Redwood Ryan
Masterpiece
Any 6400K bulb that fits that fixture will work. Get the light a couple inches from the top of the tree.
Ficus b. Kiki ?? my first bonsai
- Thread starter dannylightning
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dannylightning
Yamadori
cool,, thanks..
I appreciate everyone's help here.
I appreciate everyone's help here.
Leo in N E Illinois
The Professor
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@dannylightning - Welcome to bonsai.
Any CFL with 5200 K to 6700 K would work well. Lower numbers, like 2700 K just don't put out enough light. The blue max is probably a waste of money, in a side by side you would not be likely to see a difference between it and the Philips. Reason is, most of us our conditions are not close enough to ideal that a small difference in blue output, the difference in growth would not be noticed. Almost all of us are "far enough" away from "ideal" that other issues are limiting growth. If CRI is over 80 that is "good enough for hobby growing", and a 8 CRI unit difference between the two brands is not really significant (unless you are a commercial pot grower, maximising $$ per square foot). For our purposes, the Philips are close enough.
Lamp should be as close as possible and still have all the leaves in the pool of light. It is only too close if the leaves feel warm to the touch. With CFL they can be within a couple inches usually. Grab a leaf and feel, usually a healthy leaf will feel cooler than room temp. Remember, lumens delivered per unit of surface area, decrease by the square of the distance from the lamp. So at 4 feet the light on a leaf is 1/16th the light at one foot, on same leaf from same lamp.
Fertilizer, - in winter Ficus are not growing rapidly, it is not all that critical you apply fertilizer. Just get the pattern down for watering. In spring, you can begin fertilizing, and then if possible, move the Ficus outside for the summer. When growth gets rapid, then fertilizer will be very necessary.
Watering, - you may be doing this, but if not - for what it is worth. A better practice would be to pick the tree up, take it to a sink, flood it with water making sure all the soil is wet. Then allow to drain 10 minutes or so, then return to where you are growing it. Dribbling water on it from a watering can will often leave dry pockets in the soil. If you use a liquid fertilizer, pour that on while the tree is at the sink also. Dig your finger at least 1/2 inch deep into the potting mix to feel for moisture, goal is to water while still slightly damp, don't want to let it get bone dry. Though Ficus will generally come back after a short drought. If you travel, it gets dry and drops all its leaves, don't despair, resume watering and give it 6 weeks to leaf out again. Often they will recover, if the "droughts" don't happen more than maybe once a year.
Trick: many will stick a chop stick in the mix of a pot, all the way to the bottom, and leave it there. When they check the soil for water - pull the chop stick, if it is damp for most of the depth of the pot, you don't need to water. If the wood of the chop stick is dry, you should have watered a day or two earlier. Other can tell just by the ''heft'' of a pot if it needs water. Use your finger to ''calibrate'', but notice the weight of the pot every time you pick it up, a dry pot will be lighter.
Ficus are a good choice to learn indoor horticulture. They can thrive indoors.
Any CFL with 5200 K to 6700 K would work well. Lower numbers, like 2700 K just don't put out enough light. The blue max is probably a waste of money, in a side by side you would not be likely to see a difference between it and the Philips. Reason is, most of us our conditions are not close enough to ideal that a small difference in blue output, the difference in growth would not be noticed. Almost all of us are "far enough" away from "ideal" that other issues are limiting growth. If CRI is over 80 that is "good enough for hobby growing", and a 8 CRI unit difference between the two brands is not really significant (unless you are a commercial pot grower, maximising $$ per square foot). For our purposes, the Philips are close enough.
Lamp should be as close as possible and still have all the leaves in the pool of light. It is only too close if the leaves feel warm to the touch. With CFL they can be within a couple inches usually. Grab a leaf and feel, usually a healthy leaf will feel cooler than room temp. Remember, lumens delivered per unit of surface area, decrease by the square of the distance from the lamp. So at 4 feet the light on a leaf is 1/16th the light at one foot, on same leaf from same lamp.
Fertilizer, - in winter Ficus are not growing rapidly, it is not all that critical you apply fertilizer. Just get the pattern down for watering. In spring, you can begin fertilizing, and then if possible, move the Ficus outside for the summer. When growth gets rapid, then fertilizer will be very necessary.
Watering, - you may be doing this, but if not - for what it is worth. A better practice would be to pick the tree up, take it to a sink, flood it with water making sure all the soil is wet. Then allow to drain 10 minutes or so, then return to where you are growing it. Dribbling water on it from a watering can will often leave dry pockets in the soil. If you use a liquid fertilizer, pour that on while the tree is at the sink also. Dig your finger at least 1/2 inch deep into the potting mix to feel for moisture, goal is to water while still slightly damp, don't want to let it get bone dry. Though Ficus will generally come back after a short drought. If you travel, it gets dry and drops all its leaves, don't despair, resume watering and give it 6 weeks to leaf out again. Often they will recover, if the "droughts" don't happen more than maybe once a year.
Trick: many will stick a chop stick in the mix of a pot, all the way to the bottom, and leave it there. When they check the soil for water - pull the chop stick, if it is damp for most of the depth of the pot, you don't need to water. If the wood of the chop stick is dry, you should have watered a day or two earlier. Other can tell just by the ''heft'' of a pot if it needs water. Use your finger to ''calibrate'', but notice the weight of the pot every time you pick it up, a dry pot will be lighter.
Ficus are a good choice to learn indoor horticulture. They can thrive indoors.
Leo in N E Illinois
The Professor
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Quickest way to thicken the trunk is let it grow out, and as Grim suggested, the more foliage on the lower branches the better the lower trunk will thicken. More leaves total for the plant, the thicker the trunk will become. Typically when we create bonsai, the first 5 yeas or so, until the trunk is the desired thickness, our trees are MUCH bigger than our vision for the final size. Then when the trunk is thick enough, we prune them down to size. It is rare that a bonsai is developed by growing it up to size. So initially, you are doing good if you let it get bigger than you would like at first. It can always be reduced to size later.
A little about Ficus benjamina 'Kiki'
This cultivar (=clone) of F. benjamina is a genetic dwarf. As stated above, small leaves, slower growth than the normal types.
Down the road, wiring the trunk again will be no problem, but be careful if you try to wire the branches, for the cultivar 'Kiki' the branches tear away more easily from the trunk than the normal forms, and those that are used to wiring other Ficus, may be surprised by branches getting ripped off the trunk when trying to wire. Since you have no experience, the warning is to be cautious and on the gentle side when you try to wire. Clip and grow is often what the ''old timers'' do with 'Kiki' for developing branches. (reference - Jerry Mieslik personal comm).
Ficus benjamina grow best between 60 F and 90 F. Fastest growth is when daytime is warm and humid, and nights stay above 70 F. In Akron, Ohio you will get your best growth from middle of June through to middle of August. This is the ideal time period for repotting, pruning, and styling. Wiring can be don anytime, but all other work should be done in summer if possible. Don't worry about your soil now, work with it as is, and plan to repot in June. To me it doesn't look that bad, not ideal, but not too bad. Don't prune in winter, wait until growth is more vigorous in June.
Outdoors Ficus benjamina can be acclimated to full sun, where they will grow the fastest, but they are very adaptable, and will tolerate fairly deep shade, and even relatively dim light indoors. Growth will be slower in shade, slowest indoors. When you move it outdoors, start in deep shade, and step it into brighter spots every couple days, give it about 2 weeks to adapt before moving it to full sun. It may drop leaves, don't worry, it will make more. Same with bringing it back in, it may drop ''sun leaves'' and replace them with ''shade tolerant leaves''. This is normal.
For most of us northern USA growers, Ficus are pretty much static, growing very little in winter, we get the vast majority of our growth during the 4 months we have them outside in summer. For myself and many others, this is just fine. If you eventually put in a high tech light garden, you can get good growth in winter, Your set up as is won't give you rapid growth, but the plant will stay healthy enough, grow slow, and in summer you can put it outside for a period of rapid growth. This is a workable plan.
A little about Ficus benjamina 'Kiki'
This cultivar (=clone) of F. benjamina is a genetic dwarf. As stated above, small leaves, slower growth than the normal types.
Down the road, wiring the trunk again will be no problem, but be careful if you try to wire the branches, for the cultivar 'Kiki' the branches tear away more easily from the trunk than the normal forms, and those that are used to wiring other Ficus, may be surprised by branches getting ripped off the trunk when trying to wire. Since you have no experience, the warning is to be cautious and on the gentle side when you try to wire. Clip and grow is often what the ''old timers'' do with 'Kiki' for developing branches. (reference - Jerry Mieslik personal comm).
Ficus benjamina grow best between 60 F and 90 F. Fastest growth is when daytime is warm and humid, and nights stay above 70 F. In Akron, Ohio you will get your best growth from middle of June through to middle of August. This is the ideal time period for repotting, pruning, and styling. Wiring can be don anytime, but all other work should be done in summer if possible. Don't worry about your soil now, work with it as is, and plan to repot in June. To me it doesn't look that bad, not ideal, but not too bad. Don't prune in winter, wait until growth is more vigorous in June.
Outdoors Ficus benjamina can be acclimated to full sun, where they will grow the fastest, but they are very adaptable, and will tolerate fairly deep shade, and even relatively dim light indoors. Growth will be slower in shade, slowest indoors. When you move it outdoors, start in deep shade, and step it into brighter spots every couple days, give it about 2 weeks to adapt before moving it to full sun. It may drop leaves, don't worry, it will make more. Same with bringing it back in, it may drop ''sun leaves'' and replace them with ''shade tolerant leaves''. This is normal.
For most of us northern USA growers, Ficus are pretty much static, growing very little in winter, we get the vast majority of our growth during the 4 months we have them outside in summer. For myself and many others, this is just fine. If you eventually put in a high tech light garden, you can get good growth in winter, Your set up as is won't give you rapid growth, but the plant will stay healthy enough, grow slow, and in summer you can put it outside for a period of rapid growth. This is a workable plan.
dannylightning
Yamadori
thanks. great info.. im gonna keep the light on it and let it grow for now. i do want to trunk to get thicker and i would like more leaves on top so it looks more tree like. I wired it yesterday.. most branches are to the left or the right, there was one that was pointing out to the front so i bent that one to the side. tried to make the lower branches look better and shaped a couple of the upper branches to have a more flowing even look i guess you would say.. here is a photo after i wired it up again, not a huge change but you can see the trunk a little better and it just looks a little nicer.. ill post the other photo so there is a before and after shot in the same post.
. 
aml1014
Masterpiece
Improving this guy already!
One tip from us people who are OCD about wiring. Go to craftsy.Com you have to register but it's free. Look up the Colin Lewis wiring tutorial and work on those wiring skills. I've been really practicing this for 3 years and I'm still learning to wire nicely.lol
Aaron
dannylightning
Yamadori
thanks. ill check it out.. right now most of the branches are nice and flexible so a loosely wrapped lousy wire job is going to work out just fine to just redirect a few branches.. but that should come in handy for later on down the road. i need to get or find some more wire, where i live the person who owns the house is a hoarder and the basement if just jam packed with junk.. gonna go down there and see if i can find some more wire. there are 2 or 3 branches i still want to wire up..
aml1014
Masterpiece
dannylightning
Yamadori
than
thanks if i cant find any ill get some wire from them.. .. are there other good bonsai videos on that craftsy website ?
dannylightning
Yamadori
will a wooden tooth pick be ok instead of a chopstick.. since its thinner and my pot is small seems like that would work pretty well.. do you place it on the edge or the pot
i cant find any descent wire. stripped some thick copper speaker wire from its casing ( i have a big spool of it) but its not really flexible in the right way, found a small package of craft wire but its too hard to bend to wire up a delicate little tree. that place is out of stock on wire. found this on amazon, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JOSNBK0/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2UZ41624K8LUQ you think this stuff would ok..
aml1014
Masterpiece
Yep, it'll work perfectly, and it's good to start off with a range of sizes to get a feel for what you use the most.
As for the toothpick, it'll work but it'll rot pretty quickly being kept moist, I personally use BBQ squers. You want to place it between the edge of the pot and the trunk of the tree, pull it out everyday and touch it to your cheek (very sensitive skin, and will feel moisture better then your fingers). Let it get almost dry, but still a little moist. A totally dry tree is an unhappy tree, that's for sure.
Aaron
dannylightning
Yamadori
wooden or metal BBQ squers ? chopsticks are generally wooden so i am assuming your talking about using wooden ones.
aml1014
Masterpiece
GrimLore
Bonsai Nut alumnus... we miss you
I use bamboo. Sometimes toothpicks as you mentioned, some times skewers. I went to stainless chopsticks although I still use bamboo ones to keep pots raised a bit on the shelves outside. Bamboo holds up better if using wood. I went to stainless chopsticks as they also are helpful for aerating and some root work tasks.
Bamboo is easy to find at the local grocery stores and of course is useful in the kitchen.
Grimmy
Colin Lewis has styling video, I believe, but it's not free.
Boon has a number of videos available for rent or purchase on www.bonsaiboon.com.
Copper wire should be annealed first before using as bonsai wire. Otherwise, it's too stiff.
Get a starter set from Julian Adams: www.adamsbonsai.com
M. Frary
Bonsai Godzilla
Or try using your finger.
GrimLore
Bonsai Nut alumnus... we miss you
Jam it in the soil/substrate - In your case I would guess halfway between the trunk and the inner edge of the pot on one side.
Grimmy
dannylightning
Yamadori
that was a type-0 but you answered the question.. so basically stick the wetness checker between the tree and the edge of the pot.. perfect thank..
