I bought this Elephant tree (Bursera fagaroides) the other day from the local nursery and they were growing it in pure sand. Is that normal?

Not sure what it is in. If it really is what looks like quarts pebbles.. No that is not normal. Makes it hard to care for. But growing in a porous gravel works well.

This Bursera had a great growing season and I found a more shallow pot at the local nursery (bonsai pots aren't easy to find in Mexico) and decided to repot and make major cuts. I probably should have gone more on the rocky side with the soil like the last pot but I want to see how it does with this compost, vermiculite, lava rock mix.

You can see I made some real major cuts, I cant imagine these cuts hurting this tree. It grew extremely vigorous after making equally major cuts to it during the growing season in June 2020 around when I made the first post.



i did some wiring in September 2020 to try and bring everything down. I am not really satisfied with the pot, but will eventually get something better.