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mo's bonsai
Yellow Belt
Joined: 19 Aug 2007
Posts: 171
Location: San Antonio, Texas
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 Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 3:38 am Post subject: Ficus and Pots |
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Hey buddies,
I have several Ficus Benji's and I was wondering if they can be potted, foliage pruned or even root pruned. I've heard that Ficus plants can be messed with any time of the year, is that true? Also, I was watching a video on "bonsai channel" and they were talking about training pots. I thought training pots were regular garden pots of a smaller nature but these training pots looked like real bonsai pots. Can anyone tell me the difference and the technique and purpose in using a training pot. I always thought I was using a training pot but now I realize I was just using a smaller pot to train a tree for a couple of years and was not using a real training pot. i would pull the plant out of its existing pot, prune the excess roots and leave a decent root and soil ball and place it in a pot I prepared with extremely coarse mix of pebble rocks and soil and then top it off with a full draining soil mix. My plants have done well in this way but I think I am not giving them the full effect of training. Please give me your advise, Thanks. |
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Dick
Black Belt
Joined: 21 Aug 2004
Posts: 9269
Location: Western New York State, USA - Zone 4b
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| Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 4:19 am Post subject: Re: Ficus and Pots |
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| Ficus benjaminas are tropical plants and can be repotted and root pruned and foliage pruned any time of the year. But they are fussy and they usually rebel against any change by dropping a lot of healthy leave too. So while you can work on them, be prepared to nurse it back to health. |
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kenuk
Yellow Belt
Joined: 20 Oct 2007
Posts: 150
Location: north notts
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| Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:27 am Post subject: Re: Ficus and Pots |
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Hi
Bonsai training pots as I understand are made of plastic, and are a fraction of the cost of a ceramic pot.
While the tree is in training and still growing strong you use a larger pot than you would when you are showing.
Somebody will come along and answer it better and put us both right.
Ken |
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hungkuen
Blue Belt
Joined: 29 Jul 2005
Posts: 1084
Location: lincolnshire
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| Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 1:18 pm Post subject: Re: Ficus and Pots |
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i think allot of specimen or show trees will have two pots, one for development and general living, and another pot for display or shows, i believe the show pots tend to be a bit smaller and a bit shallower.
a training pot is not always a plastic pot it could just be any pot a tree is developed in before it move into a show pot or its final pot(if there is such a thing as i final pot).....
I've read about people who rent antique bonsai pots to display their trees in at shows, so i presume that the pot it was moved out of would be classed as a training pot. |
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Stymie
Black Belt
Joined: 18 Aug 2004
Posts: 10432
Location: S.Yorks.UK Yow! My poor head feels as though it's in a vice.
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| Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 5:47 pm Post subject: Re: Ficus and Pots |
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| Training pots is the term usually used to describe the deeper, mostly round, bowl shaped containers which all bonsai traders stock. |
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Stymie
Black Belt
Joined: 18 Aug 2004
Posts: 10432
Location: S.Yorks.UK Yow! My poor head feels as though it's in a vice.
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TB420
Brown Belt
Joined: 28 Aug 2006
Posts: 2782
Location: Franklin, Indiana Zone 5b
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| Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2008 1:50 am Post subject: Re: Ficus and Pots |
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| hungkuen wrote: |
| i think allot of specimen or show trees will have two pots, one for development and general living, and another pot for display or shows, i believe the show pots tend to be a bit smaller and a bit shallower. |
If I am reading this correct you are suggesting that a lot of people move a specimen tree from a larger deeper pot to a shallower smaller pot for show/display purposes then after the tree is displayed for a short time it is then put back into a larger pot?
When I see tree's in bonsai focus and other books and mags it seems that the tree once it is in it's final (show) pot that is where it lives for many years. Many progressions show the same tree in the same pot for years. The tree is re-soiled, but the same pot is usually used. I do notice that once a tree is re-styled or sold a new pot is required for the composition or the new owner wants to put there stamp on it with a new pot. I know that many satsuki azaleas will live in the same pot for years, like 25yrs. or more. Many times show tree's are in pots that cost hundreds of dollars. A quality pot like that can withstand thousands of freeze thaw cycles without any harm at all. I know that most of the tree's in the national arboretum in DC stay in the same pot that they are in when they are donated. I bet the same is true at most botanical gardens. It would seem to me that a tree would get used to it's pot (size and shape) after a while and there might be a bit more consistency to the way the tree grows. Once a tree is in a smaller pot the leaves should reduce more than the training pot. For this reason it would seem like a bad idea to frequently up size and downsize it's pot. After an up size the tree would grow faster and get bigger leaves, then when it was downsized again the foliage would have to be trimmed more than if it were a routine re pot. This would extend the time it takes to get a tree ready for display. If you defoliated before the exhibit, you would have to plan a long time in advance and probably only be able to show the tree in question every other year. The tree could be potted into it's show pot in spring and trimmed a good bit, then that season you would get the tree back to show ready. The next summer the tree could be defoliated several weeks before the show and be looking great by showtime. After the show the tree would have to be slip potted back into it's larger pot and the whole thing started again. (this hypothetical show is in August 16-20 and the hypothetical tree is a trident maple) "The smaller shallower pot would require more watering's in the hot part of summer, but, if one was taking care of specimen tree's an auto watering system would not be that expensive and would solve any probs.
I'm not trying to open a can of worms here guys, just my feelings.
Tom |
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steve
Black Belt
Joined: 10 Sep 2004
Posts: 3179
Location: SW Washington,USA
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| Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2008 2:01 am Post subject: Re: Ficus and Pots |
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| You're right Tom. There is no need for a growing/training pot once a tree achieves the "specimen" status. The growth has | |
