rooted!

Repotted the Elephant Bush! I think I can maybe propagate it again. It's growing amazingly well! The first clipping has some tiny roots developing! #elephant-bush

Yes you can. I have 20 cuttings in glass containers filled with water. So far 12 shows roots

No need for growing hormones

Ah. Thanks! I've only done one so far and used rooting hormone and then vermiculite mixed with soil. It's sprouting little roots at the moment!

I was told this was jade but I wasn't having any luck determining which variety it was. An image for elephant bush popped on something I was looking at and it's near identical to my plant! Apparently, it's often confused with the jade plant, even being called dwarf jade or some variation thereof, even though it's not related to jade. So today is the day I realized this plant is called Elephant Bush! (Portulacaria afra) - Also, here's a trimming from my original elephant bush that is thriving. I

Oh. I already figured it out. The issue was getting to learn of elephant bush begin with. But thanks!

@cyndi ⬆️⬆️

I decided to trim my jade plant to see if I can propagate it. So far so good.

#elephantbush #succulent

Paula is also doing great! I may need to get her a larger vase though. Unsure.

Paula is gorgeous I want one but can't find any at my local stores

@mardel Are you close to Texas? I'm not sure where my friend got this one from but I got it from her from a cutting of hers.

@leeloodallas Not even close..I'm in Illinois I haven't seen them around where I live .

Bummer. Check Amazon? I know that's awful but they have a lot of succulents. I'm still learning for all of this...

My first plant in a while. From a friend's jade plant. I've kept it alive for over a month so now I've gone overboard with more plants!

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