New To Bonsai And I Am Looking For An Identification And Some Advice

[Naomanos]

Hi everyone! I am new to the world of Bonsai, but have been somewhat fascinated with the art since my childhood. I am hoping that I will be able to do what it is that I am looking to do with my Bonsai tree.

First, I am hoping that my conditions inside my home are good for this tree. We live in an apartment with no back porch/deck, or outside windowsills, but in the back where we pretty much have the sun from right before noon till dusk depending on the time of year. Needless to say, we gets lots of sunlight and have plenty of indirect sunlight throughout the house. Our apartment temps go from around 78-80 during the day to 73-74 during the night normally. Currently, we have the A/C lowered all day long since my wife is pregnant and the anything above 74 is a bit too hot for her. It will go back to the 78-80 in a month or two.

I am also hoping to get an identification on the type of Bonsai that I purchased yesterday. I know that I probably did wrong by buying from Home Depot, but my wife is not one for spending money on hobbies, so I was limited in what I can spend and had an extra $20 to spare... lol.

Here are some pictures of varying angles:











I am going to post one more picture in a reply to this thread as I can only post 5 photos per post.

 

[Naomanos]

Continued...

What I would like to do with my tree is in the following picture:



If it is possible, how would I go about doing this with my tree?

Any other advice that you may have would be greatly appreciated.

 

[mat]

You have a Tiger Bark Ficus microcarpa. The image in your second post seems like a reasonable goal.

My advice would be to concentrate on keeping it alive for the time being. Ficus, like all other trees prefer to be outside. They seem to do better than most if they have to be inside though. I can't give much specific indoor advice. Pay attention to watering (moist, but not always wet), fast draining soil, regular fertilizer, ... I'm sure some others with indoor Ficus experience will have some tips as well.

Adam Lavigne keeps several of this species and has a few articles about them on his blog.
http://adamaskwhy.com/

You should check it out (if you haven't already).

Welcome to bnut. Have fun!

 

[Naomanos]

Update

Here is an update from my last post.

I went ahead and removed the glued together stones that were sitting on top of the soil and removed the tree from the plastic pot and put it in the ceramic pot that the tree and plastic pot was sitting in. Wasn't too difficult to do with some warm water and needle nose pliers.

The soil was just soaked when I removed the tree and soil from the plastic pot. The water literally poured out of the soil. So I let it drain some to get the majority of the water out of the soil. Hoping that root rot hasn't already started. I am going to let the soil dry out some before watering.

I do have some pictures of what it now looks like in the ceramic pot and what the soil looks like both in the pot and underneath.

 

[timetravel_0]

The general consensus around these parts is an inorganic coarse soil. Things like diatomaceous earth, lava, pumice, etc, mixed in with different size particles or some organics.

That prevents anaerobic conditions and over watering.

Other than that, you don't seem to be past the point of no return. Make sure you tie the tree into the pot well, and then start pulling down branches. I have a similar ficus (from Walmart originally) that made a great transformation once I started pulling down branches.

 

[Naomanos]

The general consensus around these parts is an inorganic coarse soil. Things like diatomaceous earth, lava, pumice, etc, mixed in with different size particles or some organics.

That prevents anaerobic conditions and over watering.

Other than that, you don't seem to be past the point of no return. Make sure you tie the tree into the pot well, and then start pulling down branches. I have a similar ficus (from Walmart originally) that made a great transformation once I started pulling down branches.

Pulling down branches? Since I am new to this I do not understand the term. Which reminds me of another question.

Are there any decent Kindle or Google books that someone can recommend to help a newbie out like me?

 

[sorce]

I don't see any drain hole impressions in that soil.

Are there holes in your container?

Sorce

 

[timetravel_0]

Pulling down branches? Since I am new to this I do not understand the term. Which reminds me of another question.

Are there any decent Kindle or Google books that someone can recommend to help a newbie out like me?

Applying wire to the branches, and bending them down so that it doesn't grow so much as upright, but laterally.

Don't go out and break the bank on books. A few basic ones will have everything you need to get started. It looks like there's a million options on Amazon if you subscribe to the Kindle service.

 

[Mellow Mullet]

Your local librairy should have many books on bonsai, it is a great way to preview a book, look at the informaiton it contains, and then decide it it is worth owning.

John

 

[mat]

I don't see any drain hole impressions in that soil.

Are there holes in your container?

Sorce

A good question. Are there drainage holes in the ceramic pot that it's in now? If not, you'll need to add some or find a new pot.

As far as books go, Jerry Meislick wrote one called something like "Ficus, the Exotic Bonsai". It has some info in it that you'll probably find useful. There's also a bunch of previous threads here if you look around the tropical section. Many folks have been down the same road you're starting on (got a little Ficus from a store...what do I do now?). Lots of good advice has already been given.

 

[jk_lewis]

If the original pot was inside the ceramic pot and if water poured out of the original pot when you removed it, that indicates there are no drainage holes in the ceramic pot.

IT MUST HAVE DRAINAGE HOLES!

Back to HD and buy an appropriate sized ceramic or plastic pot and move the tree into it immediately.

This is a better-than-usual example of mallsai bonsai. But still, HD should be ashamed of selling bonsai potted up like this to unsuspecting customers.

But repot before it dies.

 

[Naomanos]

Thank you for the replies.

To answer the question about drainage holes, the ceramic pot has one center drainage hole.

 

[Alain]

i have a similar retusa tiger bark ficus I bought from Walmart.

First of all: don't panic too much, these ficus are really tough guys (I guess otherwise they'll die way before being sell due to the way they are grown).
I already re-potted mine twice, made a ground layering to start the nebari elsewhere on the trunk, prune it and wire it, all of that in less than 5 months and it is thrilling, despite of me

Otherwise: I live in Il, it's 7F today with a couple inches of snow so no way my ficus could stay outside.
It is close to a window, not to far from a heater, I spray it everyday with water (I have an unlimited source of highly distillate water so no calcium deposits on the leaves) and water the soil from time to time when it seems dry.
And it is growing like weed!

You live in Florida so may be your ficus could be outside all year long. I don't know that for sure but as long as the T is above 50 F your tree should be fine outside normally.

Regarding the soil: my ficus is in training so I potted it in a mixture perlite + pine bark + a little bit of sphagnum moss (proportions: 8-8-1) in a really fast draining pot.
If you want your tree directly in a bonsai pot then you should get a more fancy soil, but the point is: good drainage.
i fertilize my tree with a balance (14-14-14) osmocote fertilizer and furthermore I'll give it iron twice a year (but not now, now it is in a kind of dormancy even if, as a tropical tree, it doesn't enter a real dormancy, I'll give it its Fe in spring).

have fun with your tree!

 

[milehigh_7]

Jerry Meislik

Jerry Meislik's name was brought up. Go to his site and read everything there. That is a good start for indoor stuff. Also, he is one of the nicest and most helpful people you will ever make contact with. He does everything indoors which makes him fairly unique among bonsai folk. Everyone will say it is an outdoor sport and they are right but some have been able to overcome and Jerry is one of those.

This is the link to his site:

http://www.bonsaihunk.us/

 

[Great Falcon]

thread graft.

 

[Naomanos]

thread graft.

Huh? Please explain what you mean by thread graft.

 

[Great Falcon]

Huh? Please explain what you mean by thread graft.

hard for me to explain but I will try to give you the basics, this species is easy to thread graft, You drill a hole on the tree where you want the new branch, is better if hole is just a bit bigger then the branch you will use, it can be a long branch from same tree or another but same especies, make sure you take your time to do this because you have do it without damaging the branch when it goes in, trim leafs but don't touch the new buds after is done seal both ends with paste and try to hold new branch with a piece of wire , you will see when the new branch start growing you may cut the side you don't need in the second season, here is a pic to give you an idea.
Sorry about my english, I hope you understand some. this pic the thread is done with branch of same tree.