Portulacaria afra ‘LILLIPUT'

[Mikee002]

Anyone working with the Portulacaria afra ‘LILLIPUT' cultivar? Apparently the leaves are even smaller and they are rapid growers.

Hoping to find some cuttings at least. Apparently they can be found at Home Depot, but I’ve had no luck as of yet.

 

[MrWunderful]

I have “Aurea” which is a different color variant. Might be slower grower. I have yet to come across Liliput though.

 

[luvinthemountains]

The patent describes it as a moderate grower, and as being suitable for small dish gardens. Given this was discovered in 2013, it may be difficult finding mature specimens at all. I found small plants for sale on Walmart's website.

 

[Mikee002]

The patent describes it as a moderate grower, and as being suitable for small dish gardens. Given this was discovered in 2013, it may be difficult finding mature specimens at all. I found small plants for sale on Walmart's website.

Yes, I have seen them on the Walmart website as well but none available in my area. And not shipping

 

[Michael P]

Totally by coincidence I was browsing the Mountain States on line catalog today, and found this: https://mswn.com/wp-content/uploads/info-sheets/Portulacaria-afra-minima.pdf

 

[Mikee002]

Totally by coincidence I was browsing the Mountain States on line catalog today, and found this: https://mswn.com/wp-content/uploads/info-sheets/Portulacaria-afra-minima.pdf

Those seem to grow out and not up...

 

[Mikee002]

Well I found some small rooted cuttings. Hopefully I have some good ones to start!

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Well I found some small rooted cuttings. Hopefully I have some good ones to start!

I was actually at my local Home Depot today and spotted one of these so I picked it up. Small little guy, but hopefully a strong grower for me.

 

[Balbs]

I’m not 100% sure, but I think this is a minima/lilliput. Bought it some 3 years ago at Lowe’s and have been slowly uppotting it. I’ve been trying to decide if I want to try and grow it as bonsai. There are at least three separate trunks somewhere deep in that mess.

 

[LCD35]

I have three that a friend of mine sent me as cutting's last year. Indoors during the Idaho winter, they continued to grow under full spectrum lights, however the internodes increased and some leaves grew larger. Once the spring came, back outside new internodes decreased and new growth retained the more compact growth

They are very apical dominant. There are side shoots all up and down the main trunk, however they do not want to grow as much. I staked them upright with chop sticks. Sometimes the apex explodes in a broom, wanting to pull the entire top back over prostrate. I reduce the canopy and this forces growth down low. They differ from regular ports in that the trunks don't thicken to keep pace as fast as the apex wants to grow. Balance had been my watch word. The trunks have doubled in girth in about a year, but still remain smaller. They aren't as vigorous as normal ports, but are still faster growers than my variegated. I'll post pics tomorrow.

 

[Stella]

They are very nice to play with. very very very easy to root. and relative fast growers.
They are succulents, so not going to go the very traditional bonsai lane with care.
The leaves do reduce very well, but only with constant pruning of the bigger leaves. don't think they will endure climates were it is snowing.
Very abundant and vigorous here in Africa and we have a warm and dry climate

 

[just.wing.it]

I like my regular one.
Fun species for sure.

 

[Forsoothe!]

I predict that the OP's 'Lilliput' will be a waste of time. I love dwarfs and buy them whenever I can, but some are not just small, they are unlike the original in ways that make them useless for bonsai where we want tree-like. These are standard species that reduce, nicely. here's Mom...
Here's a branch that I broke off about 6 or 8 years ago...

And pieces from trimming last year (is denuded at this time)...

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Anyone working with the Portulacaria afra ‘LILLIPUT' cultivar? Apparently the leaves are even smaller and they are rapid growers.

Hoping to find some cuttings at least. Apparently they can be found at Home Depot, but I’ve had no luck as of yet.

Who knows? There are an infinite number of portulacaria cultivars out there, and you are one bud cutting away from creating your own That's all that this 'patented' succulent is - a bud cutting from a nursery plant.

You can go quite a long way down the rabbit hole if you start chasing the specialty cacti and succulent market. It is even crazier than chasing Japanese maple cultivars. Make sure you get one without glued on flowers, or stones glued to the soil

 

[Stella]

Setting up tiny little forest. All from cuttings. Big one about 3 years old

 

[Mikee002]

Who knows? There are an infinite number of portulacaria cultivars out there, and you are one bud cutting away from creating your own That's all that this 'patented' succulent is - a bud cutting from a nursery plant.

You can go quite a long way down the rabbit hole if you start chasing the specialty cacti and succulent market. It is even crazier than chasing Japanese maple cultivars. Make sure you get one without glued on flowers, or stones glued to the soil

Found a bunch of rooted cuttings a bit after posting this. They’re growing away like weeds and have super small leaves. I don’t need to go down rabbit holes, lol.

 

[LCD35]

Who knows? There are an infinite number of portulacaria cultivars out there, and you are one bud cutting away from creating your own That's all that this 'patented' succulent is - a bud cutting from a nursery plant.

You can go quite a long way down the rabbit hole if you start chasing the specialty cacti and succulent market. It is even crazier than chasing Japanese maple cultivars. Make sure you get one without glued on flowers, or stones glued to the soil

Or ones they chemically treat to dye the leaves pink as if they have flowered. Those are very popular in south east asia, but revert to normal after a few months of watering.

 

[LCD35]

They grow moderately fast. They were only two to four inches when I started, maybe quarter inch diameter trunk. Staked with bamboo skewers. You can see how the growth out runs the ability to trunk up and support the weight, as the middle one is starting to arch over. Regular ports are easier in that regard, but these have still been an interesting experiment. I imagine it'll be a few more years to see if worth while results are yielded.

 

[Benilacaria]

They grow moderately fast. They were only two to four inches when I started, maybe quarter inch diameter trunk. Staked with bamboo skewers. You can see how the growth out runs the ability to trunk up and support the weight, as the middle one is starting to arch over. Regular ports are easier in that regard, but these have still been an interesting experiment. I imagine it'll be a few more years to see if worth while results are yielded.

View attachment 380393

I created a mame/Penjing out of Lilliput once. I can get a picture tomorrow, it's on my mom's kitchen table.
There was gravity trouble at first, but what I did was defoliate the branches up to the very last 2 sets of leaves, then pinched up new growth ever week or two for a year.
Kept the branches light.
After about 9 months, the branches had stiffened up and they can hold way more weight, while maintaining shape. Hope this is helpful.