New Ficus.

Gifforjm · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 1:11 am Post subject: New Ficus.

Went to the local nursery and found a gem.I wasn't planning on buying anything but i cam across this tree and couldn't pass it up for $10. I am just now curious on where i need to go from here. The roots are pretty well developed and I am not sure if i should root prune just yet. It certainly needs re-potted.

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd143/gifforjm/S5001943.jpg

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd143/gifforjm/S5001944.jpg

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd143/gifforjm/S5001945.jpg

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd143/gifforjm/S5001946.jpg

emorrin · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 3:09 am Post subject: Re: New Ficus

What you have is a Ficus benjamina 'too little'. When you re pot, make sure to have a backup plan just in case it won't fit into the bonsai pot. Once you start removing the current soil to reveal the root ball, you may notice that the roots may be thicker than the trunk itself. I would suggest having a deeper pot on hand just in case. I had to bend the real thick roots and wire them in the pot since they were so thick.

You can re pot a ficus just about any time of the year. Make sure to use a fast draining medium. You can root prune a healthy ficus up to 50% but I usually only do 30% to be on the safe side. I would remove all the old soil by rinsing the roots clean using room temperature water. I usually only do this (i.e. bare root) the first
time since the old nursery soil is usually very water retentive and could lead to root rot later down the road. Once you re pot into a proper bonsai soil then this should not be needed anymore.

I would then prune a little off the top and remove some of the thinner lower branches to better balance the tree. After that, leave it in a shady place for 2 to 3 weeks giving it some super thrive while it recovers. Once new leaves start growing then start to fertile again, usually about a month after the re pot.

Here is a picture of my Ficus benjamina I bought last summer :

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii208/emorrin/BonsaiRomeo145.jpg

Here is some additional information on the ficus:

http://www.bonsai-bci.com/species/ficus.html

Gifforjm · Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 4:32 pm Post subject: Re: New Ficus.

Thank you for the advice emorrin. I think I had too much on my hand for this one, so i enlisted the help of a local grower to guide me through getting this one in a pot and trimming it down. With the work that we did I am very happy with the way that this one turned out. I will be sure to have a picture up tonight.

emorrin · Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 4:39 pm Post subject: Re: New Ficus.

I am curious, were the roots rather thick (i.e. bigger than the trunk) and bulbous? The reason I ask is because I have re potted 3 of these so far and they all had this characteristic, some more than others.

TB420 · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 12:18 am Post subject: Re: New Ficus.

Ed, if the roots weren't thick like a carrot it had not been in that pot for long. Figs will develop very fat roots very fast. The thing is it's usually best, especially on the first potting from nursery pot to bonsai pot, to remove most if not all of the fat roots. That usually requires a substantial amount of foliage to be removed, but that to is almost always necessary one a new nursery fig. Once the roots get like that they don't really feed the tree much, but they do store water so you will have to water a bit more than normal for a couple months after potting. I've potted several nursery figs directly to bonsai pot's as well as from bigger bonsai pot to pots smaller and much shallower.

Here is a photobucket montage of 1 of the more serious repots of a f. nerifolia that I removed 80% or more of the roots and all of the foliage and a F. phillipinesis that was potted into a pot that is 8"x6"x3.5 to a 7"x5"x2" pot. I had to root prune extensively, about 70% of the roots and much of the foliage. It needed a bit of styling anyway. Both tree's are doing great. I've potted a couple more F. nerifolia the same way. All are fine. Start on the last page and work forward to see it in order. http://s139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/Tbowers420/Ficus/?start=20

Ed, picture of the fat roots on a 6 month old F. benjamina 'Too Little' cutting.
http://s139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/Tbowers420/Ficus/?action=view& amp;current=DSCF3080.jpg

Tom