A co-worker just gave this to me... she got a few starts from her a friend of hers. So I don't have a photo of the whole plant. I'm guessing it's a Jade, but the leaves are very small and grow at the end of the "branch". Any clue to what it really is? unknown - Jade maybe? ( photo / image / picture from cherylad's Garden ) Edited to add that it is growing on South Padre Island, Texas and gets constantly splashed with the salt water.
looks like the plant has been through a lot of stress with only the end(the most viable) leaves hanging on. As for an ID, still working on that. Zone 10-11 makes for an interesting hunt. Jerry
Jerry... she said that's how it grows... leaves only at the tips of the branches. With all the saltwater spray... wonder if it's just adapted?
You did it Purple! That's it Portulacaria afra My co-worker said it looked identical to the last photo on this page... except in a pretty pot. :-D http://themysticalmansion.wordpress.com/cacti-and-succulents/portulacaria-afra-elephant-bush/
Cool! That's what I was thinking but didn't want to jade you (good pun, huh!?) toward a particular species if there are other Portulacarias. I don't know about that. It looks like it might have a few scales on it. Can you get them off with a fingernail?
Good pun! The scales are probably from the saltwater spraying on it. Should it be cleaned up even though it was thriving like that?
Great eyesight isn't something I'm blessed with, so am not sure from this pic, but by scale I meant the insect/pest called scale. I was wondering if the dark spots are scale insects. I don't know about dealing with salt water, or what it might do to any plant, so it may be that instead.
Do you mean those little dark spots on the leaves? That was just some dirt from some other plants that were in the same bag.
No problem... thanks for looking out for me! I sure hope the cutting takes. I dipped it in rooting powder and put it in a 4-to-1 Perlite & Potting Soil mix. It sure is a cute little thing!
That is undeniable, it's definitely cute! I recently got one of these too, and also plan to propagate parts off of it. Good luck to us both!
Wish I could say YES but I haven't cut a thing yet. Bonus pot with 3 plants! ( photo / image / picture from purpleinopp's Garden ) It's a tiny thing to begin with, and totally leaning to the side, so I was going to trim it to look more like a tree, and try propagating the removed individual stems. Then plant the mama more upright. I don't know if a bigger cutting like yours is best, or even if the tiny ones I have in mind can work. Should you start a discussion about propagating it? No reason for the blind to lead the blind through this...
I trimmed off 3 little off-shoots at the bottom and also stuck them in the dirt. I did some reading on-line and that's where I found the perlite-soil mix ratio to use. One other thing I found was to let the "wound" heal a couple of days before putting in the soil. My "momma cutting" was taken over the weekend, so it had plenty of time to heal... I hope. And oh yeah... your varigated ones are super cute!
