Seth was asking about pruning and pinching his
portulacaria plants. Seems that Justin has become a purveyor of these plants and Seth was a recipient. Here is a picture of one I have had in a pot for at least 18 years. In the last 10 I have taken to keeping it trimmed à la bonsai.
I just finished shaking off all the yellowing leaves and giving it a good watering. The last few summers I have put it outside. Make sure to slo-owly acclimatize your plant to the sun as they can sunburn easily until the leaves have become hardened to the sun. I haven’t tried sunblock(?) Indoors the light intensity can be 100-200 foot candles in bright light. Outdoors in the shade it’s probably 1000 foot candles. Give it some time in shade and then slowly move it into the full sun.
In training for a bonsai, the look you are seeking is to have the plant look like it is old. It’s a matter of training the branches to go where you want. This can be done by removing some branches, by pinching the new leaves at various stages of growth, and by (at least when the branches are soft enough) propping them up or weighting them down. To get an idea of form, study the shape of a sapling- mostly upright growth. A mature tree the branches fan out and even start to hang downwards as the twigs reach out to maximize the sun catching-photosynthesizing capabilities.
At times I have repotted the plant and tipped it forward or tipped it back so the new growth comes at a different angle. In this plant I have removed the top layer soil from the pot to expose some roots.
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