Ficus with aerial roots over driftwood

Bonsai Nut

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I appreciate the video and how it makes it much easier to evalute the tree from all angles. However the rest of this post is going to sound very critical. This is not a bonsai. It is simply a house plant in a bonsai pot. I see no evidence of any training with the exception of wire loosely wound around one branch. There is no obvious developmental pruning, and no ramification work. There are a couple of bad 90 degree bends in the lower trunk that look artificial, and a big knob at the top of the trunk where someone chopped the trunk badly and allowed too many branches to sprout from one location. The entire tree should be considered a "do over".

@SockUnicorn I don't know if this is your tree, or you just posted this video from the Internet because you found it interesting. If it is your tree I hope you don't take offense at my comment. I love all trees and I enjoy trees in pots even if they aren't bonsai. I have some interesting potted trees in my backyard. However the purpose of bonsai is to create the impression of a giant tree in nature - on a miniature scale. This is just a mass-produced nursery tree from the Philippines that has had no real bonsai work done to it.
 
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SockUnicorn

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I appreciate the video and how it makes it much easier to evalute the tree from all angles. However the rest of this post is going to sound very critical. This is not a bonsai. It is simply a house plant in a bonsai pot. I see no evidence of any training with the exception of wire loosely wound around one branch. There is no obvious developmental pruning, and no ramification work. There are a couple of bad 90 degree bends in the lower trunk that look artificial, and a big knob at the top of the trunk where someone chopped the trunk badly and allowed too many branches to sprout from one location. The entire tree should be considered a "do over".

@SockUnicorn I don't know if this is your tree, or you just posted this video from the Internet because you found it interesting. If it is your tree I hope you don't take offense at my comment. I love all trees and I enjoy trees in pots even if they aren't bonsai. I have some interesting potted trees in my backyard. However the purpose of bonsai is to create the impression of a giant tree in nature - on a miniature scale. This is just a mass-produced nursery tree from the Philippines that has had no real bonsai work done to it.


No offense taken. This is one of the first trees I got before I knew anything about bonsai. I do agree that the tree is a "do-over." I am using these threads to track my progress over the years and to keep everything together. I realize that it is a mass produced "bonsai" and I look forward to converting it over the years into something more tree like. For now it sits on the outdoor balcony as it isn't one of my priorities, but when I have more room I look forward to potting the soil up higher, developing the aerial roots, and potentially chopping back to the lowest branch in the future.
 

Bonsai Nut

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Well... it's alive, which is more than most people - including myself - could say about their first trees. One of my first trees was an Eastern White Pine that I hacked up so badly my parents asked me if I wouldn't rather plant it in our yard. That tree is now a big landscape tree! Eastern White Pines grow pretty tall in 40 years!

At any rate, it wouldn't be a great undertaking to tidy it up by cutting back that leggy growth so that the foliage was a little tighter. In Southern Florida you should be able to get that sucker looking as tight as a hedge if you worked on the ramification a bit.
 

Shinjuku

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No offense taken. This is one of the first trees I got before I knew anything about bonsai. I do agree that the tree is a "do-over." I am using these threads to track my progress over the years and to keep everything together. I realize that it is a mass produced "bonsai" and I look forward to converting it over the years into something more tree like. For now it sits on the outdoor balcony as it isn't one of my priorities, but when I have more room I look forward to potting the soil up higher, developing the aerial roots, and potentially chopping back to the lowest branch in the future.

Just wanted to say thanks to @SockUnicorn for taking some strong constructive criticism with with grace. The internet needs more people like you. We’re all learning and helping each other together.
 

SockUnicorn

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Just wanted to say thanks to @SockUnicorn for taking some strong constructive criticism with with grace. The internet needs more people like you. We’re all learning and helping each other together.

I like to think it has allowed me to advance my skills faster than on average over my first year. Thanks for the nice compliment!
 

Bonsai Nut

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I like to think it has allowed me to advance my skills faster than on average over my first year. Thanks for the nice compliment!

As a follow up to this post - when I was starting out in bonsai I would get critical feedback, but in one particular instance someone laughed at my tree. It almost made me quit... but then I thought - screw this guy; if that is his attitude towards beginners, it is HIS problem, not mine.

I am not laughing. I am trying to help by being honest. I am not trying to score ego points or put you down. Rather, I want you to grow in your appreciation of bonsai so that at some point you will look at this tree and reach the exact same conclusion.

Of course, by then this tree will no longer look the way it does today - because as you learn you will prune and style and design it. And one day perhaps it will be an amazing bonsai that you will have had a great journey with.
 

BunjaeKorea

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Well... it's alive, which is more than most people - including myself - could say about their first trees. One of my first trees was an Eastern White Pine that I hacked up so badly my parents asked me if I wouldn't rather plant it in our yard. That tree is now a big landscape tree! Eastern White Pines grow pretty tall in 40 years!

At any rate, it wouldn't be a great undertaking to tidy it up by cutting back that leggy growth so that the foliage was a little tighter. In Southern Florida you should be able to get that sucker looking as tight as a hedge if you worked on the ramification a bit.
Picture or it didn't happen 😋🤭
 

Bonsai Nut

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Already 10x better than what you started with.

Don't forget to define your apex and make sure your design flows from it. Right now I'm not sure if your plan is to use the left primary branch as your primary trunk line and apex, or the next branch up the trunk.

Also - young trees grow up. Old trees grow up... and then with the weight of age their branches begin to droop. Wire accordingly to give your tree the feeling of age.

IMG_0097.jpg
 
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