Are you looking for beautiful bonsai trees that can thrive indoors? Some of the best indoor bonsai trees are tropical species adapted to constant moderate temperature, low humidity, and low light conditions. They are often native to mid-elevation dry tropical forests, just like more typical house plants. Examples include Ficus benjamina or "Standard Ficus", Ficus nerifolia or "Willow Leaf Ficus", and Grewia occidentalis or "Jasmine Star Flower". This article focuses on one of our favorite indoor plants for bonsai, Portulacaria afra or "Dwarf Jade".

Native to South Africa, Portulacaria afra is also known as Elephant Bush or "spekboom" and gets its name because it's a favorite food of African elephants. Throughout this article, we'll call them by their common name, Dwarf Jade. This succulent-type plant is similar to jade (Crassula ovata), but with smaller, bright shiny green leaves that are edible and taste a bit like watercress. Dwarf Jade are hardy trees that can thrive outdoors and as indoor trees, making them a good choice for bonsai beginners and bonsai-curious folks. They are pet- and child-safe and make a great tree for children interested in learning bonsai. For bonsai enthusiasts and advanced growers, they can be an interesting challenge as they don’t behave quite like other popular indoor bonsai species.

Despite being suitable as indoor bonsai trees, Dwarf Jade prefers direct sunlight. The best place for your tree is near a bright window where it can receive plenty of light and as much direct sun as possible. Or place it outdoors where air circulation is better! Under some circumstances, the sun coming through windows can be overly hot, but Dwarf Jade should be able to handle it. 

Dwarf Jades prefer mid- to high temperatures between 65°F to 95°F (18°C to 35°C) and can grow in them year-round. They can tolerate temperatures as low as 40°F (5°C) but avoid frost, freezing, or prolonged periods below 50F (10C). Growing the plants indoors during cold temperatures and outdoors during warmer summer months is a good compromise in many places. 

The best time to water your Dwarf Jade plant thoroughly is when the soil feels mostly dry. Allow excess water to drain from the bottom of the container to help flush out any salts while thoroughly wetting the soil. If you’re growing indoors, using a sink or a water tray below to catch the water is a good idea. Adjust your watering schedule based on environmental conditions such as humidity level and the moisture level of the soil. Ports are among the least finicky plants in terms of watering, they are hardy plants you can even leave in your house for a couple weeks while on vacation without much worry.  (just soak them when you get home!) Despite their tolerance, they will grow more and be more vibrant if they receive regular watering - once per day is not over-doing it in most cases.

Feed your Dwarf Jade Bonsai with a balanced, water-soluble bonsai fertilizer diluted to the label-recommended strength. Applying fertilizer every two weeks should keep your ports growing well. Time-release fertilizer like Osmacote can be a great way to feed for 3-6 months without as much effort. Organic fertilizer is fine too, just beware that it can cause insects to congregate and smell bad when used indoors. 

Just like with most bonsai, you should use a well-draining granular soil mix and keep the tree in a bonsai pot with drainage holes. We use an 80/20 mix of coarse perlite and coco coir with good results. Akadama/pumice/lava mixtures are also perfectly fine, and the many generic bonsai and cactus mixes should work fine too!  Ports should be repotted every two to three years; the roots will have occupied all the available space. The repotting process helps refresh the vigor of the plant. If you’re new to repotting, our YouTube channel has several repotting videos that can help guide you through the process. 

With all that attention to conditions your ports should be growing pretty well! Since that’s the case, regular trimming is what you’ll need to do to keep or improve the shape of healthy growth. Use sharp bonsai shears to trim back new growth, remove any dead or yellowing leaves. When new shoots emerge - allow them to grow to 3-4 pairs of leaves, then cut back just above the first pair, leaving just one new pair of leaves each time.  Over time this will significantly increase the leaf density while containing the size. If you find that leaf density is not increasing as a result of pruning, it’s likely that your port is not getting enough sun or water.  Wiring is not commonly used on dwarf jade because the branches are snappy like celery. A strong shoot can be wired into gentle shapes - which is especially useful when starting young trees. Wiring branches typically causes more damage than good. 

But wait! If you’re growing them and you want your trunk to get bigger, then trimming back regularly isn’t the answer.  For growing them out and developing a thick trunk - pot into a gallon-size container or larger. Allow the strong growth to elongate and get crazy looking! Once the trunk reaches the size you want, cut back all the large and long branches, leaving just your desired trunk. The tree will quickly issue new smaller branching that you can then start trimming in more detail. 

With proper care, Dwarf Jade bonsai are relatively resistant to pests and diseases, but occasional problems may arise. Common pests include spider mites, aphids, and mealybugs, which can be treated with insecticidal soap or other common insecticides available at home centers. Keep in mind that if ports are kept in indirect light or indoors, soaps and oils can also cause leaf damage (phytotoxicity). You can overhead water to reduce mite problems, dab mealy bugs with a Q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol.  Or use a soap spray and rinse it off after 10-15 minutes. A stiff spray of water can sometimes dislodge the majority of pests. Repeat as needed.

Dwarf Jade have a couple other odd things that happen that might seem like disease problems but are actually cultural. First, they can develop what look like scale insects on the upper leaf surface. Initially appearing as a small green bump, these formations sometimes dry into a brown dot. The dots are neither a bug nor a fungal problem, rather they are caused by high humidity and watering and are similar to a blister on the leaf. Reducing humidity can help avoid these blisters. Second, when transplanted or stressed, ports tend to drop leaves; the leaves wither, yellow, and drop off, sometimes in large quantities. This is an indicator of stress in many cases, but the tree will most often recover quickly; you should see a new set of buds begin to emerge within a couple of weeks. If leaf drop happens repeatedly, or new leaves do not emerge check the growing conditions or consider repotting. 

Bonsai Basics eCourse: How to Make an Indoor Bonsai Tree: This self-paced eCourse will give you the foundation of knowledge you need to begin your Dwarf Jade bonsai journey! Join Eric as he guides you, step-by-step, to use a young Dwarf Jade (Portulacaria afra or "Elephant Bush") to make your own bonsai tree. You'll learn how to trim, repot, and wire your Dwarf Jade tree to make it into a bonsai. The course includes approximately 30 minutes of video content PLUS a Bonsai Basics eBook.

Bonsai Basics Kit: Make an Indoor Bonsai Tree! Want to get into bonsai with a mellow beginner-friendly tree?  Our bonsai kits contain all the components needed to pot a Dwarf Jade into a bonsai container and begin growing it! The best part is that jade is a type of plant that can be repotted at any time during the growing season.