Baby Jade Plants or Elephant Food Portulacaria Afra Dry Garden and Bonsai Favorites

This succulent plant is sometimes called Baby Jade but my mother always called it Elephant Food. It has small, fleshy round leaves and branches like a miniature jade plant. The bright green leaves make a nice contrast to the dark brown stems.

Some portulacaria plants are variegated, meaning they can have creamy white stripes on the leaves. Some even have a red tint to the edges of the leaves or pinkish streaks.

In the ground Baby Jade will quickly grow to 4 - 5 feet tall and make nice informal screens or hedges. In containers they can used in bonsai to look like trees.

Portulacaria Afra is easy to propagate. Just take a 4 - 6 inch cutting and bury it in the soil about 2 inches deep. Keep it slightly moist for the first month while it forms roots. After your plants are established cut back the watering to once a month. Overwatering any succulent plant can lead to root rot.

Portulacaria Afra is native to arid South Africa. Outdoors, they can be grown in full sun to part shade. Indoors give them bright, indirect light. They are hardy to about 40 degrees. Like most succulent plants, they are drought tolerant.