Turn weedy flowers into luxurious bonsai trees

Recently on Chinese social media, a young man showed off his achievement, a portulaca plant that had been trimmed into a very unique bonsai shape. The photo received a lot of compliments, and some people even expressed their desire to buy it.

Not only does it have a beautiful, graceful shape, the ten o'clock plant is also decorated with lovely flowers, making the pot more attractive. How to turn the wild ten o'clock plant into a beautiful bonsai?

Portulaca is a herbaceous plant that loves light and tends to spread out if planted on the ground. Therefore, to create a bonsai tree, we can choose the method of grafting or bending the tree from a young age.

Turn portulaca into bonsai by grafting

You should use a grafted stem that has similar characteristics, for example, the golden branch jade leaf plant, which is in the same family as purslane, so it is very compatible. With portulaca, there are currently many beautiful hybrid flower varieties, you should choose the ones with bright colors and double petals to be more eye-catching.

Choose a rootstock that is the same size and thickness as the portulaca branch, use a knife to cut a small hole in the rootstock. Then, cut the lower end of the graft at a 40-degree angle, graft them on and use a string to wrap it in place.

Place the plant in a cool, airy place for 3-5 days, then move the plant to a place with sunlight.

After about 20 days, if you see the branches of the ten o'clock flower are fresh and showing signs of growth, it means you have successfully grafted. After grafting, you need to bring the plant out to sunbathe regularly, do not need to water too much to promote the plant to grow and flower quickly.

Turn portulaca into bonsai by pruning

This method will produce beautiful plants but takes longer, from 3-5 years. In the seedling stage, you need to water regularly but rarely expose the plant to sunlight to limit flowering, focusing on developing branches and leaves.

During the growing process, you need to regularly prune the leaves so that the tree can grow new branches. When the branches grow, use a zinc bar to bend the tree into the desired shape. You can use a plastic bottle to bend the tree into unique shapes later.

Once you have created the desired tree shape, you need to pay attention to the steps to care for the four o'clock flower to help it grow more beautifully:

- Place in a sunny place: Portulaca loves sunlight, so to make the plant bloom a lot, you need to prioritize sunny, airy places. Portulaca in good care conditions, with enough light can bloom all year round, regardless of the season.

- Fertilize regularly: To get large flowers and a long flowering period, you need to add appropriate fertilizer. During the peak growing season, usually spring, summer and autumn, you should apply mixed fertilizer at least once a month and fertilize with phosphorus and potassium 2-3 times a month.

- Proper pruning: Proper pruning will help the tree grow branches and remove damaged flowers and leaves to maintain the beauty of the overall shape. You should also pay attention to preventing pests and diseases to ensure healthy growth of the tree.