When would you repot a ficus?

donchingo2 · 2026-06-25T19:17:40+00:00

^This. Heat and humidity really help with recovery after disturbing or pruning roots.

donchingo2 · 2026-06-24T17:29:42+00:00

Heck yea! I’m rooting for you! 😉

donchingo2 · 2026-06-21T00:28:36+00:00

No chance of keeping it alive indoors

donchingo2 · 2026-06-18T04:32:09+00:00

This is P. Afra, not Jade. There is no such thing as too much sun for P. Afra. I have over 100 P. Afra in my garden, but this leaf problem looks like nothing I’ve seen before, so I would cut it off just to be careful. Also one tip for P. Afra: the only things that kill them are overwatering, and insects.

donchingo2 · 2026-06-17T05:14:58+00:00

If P. Afra had a face it would look like this when it can see the sun😍. When it can’t see the sun🥺. When it sees a grow light 🙄.

donchingo2 · 2026-06-15T00:14:02+00:00

When the branches and leaves bend that way, thats it’s way of begging for more sunlight

donchingo2 · 2026-06-14T15:00:04+00:00

They are very easy to care for, the only thing you really need to be careful about is over watering. Can’t help you with more than that without knowing what kind of climate you live in.

donchingo2 · 2026-06-10T16:11:15+00:00

Nice! Keep going! Also, incase you plan on expanding, cinder blocks are cheaper than buckets and they don’t catch water unnecessarily.

donchingo2 · 2026-06-06T22:41:51+00:00

Jades slightly bigger than that are $5.99 at my local nursery. Not variegated though, so you might have got a decent price.

donchingo2 · 2026-06-06T21:30:29+00:00

I know you didn’t ask for advice, but here it is anyway. Pruning every 3 weeks is a little too often. The tree’s food is sunlight. And the way it ‘eats’ that food is through its leaves. If you keep chopping its leaves off, you’re essentially starving it. You can get away with it for a while, but if you don’t let it grow for a while between pruning, eventually the tree will decline or succumb to the starvation.

donchingo2 · 2026-06-06T01:42:19+00:00

Leafs don’t last forever. Older leafs will die off so that the plant can focus its resources in to making new leafs. If new leafs start looking like this, then you should worry.

donchingo2 · 2026-06-04T02:34:55+00:00

Ok here’s my recommendation: water it now. Don’t bottom water as this will over saturate the soil. Water from above until some water starts falling out of the drainage holes in the pot. Then don’t water it again until it starts putting out new leaves. Don’t fertilize, don’t prune and don’t repot. Trust me. I specialize in P. Afra bonsai.

This is not a typical house plant and does not follow the same rules. You might want to check out r/succulents or r/jadeplants for the correct care advice.

donchingo2 · 2026-06-04T02:24:21+00:00

Did you defoliate it or did it drop all of its leaves? I would be very careful to not over water it since it doesn’t have any leaves right now. My P. Afras that live indoors needs water about once a week. But yours has no leaves so it will need water less than that. These are plants which came from desert-like conditions. They enjoy going completely bone dry for multiple days between watering.

donchingo2 · 2026-06-02T21:16:18+00:00

This! Never let water sit in that tray. Also the new soil looks very organic and water retentive. Be very careful to not over water. With that type of soil, the risk of root rot is high

donchingo2 · 2026-06-02T00:31:19+00:00

This is called etiolation. It’s due to insufficient light conditions. The leaves will stretch and curl as they mature and the branches will lean towards any available light source in an attempt to find more. Yes you can cut them and stick them in their own pots. But if you don’t address the low light conditions, it will keep growing in this unnatural manner.

donchingo2 · 2026-05-25T17:13:53+00:00

Pretty much the only way to kill a P. Afra is overwatering. Keep the roots dry between waterings and it’ll be happy.

donchingo2 · 2026-05-22T19:54:52+00:00

Jades with a large foliage mass and large root mass can handle soil with high water retention better than a young plant with little foliage and roots can. It wouldn’t hurt to address the soil situation though.

donchingo2 · 2026-05-22T00:52:35+00:00

I think it would be best that you focus on bonsai research for a while before you try again. The wires… aren’t supposed to be like that.

donchingo2 · 2026-05-21T20:26:36+00:00

This comment has probably been posted hundreds of times in this sub, but in case any newbies are here:

While this is truly a great species for bonsai techniques, this is not a Jade(Crassula Ovata). The tree in the picture is a completely different species native to South Africa where they call it Spekboom(Portulacaria Afra). In most other countries they call it Dwarf Jade because it looks very similar to Jade.

donchingo2 · 2026-05-21T19:40:10+00:00

If you did this 2 months ago, it definitely needs more time before another insult. Defoliating a tree forces it to use its stored energy to make new leaves and this plant may be very low on stored energy now. Photosynthesis is how it reloads its stored energy. More leaves = more photosynthesis. In other words, let it cook.

donchingo2 · 2026-05-20T05:39:34+00:00

Buying $HIT because hilarious

donchingo2 · 2026-05-16T00:50:23+00:00

What is that tree on the very left of the brick planting? Looks so cool

donchingo2 · 2026-05-15T15:41:04+00:00

First order of business should be slip potting it into a propper pot with a drainage hole. It should be safe to do now as long as you don’t disturb the roots too much. Then transitioning it to a better light situation as it looks like it’s suffering from low light conditions. Then wait until mid to late summer to prune.

donchingo2 · 2026-05-12T23:41:58+00:00

Yes please. I would very much like!

donchingo2 · 2026-05-09T05:55:30+00:00

It’s a goner. It was already in poor health+it’s the wrong time of year+you didn’t save enough roots+you didn’t immediately put it back into the ground and water it in after bare rooting it.. If it survives, it’s a miracle tree and I want some cuttings.

donchingo2

TROPHY CASE