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Thanks so much, I’ve been enjoying getting to know you as well as a regular viewer! 🤣

Hahah! It’s a small world my friend!

Thank you Eli!! You are most welcome. N🙏❤️🌲

Thank you Lennert. 🙏

Thank you and I will pass this along to my wife. It’s fair to say that if I had not met her I may never have started bonsai-ing! 🙏

You are most welcome Elena! Thanks for watching and commenting!! 🙏🌲❤️

Thanks for the great question. There are very few videos on these amazing Frank yee variety other than the one I’ve seen that features Frank himself talking about the trees from Eastern Leaf Bonsai (I think it’s his video). I have enough of them I will try to do a video on them in the future. I’ve been very happy with the variety all around - it hits on all cylinders as a fast grower, thickens quickly, great bark, and good natural branch growth. Take care and thanks for watching!!

@@MamaJArk Awwww - thanks for that amazing comment. I am so glad that you have found such a great and rewarding hobby - you’re never too old to take up new things that spark an interest and you are inspiring! So sorry to hear of your husband. Cancer truly is a terrible terrible disease that shrinks your world in ways that I never could have imagined. I’m happy that are enjoying the channel - thanks for the kind comments and best of luck with your new hobby! 🤣🙏🌲❤️

@@itisjustmedude There is so much great bonsai content on TH-cam - it’s quite amazing. Succulents are pretty amazing plants - so many varieties and interesting plants, I’m glad that you are enjoying working with them. Planted aquariums are so cool - I was just searching on them, neat ecosystem. Thanks for watching and commenting! ❤️🌲

It’s like we’re living parallel lives Jay! 🤣 TH-cam Channels - check, Whitty and entertaining - check, devilishly handsome - check. It’s a small world for sure! 🙏❤️🌲

@ Hilarious. I love it. ! Also, friends with @n8tyler - check.

Cancer survivor - check, Nigel inspired - check, portucaria and crassula jade enthusiast - check... i was an electronic engineer before I retired... 3 out of 4 isn't bad...

@ You are one of us Dave!

Hi Dave! We have so much in common. I get you on the sunscreen - I remember as kids we even put oil on! It’s funny with maples - I’ve never owned another one since I lost all of Mina’s - I’m having too much fun with succulents. ❤️🌲

Thanks you so much Lili - hugs are good! Bonsai is an amazing art - working with living medium is so enriching. Thanks for watching and commenting and being one of my long time viewers - I appreciate it so much. 🙏❤️

I’m blushing - thanks so much for the compliments. I’m also thankful that we met and I get a big kick and so much vicarious enjoyment from your enthusiasm for bonsai. Interesting on Iridium - most people have no idea what it is. I spent a few years in Chandler, AZ where Motorola developed them - it was humbling to work with so many incredible engineers and rocket scientists! I always told my kids - “before the internet” we used to do all sorts of crazy things in space! Have a great Thanksgiving! We’re spending it in Portland this year which is nice - I haven’t been there in some time now. Oh, and you and I and Dave and Jay need to form a club or get t-shirts or something, so many similarities in our lives.

@@CoffeeandBonsaiwithTom Wow, you were in Chandler...Did you know someone named Tracy Woodard? He and I were friends before he moved to work on the Iridium team...Now that would be a small world...Some time I'll give you the low down on my career in Satellites and how i ended up at VAFB...Maybe hoodies...Only know Dave through comments, seems like a great guy...Met Jay in Toronto and really enjoyed the time he lavished on us plus he has an amazing eye for pot/tree composition...I'm in...Also will have to give you whats been going on at Elandan Gardens...It's an amazing experience working with Dan and on his wonderful trees...He gave me a pair of volunteer Redwoods(12") yesterday, so very generous with his time and knowledge...Have a Great Thanksgiving my friend...

Send me an email at coffeeandbonsaiwithtom@gmail.com and I will get in touch when I have some! I’ve watched your channel as well - you have some amazing jades with great taper and development. 😆🙏❤️🌲

Btw I just checked Amazon and I can buy the bonsai supply soil for £42 a litre - I’ll probably be better off buying bigger bags of the individual ingredients and make my own soil and I’ll have a lifetime supply

If what you are using is working, then I’d keep using it! 🤣 I have found that most any soil as long as it is primarily inorganic (aside from pine bark) has worked well for me. I am experimenting with an akadama mix now and I like it, but it is expensive compared to any other option that I’ve tried. One of my favorites is a straight up 70-30 mix of lava and pine bark which seems to work well. Best of luck.

@VictorHHH7 its a great soil, but also fairly expensive as you found.

@@CoffeeandBonsaiwithTom thanks Tom I agree with you if something is working stick with it, only thing is mine isn’t working particularly well and I get a few small gnats that love the compost, in fact I think they come free with every bag I’ve bought so far 😂

@@VictorHHH7 More organic would likely solve that problem, but you do have to water a bit more. But, with succulents, the watering is fairly easy as they can take being extremely dry for a very long time.

Fantastic - I will subscribe to your channel!! I love working with this amazing species. The cork bark portulacaria is a special variety that Frank Yee accidentally created decades ago and has slowly been growing in popularity. My daughter is currently living in Spain in Granada and I will visit her in the spring. I will verify that I can legally bring a plant to Spain from the US and bring you a couple of possible. I can also send some through the mail, but I’ve not had the best results sending them outside the country as delays result in them being in very bad shape when they arrive. They are extremely tough and resilient however. It’s so exciting to have a new international viewer!! Bonsai is such an amazing hobby and I have now been in contact with people all over the world through it. Thanks for watching and I look forward to watching your channel!! 🤣🙏❤️🌲

Thanks Harriet!! ❤️🌲

Thanks Eli, much appreciated. It does like to grow!! 🙏❤️🌲

Thanks so much!! I appreciate your watching and the kind comment!

Thanks Victor. I grow them year round with the longest break in late fall before I bring them in for the winter which I think allows them to grow more quickly as they do it constantly. Thanks for watching!! 🙏❤️🌲

Be careful with Neem oil around portucaria afra and crassula jade. It coats the leaves and suffocates the plant....

I've been using 3 prong attack for white fly and fungus gnats. Step 1 is a spray containing 3 parts water, 1 part isopropyl alcohol and 4-5 drops of dishwashing liquid in a quart spray bottle, which kills the adult fliers. Step 2 is diatomaceous earth sprinkled on the top of the soil which kills off larvae and hatchlings. Step 3 is hanging some yellow sticky tapes. Everything is available at home depot for me.

@ Thanks Dave…Do you rinse the trees off after a period of time?

@n8tyler i don't rinse the tree's. My spray has so much water and little soap, I've never had any problems. I know that Nigel rinses his tree's. It's all a matter of preference.

They say it takes 3+ years which I think is about right, but there do seem to be many variables to getting them to cork. I have some that were cuttings 2 years ago and have a corky bark now and others that are 5 years old and have barely a wrinkle. So, I am not completely sure at this point other than probably genetics! Best to get a cutting from a very corky tree to begin with - the bigger the better! 🤣 I use 70% alcohol as my first line of defense and rarely need to do more than a few applications of that. I have not had whitefly yet however I do deal with mealy bugs and scale. I am currently battling both on the same plant! I am winning however, but this is the toughest battle I’ve had in getting rid of them. I am regularly taking the 2 infected plants and soap spraying them in addition to the alcohol. I’ve found the alcohol works great but you definitely do not want to soak it to the point that the soil gets wet and it hits the roots. I killed a tree this way once. Also, UV light can readily damage the plants when alcohol is sprayed on them, so I tend to use it in the evening outside - no issues with LEDs. Dave’s recommendations look very solid to me - I intend to try his mixture. I find if I don’t have to rinse the plant, then I am much more likely to hit it with spray when I see even the slightest possible bug issue. Best of luck Nathan!! Thanks for watching as always!

Great strategy Mama!! ❤️🌲

Mama! Hey I just subbed to this channel. Good to see you here!

@@WoodcrestBonsai My two favorite channels! Only bonsai channels I am subscribed.

It all depends on how much growth that they put on. The trunks will develop "bark" and age over time, but their thickness depends on how much growth they have collectively put on. I tend to allow mine to grow out pretty well to 6+ sets of leaves and then prune them which allows for quite noticeable trunk thickening every year. A cutting loses that stem look in the first year and starts to develop more of a tree lock in year 2. I feed mine a lot and keep them growing all year round which quickens the overall development. Indoor growing has its own set of challenges, but I enjoy it and it keeps the trees moving at a good pace. If you put a cutting into a flower pot with a soil that stays moist all summer, it will put on tremendous growth and thicken and grow n great height in a single season. For this reason, the quickest size development is outside of a bonsai pot where the plant has access to all the food and root room that it desires. Once it's put in to a bonsai pot, all this growth is much more controllable, but also much slower. So, it's a trade off depending on what you want and the stage of the tree. You can develop very impressive trees either way or, most likely, using a combination of fast growth, then controlled refinement. Best of luck and thanks for the great question!

🙏❤️🌲

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Thank you! It is a very colorful plant. 🙏❤️🌲

Thanks what I like to hear!! 👂 🙏❤️🌲

Hi Victor - we can certainly try, I’ve sent some out if the US. The only downside is that it can take some time so they are often quite dry and it is expensive. Shipping can easily be done $35-50 US. I don’t have any at the moment, but will get in touch when I have some new cuttings.

Thanks for watching and commenting!!

Thanks very much Tom, I’m really excited to think I might have a cork bark pa one day

Just found your channel and interested in getting started in bonsai. Glad to find someone in the puget sound area like me showing how it's done!

@stormlight6967 🙏 and thanks for watching and commenting! Welcome to the channel.

It’s a super nice gift! And I agree perhaps a ripple jade would be just the thing for this pot. We did OK in the storms, but I have a large tree that I am fairly sure will need to be taken down. It’s very large and is now heavily leaning towards the house. It will be a shame if it has to be cut down. Other than that and a shingle that was ripped off, we’re doing well. Apparently it’s coming back Friday, so hopefully not as bad. There are trees down all over the neighborhood with 3 cars that were crushed. All the bonsai trees as find however we did lose power for a day so they missed out on some good light! Thanks for commenting and watching as always Dave!

@@CoffeeandBonsaiwithTom I just acquired another jade...it was labeled as Blue Wave... very similar to my small leaf ripple jade, but much shinier leaves.

We’re doing find Lee - thanks for asking. There are many trees down all over the neighborhood, but it’s all getting cleared up now.

Personally, I could see a curly leaf ripple jade growing in that pot.....awesome gift..

That new pot was stunning such a generous gift, I’d put a variegated PA in it I think it would look amazing

Thanks again so much Nathan - it’s a wonderful gift and I’m glad that you are enjoying the Gollum. I am Very excited to put a tree into it - I have 4 larger cutting candidates now, but I want them to grow more roots first. Thanks for the kind words on my videos - I’m glad they help!

A man after my own thinking! I have a variegated that I am leaning towards.

@ I’m learning🤣

I fertilize mine each time I water with a diluted amount of fertilizer in the water - probably 1.5 tablespoons per 2 gallon in my sprayer. I also use Osmcote when they are outside. I like the continuous feed since the soil has very little organic material to hold the food. Best of luck and thanks for watching and commenting! 🙏❤️🌲

Thanks Jay!! I’ve got hopes for this one in the future. 🙏❤️🌲

Thanks 🙏 for the kind comment! Maybe I changed this plants name to Lux! 🤣 Thanks for watching!

Thanks 🙏 Paul!!

Thanks so much Mama! I try to take it one step at a time. I hope Santa brings you your scissors! ✂️ 🙏❤️🌲

Thanks Dave - this is one of my favorite pots. Simple Japanese drum pot.

Thank you Victor!! I lucked out in finding this great material and am looking forward to developing it! 🙏❤️🌲

Personally, I avoid those 3/8" & larger sizes. My bigger concern while sifting is getting rid of dust and minute particles...I use an old window screen for my sifting. All the larger particles get added to regular potting soil mix for house plants. FWIW- All my jades and portucaria afra are on the small side of Shohin size. So 1/8 & 1/4 are my preferred particle sizes.

Thanks Nathan! I do tend to use the smaller sizes that I can find. A good compromise is to use the finer stuff only for the top layer which I’ve found works well - I get great root growth either way. Sifting soil!! Getting into all the bonsai activities I see! Be sure to wear a mask, I once got quite sick from not wearing one thinking - oh, I’ll just to a little bit. The dust is so fine. Mabel says hi 👋 ❤️🌲

Thanks Widget! I always like the old 80s stuff! ❤️🌲

I’ll try it out - thanks!!😊

It's amazing how they tend to multiply isn't it?!?!? I am now up to 4 tall shelves of trees, but have not yet actually counted them all other than to say too many!

@CoffeeandBonsaiwithTom i thought that I'd given away enough cuttings, but I apparently added more new ones..🤪

That is VERY cold, I would not bring it indoors, but I would protect it from the wind which is what kills outdoors trees - they can basically become freeze dried. In the temps that you are talking I think a cold frame or unheated garage may be best, but they will definitely need protection. However, do a bit go googling and see what others say about temps that cold. Where I live it never gets very cold and often not below freezing for more than one day so I kept my outdoor trees outside with no protection at all above what they would get naturally.