Very nice pics, thanks for sharing!

Tracy

Very cool looking little plant-sent me Googling...

Awesome looking! Now, are they trained as Bonsais or is it just how they grow?
They look similar or related to Portulacaria afra ... are they?
So do you plan on grafting that crest?
The seed pods look similar to Begonia seed pods but much smaller of course. Are the seeds similar too? Small and almost dust-like?

Not trained, it's all growing conditions and pruning once in a while. Put them in hot full sun, water sparingly, limit feeding and this is what you get. Most people water and feed to much, then the plant produces more foliage and longer branches, also limited girth to the base.

My largest one has a 3in diameter base. All need a trim, but they're covered with flowers and seed so I'll wait till the spring.

Before the name change it was known as Portulacaria pygmaea. As a matter of fact the one I found the other day at this nursery was label as such.

I've taken cuttings off the crested plant and have been successful with rooting, but still too small to do anything with.

There's one seed per pod. Some say to remove them, but I sow pod and all. Usually get germination in a couple of days, found 4 volunteers yesterday.

You're Right Norma!!! Googling the name brings up quite a few plants that are long and weedy looking... Pics of plants like yours are a bit more sparce.
They are, as all your plants, Incredible looking! You sure have a Green Thumb!! and judging by the type of plants you grow, I'm guessing a "fat" one at the base ;-)
But Seriously! You have Great plants! I'm envious! If I'm ever out that way, you can be sure I'll be knocking on your door... like it or not :-D
Do they ever sell these in Home Depot or WalMart? Or is it more of a plant found in serious nurseries?

Was just doing some more searching and found this:
"This member of the Portulacaceae family was given this name by G.D.Rowley in 1996. It is found in the Southern Africa, growing in grit with little water in summer and none in winter. The stem will get 30 centimetres thick, and reach for 20 centimetres. The flowers are really tiny, the males are green to white, the female flowers are white to pink. Besides seeds, this plant can easy be reproduced by leaf-cuttings"

So I guess that's the secret? Very little water? You'd think it'd get thicker with MORE water... But I guess with MORE water it doesn't bother to store it... but when water is scarce, it probably stores all it finds?
Does it really root that easy from leaf-cuttings?
When are you pruning your plant?
hahaha... Don't even have room for anymore plants on my balcony!
So, Wow! Was this plant only just found in 1996 or just named in 1996?

I've never seen these at home improvement or local nurseries, just specialty places, but if you go to a specialty place you'll end paying a premium for a plant with some decent size. I've seen a plant with a 3in caudex priced at $175!!! but you can get lucky once in a while. Like the one I just purchased from cactus retailer, he had one plant tucked away in the corner. It was a sad looking plant, so dried out but I saw potential. He told me he bought for his collection but never had time to do anything with so it got neglected. He also said I was the only one who ever inquired about and sold it to me for a extremely low price for the size.

Never tried leaf cutting, but stem cuts root quickly. Probably will be pruning the end of the month or wait till the spring depending how many seed are on the plants.

I agree with Norma, I like the one on the left too. I am glad you shared your photo's. I am new fairly new to Fat Plants and I have never heard of them before.
You said you will be prunning, are you going to sell any of your cuttings? I would love to buy one from you.

Here's the plant on got over the holiday weekend. As you can see it desperately needs a haircut. The caudex is 2in x 3.5in! and I'll have plenty of cuttings to share since I'll be cutting this back to the base. Contact me if your interested.

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Caudex,
I would be very interested in getting a cutting or two.
Don't know how to contact you outside of this so here is my email address kivets@aol.com

Thanks
Passion

Hello caudex 1,
I've just discovered this plant on my web plant searches, then found this post and conversation. If you're interested in spreading some of your cuttings I would like to try one out. You can find me at murecons@aol.com
and thanks

For those that want cuttings, remind me in the spring. All I ask is you pay for postage.

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Seed I started last month, germination in 5days when fresh. 2nd photo is 3mo old.

Caudex,what do you have along the lines of Dioscorea?. a Holy grail for me.Never found a decent sized plant affordable,my small one got eaten by rodents. I have to think with very fast drainage they will grow in the bay area..they survived some deep freezes at the Huntington.

stanofh,

I have two D.elephantipes, one a couple of years old and the other around 20. You looking for seed, seedling or specimen?
I don't have either but I know 2 nurseries that do, for specimen contact The Great Petaluma Desert. Last time I was out there he had a couple beautiful elephantipes about 20-25yrs old. He has a bunch of mexicana in 16in bowls that are outstanding! There's a couple of small places that have 2-3yo seedlings, but they don't ship.

Caudex -

Would you say these are similar in care requirements to Portulacaria Afra? They are in the same family right?

Similar, afra is probably a bit hardier. There's some huge specimens growing in the ground around here.

When the seedlings get a bigger a few will be placed in the raised bed to compare growth of potted brethren.

I was also fishing for some Caudex pics!. That 20 year old sounds impressive.Just like in Bonsai,a big turtleback plant is always esteemed. DARN,as always the plant i didnt buy turned out to be the best bargain lost...

Caudex -

I just picked up a neat little Ceraria. I was wondering if, from your experience, you are able to prune down on a branch below current leaf growth and, as a result, force back budding?

Thanks!

Kool Tom! Yep, it would be similar to pruning a jade to force budding.

Here it is. I am thinking about reducing the crown a bit (maybe) to give it a stockier look...

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Nice plant! Did you pot it Tom? Shorten and thin out some of the criss crossing branches and it will be on it's way to growing into an outstanding specimen!

Yes. I potted it. It was shipped to me bare root, so I kinda had to scramble and guess at a semi-decent pot that I had on hand. It'll do for now. I will look for something more flattering down the road...

Looks pretty good to me.

If I work up the nerve, I may go harder.

Snip, snip...

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I know this is a very old post... but I would love to see those pics now all I can see is some random number in place of picture. Is there a way to see those pictures ?

Google images. Most are of this plant raised Bonsai like.

Hu, since the images are old, the links or the hosting at Photobucket are probably gone or changed. Keith is on Facebook and does post his plants.

thanks @cactusmcharris can you please share a link to his profile or page... Keith is kind of very common on Facebook....

I can see the pictures, but with a Photobucket watermark.