I'm sure it's been asked. .

[Nwaite]

I'm sure you've all talked about this before but I couldn't find a thread on it. I'm still seeing them ficus's they sell at Walmart for like ten dollars and was wondering if it's worth it to give me something to work on for the winter. Or is it a waste ot time.

I know if I did the rocks need to be broken out of the thing and most likely new soil...

And thoughts?

 

[coh]

Are you talking about the "ginsing" type with the hideous, bulbous roots, or regular ficuses?

If the latter, you could buy a bunch of them and put them together to form a clump. Sawgrass has a thread somewhere about that, the result was pretty impressive.

Most of them have trunks that I don't think work well as single trees, i.e. contrived, artificial looking curves and "s" shapes. But sometimes you can do an air layer if there is a nice section of trunk higher up. And if you just want to experiment with a ficus indoors for the winter, $10 is a pretty cheap way to go.

 

[Vin]

Nobody here can answer that question for you. Anything is worth it if you enjoy the process and can learn from it. Check this out: http://www.bonsainut.com/index.php?threads/11-trees-equal-1.19293/

 

[coh]

Beat me to it! I was just about to add that link to my post.

 

[Alain]

Well I've got 3 walmart ficus: a retusa and 2 ginseng.

The upside: they are nearly indestructible.
The downside: the majority of them are ugly

So.
My retusa wasn't ugly but I really dislike the huge S shape of the trunk these trees generally have. The good thing is that as they are more than though I was able to shop a big part of the trunk and the tree grew some new roots and is now free of this S shape.
My ginsengs: I hate the big bulbs that are the characteristic of these trees so I just took a carving tool and remove/carved them. I also chopped basically all the branches. Now my 2 trees are growing leaves so they survived. I didn't check but I'm pretty sure they are also growing a bunch of new roots. Next spring I'll pot them higher in the ground so the start of the new roots will become the start of a nebari and normally the bulbs will be gone.

In conclusion I will say: I'm sure you can find much better starting material in term of ficus but with these walmart stuffs you can also have a lot of fun torturing them to try to get something nice from and ugly start

 

[Nwaite]

Well I've got 3 walmart ficus: a retusa and 2 ginseng.

The upside: they are nearly indestructible.
The downside: the majority of them are ugly

So.
My retusa wasn't ugly but I really dislike the huge S shape of the trunk these trees generally have. The good thing is that as they are more than though I was able to shop a big part of the trunk and the tree grew some new roots and is now free of this S shape.
My ginsengs: I hate the big bulbs that are the characteristic of these trees so I just took a carving tool and remove/carved them. I also chopped basically all the branches. Now my 2 trees are growing leaves so they survived. I didn't check but I'm pretty sure they are also growing a bunch of new roots. Next spring I'll pot them higher in the ground so the start of the new roots will become the start of a nebari and normally the bulbs will be gone.

In conclusion I will say: I'm sure you can find much better starting material in term of ficus but with these walmart stuffs you can also have a lot of fun torturing them to try to get something nice from and ugly start

Man if I can carve the bulb down then maby I'll try it out .

Thanks for the link !

 

[JoeR]

Nah man don't waste your time on stuff that will take eternity to begin to look presentable.

Just go to wigerts or elsewhere- they will send you an awesome ficus of your choice for $30.

 

[Nwaite]

Having a plant sent to me in the mail scares me.... have any of you done this an how did it turn out. It's around 50 here in the day and 30 at night not sure how that would be on a ficus. ..

 

[Vin]

Having a plant sent to me in the mail scares me.... have any of you done this an how did it turn out. It's around 50 here in the day and 30 at night not sure how that would be on a ficus. ..

It's no big deal and just part of bonsai life. Unless you live close to a bonsai nursery and even then at some point in time you'll probably order something by mail. However, this time of year shipping a ficus to Maine could be risky.

 

[JoeR]

It's no big deal and just part of bonsai life. Unless you live close to a bonsai nursery and even then at some point in time you'll probably order something by mail. However, this time of year shipping a ficus to Maine could be risky.

I know that some send them with the heat packs of that makes a difference. I bet if you called them they will tell you if it's okay or notm

 

[Nwaite]

Hhhmmm I'll see if I can talk the wife in to it... would be nice... and fun to get one in the mail.

Maby I'll put her phone # up and you can all send her texts on how it's a good idea .

 

[Vin]

I know that some send them with the heat packs of that makes a difference. I bet if you called them they will tell you if it's okay or notm

Good point.

 

[amcoffeegirl]

It is up to you where to begin.
You can start with the walmart trees and see if you can keep it alive. After a year of caring for the tree then move on to something with better bones.
I have shipped from wigerts in the middle of a snow storm (twice) with zero losses.
They know how to pack for weather.

 

[aml1014]

Wigerts is a wonderful source for good quality tropicals at pretty decent prices too. Shipping is kind of pricey but I personally think it's worth it.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Having a plant sent to me in the mail scares me.... have any of you done this an how did it turn out. It's around 50 here in the day and 30 at night not sure how that would be on a ficus. ..

I agree...one must use wisdom in choosing what trees and timing...when purchasing a tree and having it shipped. Most of my trees came from online purchases from ones I trusted for the most part. But one must take into consideration cold hardy trees now that temps are dropping. Making sure trees are shipped out on Mondays to ensure it doesn't sit some place over the weekend. But as a NE Ohioan...my days of wanting a tree shipped has sailed. Though there are cold hardier trees...none on my want list. I would be hesitant to ship tropical storm at this time...but that is just me maybe.

Here is a list of online sources: Plant City Bonsai I've gotten trees from with impressive shipping. They are not on the list but you can Google them. They don't have trees to view much online. But if you call...tell them what your looking for they can text or email photos. Worth the steps...love my wisteria and Kojo No Mai I got from him.

http://www.bonsainut.com/index.php?threads/online-bonsai-retailers-completed-list.15766/

If you go to the forum Vendoe Experiences you can read about others experiences with many on that list.

 

[Nwaite]

Nice! Thanks every... ones agen you all have gone above and beyond

Great to have good people's to talk to and get info!

 

[KennedyMarx]

It's ten bucks. Go for it. I've had several of the s shaped ficus microcarpa from Walmart. It's a crapshoot what kind of nebari they have because it's always buried under several inches of soil, but ficus are easily layered. Just don't expect to do much to them over the winter.

 

[Alain]

Man if I can carve the bulb down then maby I'll try it out .

Thanks for the link !

Oh sure you can.
Here what I did to one of the ginseng:
http://bonsainut.com/index.php?threads/stop-being-that-ugly-immediately.20404/#post-284199

And now it has little leaves all over:



My retusa after one year:



And the 3rd one, the 2nd ginseng, after carving and pruning to nothing:



As you could see they all survived the treatment without any trouble. Also you could see that I buried them deep in the soil because like that they grow lots of little roots. I'll exhume them progressively, certainly starting next spring.

I plan to get a nice ficus when I'll go to Fl (for Thanksgiving) but these are cheap and I find them fun to work on because there is no way to kill them (or almost, I don't want to feel responsible in case one of yours die )

Btw: I don't have any kind of special winter lighting set up or interior greenhouse or whatnot and my retusa survived last Illinois winter like a charm.

 

[Paradox]

I had a ficus retusa shipped to me late last November from California. It survived a week in a truck coming across country, getting delayed by snow storms almost the whole way. It not only lived but it didn't even freak out and drop all its leaves like they sometimes do.

 

[Alain]

I had a ficus retusa shipped to me late last November from California. It survived a week in a truck coming across country, getting delayed by snow storms almost the whole way. It not only lived but it didn't even freak out and drop all its leaves like they sometimes do.

I'm not surprise there!

When you imagine the way the one at Walmart are ship/store/take care of you imagine that a fun truck trip from California to NY couldn't scare them