Peter Le Roux wrote:
Here in South Africa, Crassula grow pretty big- even where I live, which is
a whole different climate from where they originate (most crassula are from
mediterranean/semi desert areas and I live in a high altitude summer
rainfall climate) we had two crassula growing outside our house that were
about 7 feet high.
I've heard they can get that big. I can only dream.
one thing that is worth mentioning about these plants in relation to bonsai,
is that most of the bonsai I see in photos from europe and the US look like
they don't get much water- the leaves are normally thin, slightly wrinkled
and often have a purplish tinge. The plants that grow here are normally
watered as for any other plant, and have plump, *succulent* leaves. Bearing
in mind that we have clayey soil that drains poorly, I have only rarely seen
crassula suffer from any sort of rot or other damp-related problems, so
maybe they can take a bit more water than they are normally given?
When you buy jade plants in the US they are quite often potted in regular potting
soil which is much too heavy. Most people who buy these plants aren't going to
consider repotting in a coarse soil, and will probably water them like regular
house plants.
I have my two jade plants in the mixture of bonsai soil I use for my conifers--3/4
turface and 1/4 bark. The soil drains quickly. One of them I haven't watered
since I took it out of its nursery container 3 weeks ago and did a root pruning and
repotted it in bonsai soil. It's growing fine and the leaves are good and plump.
Considering we had some rain last night and should have some more rain this weekend
I won't be watering it for awhile.
snip
Peter le Roux
Johannesburg, south africa
So, the question is then, how often do people in South Africa use these for bonsai?
Craig Cowing
NY
Zone 5b/6a
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