How To Care For Your Baby Jade Bonsai Tree

Portulacaria Afra Bonsai Care

About The Baby Jade Bonsai Tree

A South African delight, also known as the Elephant Bush, is a small leafed succulent that makes a wonderful bonsai. It has small leaves and quick, stout growth that makes it a fantastic choice for a bonsai that will look rather old, rather quick. Baby Jade’s are one of the few bonsai trees that can survive and thrive indoor all year round.

Placement

A Baby Jade makes a wonderful indoor bonsai.  It can live outside, but will die in temperatures below 45 degrees - so inside for a large portion of the year is best.

Make sure it gets few hours of sun (4-6 hours) with a quality grow light, or a windowsill (south facing preferred.)

In the summer, it should be placed outside if possible - just be gentle with the temperature change.  Bring it outside for the season when the midday temperature is the same as indoors, and bring it inside for the season when temperatures are back in that range.  Generally, around 70 degrees in the mid-day.

Watering

The Baby Jade bonsai is one of the few bonsai’s that doesn’t need frequent waterings — but it doesn’t like to be fully dried out.  A few times a week should suffice when it’s indoors with decent humidity, and daily over the summer when outdoors would be fine as well.

The Baby Jade actually stores water in its leaves, so you should be OK if you’re a day late with the water.

Humidity

When your Baby Jade bonsai tree is indoors, using a humidity tray is recommended.

Fertilizing

Since your Baby Jade bonsai is in a small pot, and not the ground, it needs nutrients.  A slow release (pellet based) fertilizer is perfect for this, and can be added sparingly every 1-2 months during the growing season.

Pruning & Trimming

Trim back the new growth to the farthest safe point that looks good to you — but never remove all of the new growth.

A regular trim will help keep your Baby Jade  bonsai tree short, while helping the trunk grow thicker.

Repotting

Repotting must be performed periodically on your bonsai, Baby Jade included, when its root system has filled the pot.  If you can clearly see the roots coming out of the bottom of the pot, it’s time to repot your bonsai.

Generally, this means every 2-3 years for a deciduous tree and every 4-5 years for an evergreen (or tropical, such as the Baby Jade.)

Repotting should be done in mid-summer, when the tree is at it’s least fragile state.

The Baby Jade bonsai, along with all of its soil, should be removed from the pot.  From there, you can trim away no more than 1/3rd of the root mass (1/4th is preferred.) 

Then you can repot the tree in the same pot, or give it a newer / bigger pot to thrive in.

After repotting, your bonsai Baby Jade should be thoroughly watered.

Diseases, Insects & Other Pests

Your Baby Jade bonsai can be treated for pests like a normal Baby Jade tree.  Just remember, your tree is miniature and will need a much smaller and more gentile dose of treatment.

If you're looking to buy a Baby Jade bonsai for your home or office, we offer the finest artisan selection available.