Why Bonsai Beginners Love Baby Jade
Lee Dobbins
Bonsai trees are a great way to have a healthy thriving plant as well as
exercise some of your creativity and one of the best plants to start with is
the Baby Jade. A Succulent bonsai, this plant is sometimes called the
Elephant Plant or the Small Leaf Jade and is native to South Africa. It is
quite tolerant to under watering and is a good beginner plant for home or
office.
Baby Jade is a rather new bonsai tree which develops quite quickly and, unlike
other types of Bonsai, can go for long periods without water. It can grow to 3
or 4 meters in the wild and being a succulent, it stores it’s water is
the trunk, branches and leaves.
This lovely plant is easy to care for and style and great to look at too!
The young plant has green bark which turns reddish brown and then slate gray
as it ages. It has fleshy round leaves that range from pale gray to
blue-green to dark green which are complimented by reddish colored stems.
It blooms with tiny star shaped pinkish purple flowers. The trunk and
branches can be droopy and make lovely long cascades.
The Baby Jade Bonsai is a tropical plant the doesn’t do well in climates
that get below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. If you live in a warm climate it will
do well outdoors in full sunlight, but if you are in a colder area it is
best to keep your Bonsai inside in the winter and Baby Jade will the fine as
long as you provide it with enough light. Watering should be done regularly
- water until the soil is moist and let the soil dry between waterings.
Don’t add too much water so that there is a standing puddle in the pot.
Pruning and shaping your bonsai is part of the fun and you should be sure to
let the soil dry before you cut off roots or heavy branches. After you have
made any cuts, water sparingly until the cut heals over. If you want to
stop a branch from growing longer, remove the terminal bud. To shape the
tree, pinch the buds and branches that are growing where you don’t want
them. Be sure to pinch gently with your fingers. Baby Jade is a fast
grower and will need to be pinched quite frequently during the growing
season. Use a 1mm aluminum wire to rotate branches and leaves.
You should repot your Baby Jade bonsai every 2 years. This is best done in
the early spring. Befor repotting, dry the soil out thoroughly. After
repotting, keep Baby Jade in a shady spot until you see some new growth and
once you do start to water it again as usual.
Lee Dobbins writes for many online gardening publications. Visit
http://bonsai.garden-corner.com/articles2.html for more articles on
bonsai
trees and their care.
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