ficus microcarpa

is it a good ficus microcarpa

  • this ficus microcarpa sucks, you idiot

    Votes: 2 18.2%
  • this is a good ficus microcarpa, you idiot

    Votes: 9 81.8%

  • Total voters
    11

cdefoe

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greetings,

this is my ficus microcarpa. i just started getting into bonsai after attending the local club's spring auction in june. i have been practicing on some pre-bonsai material i've picked up at the auction and local garden centers. i've been doing a lot of reading and video watching.

anyways, what do you think of my ficus microcarpa? i welcome feedback but please be gentle as this is the first tree i have ever wired and i am only a few months into bonsai : )

front
1jSMNsN.jpg


back
v1BCfvY.jpg


top
v7HRkmZ.jpg

a close up on the front - the tiger bark is much more apparent when wet, but i haven't taken a picture of that yet
vAd4SlY.jpg


next to the ficus benjamina i picked up at the june auction and a bougainvillea i picked up from the garden center and chopped back from ~3 ft tall in july (there's a foot and a half of new growth on the new leader!!). my ficus microcarpa is about a foot and a half tall
dgWNwfb.jpg


thank you all for reading
 

Redwood Ryan

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This is not fantastic material, but it's certainly not bad at all. It's decent. I say that because presently the tree doesn't have much going for it in terms of styling.

That being said, it's got good potential. I'd be tempted to make the back the front and whack it way back to where the truck splits, then go for a broom style from there. Build a nice, rounded canopy from that split and work from there.
 

sorce

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It's not bad at all.

The butterflies, the guitar, that bag that says "DIP", there is plenty of more interesting contraband laying around.....

But the tree has a pretty nice base.

I'd put a little sphagnum around the base to promote some roots in the front, this oughta shape up well.

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce
 

cdefoe

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That being said, it's got good potential. I'd be tempted to make the back the front and whack it way back to where the truck splits, then go for a broom style from there. Build a nice, rounded canopy from that split and work from there.


i did like the back as a front, but thought the back (front) trunk hid the front (back) trunk more from that perspective

here's a barrage of questions:

where exactly do you reckon i should chop it? is this the right time of year to perform trunk chop on a ficus? i did just prune it fairly heavily and repot it (did not do much root pruning though)

when i chop it, should i cut at an angle leading into one of the branches to make that part of the new trunk or chop it flat and wait for the branches to sprout before deciding where to carve so the trunk heals nicely?


if i want to keep the twin trunk and am chopping it back, i was considering using a guy wire om the thinner trunk to create some more space between the two - should i do that before chopping or would it even matter if i'm going to cut it off and have new growth?
 

cdefoe

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It's not bad at all.

The butterflies, the guitar, that bag that says "DIP", there is plenty of more interesting contraband laying around.....

But the tree has a pretty nice base.

I'd put a little sphagnum around the base to promote some roots in the front, this oughta shape up well.

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce

the dip bag is pita chips and that plus some hummus and bourbon was my dinner :oops::oops:

and the butterflies i picked up at the field museum this summer. actually the guitar i picked up from the chicago music exchange this summer as well ;)

sphagnum moss question:

where in the hell do you get some sphagnum moss? and then would i just apply it at the base and keep it moistor would i go even further and cover it in plastic?

and thanks for the welcome. i have already fallen down the rabbit hole : )
 

cdefoe

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Nice Epiphone and butterflies!
Ficus has a better start than mine does!
I agree with Ryan!
Stay weird!

it's a '75 gibson sg actually!! it's my damned baby. i would run into a building on fire for that dang guitar

and stay weird always
 

BrianBay9

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i did like the back as a front, but thought the back (front) trunk hid the front (back) trunk more from that perspective

here's a barrage of questions:

where exactly do you reckon i should chop it? is this the right time of year to perform trunk chop on a ficus? i did just prune it fairly heavily and repot it (did not do much root pruning though)

when i chop it, should i cut at an angle leading into one of the branches to make that part of the new trunk or chop it flat and wait for the branches to sprout before deciding where to carve so the trunk heals nicely?


if i want to keep the twin trunk and am chopping it back, i was considering using a guy wire om the thinner trunk to create some more space between the two - should i do that before chopping or would it even matter if i'm going to cut it off and have new growth?


Don't chop going into winter. Wait until next year when you can get the tree outside and it's growing strong. As far as where to chop, remember that Ficus will take a long time to heal a big scar. If it were mine I would probably chop each of the main trunks just above the first limb, and work on a broom-ish style as Ryan suggests. Sphagnum moss can be ordered on line, or you could find a bog near you and collect it yourself.
 

cdefoe

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is the stuff you buy in a bag at home depot actually alive? or does it not even matter so long as it keeps the base of the trunk dark and moist? would it be any better or worse to just pile up soil around the base?
 

amcoffeegirl

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The sphagnum moss is not alive. You're supposed to wear gloves when you work with it. I never do but you're supposed to.
It will grow algae on the moss during use- at least mine always does.
Nice tree.
My suggestion is let it grow a bit and keep it alive for awhile. Get to know it a bit before you make your moves.
 

cdefoe

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i'll look into picking up a bag of moss when i next go to home depot or the local garden center

am i supposed to wrap or secure it around the base at all? or just pile it up and keep it moist?

thanks for all the replies : )
 

cdefoe

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here's an update on my damned ficus. i chopped it back a couple months ago after letting it grow under lights for the entire winter. it put out a bunch more growth so i repotted it because it didn't get bare rooted the last time it was repotted, and i wanted to get the nursery soil off and get it into some bonsai soil as the trunk/soil was staying wet while the soil around it was drying out. some of the roots were rotted out too

Mw5CVue.jpg


i'm going to let it grow out again but then i think i'm going to go towards something like this. i want to try and get it to backbud behind the green line and eventually cut it back further
m3j303M.png


thanks for reading and thanks for looking at my damned ficus
 

cdefoe

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five months later. cleaned up the stump from the trunk chop and slapped some putty on it, let it grow a few months before pruning it back again and then just recently applying some wire

here's what i've thus far considered the front
bGZDIyR.jpg


some other angles
343vIUp.jpg

yX32l87.jpg

LubLKZP.jpg



hoping to continue to cut back the secondary branches and building more ramification off the shorter internode lengths from the backbudding that results. haven't ruled out chopping the bigger trunk back above the first branch there either
 

It's Kev

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Is it ok if I read your poll options in Jeremy Clarkson’s voice? I love the way he says ‘idiot’.

Awesome tree btw
 

TN_Jim

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I don’t see how this (red circle) can work as is?
1545964511925.jpeg
 

cdefoe

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i agree. i'm gonna let it grow for a while but i think this is gonna be the next move:

TfSBtLL.png


red cuts first then decide if i want to do the yellow one
 
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