Someone Help My Bonsai!

[JaiDoubleU]

Hello,
I have inherited a bonsai tree that I don’t think is doing well. It’s leaves look healthy, but it’s not very shapely. I'm hoping someone help me identify what it’s suffering from (if anything) and provide tips on how best to care for it. It appears to have been pruned rather harshly at some point and the new branches have grown out unevenly. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Jason

 

[SeanS]

It is suffering from being inside

 

[Tums]

It is suffering from being inside

May not be possible to take it outside now depending on where the original poster lives. Before worrying about shape at all it needs to become healthier, so I would just follow basic houseplant care (brightest window, water when dry partway down, fertilizing following the instructions on the box). Does this pot have a hole on the bottom?

 

[JaiDoubleU]

May not be possible to take it outside now depending on where the original poster lives. Before worrying about shape at all it needs to become healthier, so I would just follow basic houseplant care (brightest window, water when dry partway down, fertilizing following the instructions on the box). Does this pot have a hole on the bottom?

Yes, it does have holes

 

[JaiDoubleU]

It is suffering from being inside

I doubt it would do any better in the -12C weather we’re having right now

 

[Tums]

Yes, it does have holes

Great. Try and be patient with it and nurse it back to health and it will respond better when you do cut it back. If you can keep it going til next summer, that would be a good time to repot it and have a look at the roots.

 

[JaiDoubleU]

Great. Try and be patient with it and nurse it back to health and it will respond better when you do cut it back. If you can keep it going til next summer, that would be a good time to repot it and have a look at the roots.

 

[sorce]

Dusty!

Welcome to Crazy!

It might have mites.

Sorce

 

[amcoffeegirl]

It is a ficus. They can be tricky.
They don’t like to be too wet or too dry. They don’t like to get cold either.
If this one doesn’t make it then please try again.
The secret is to find a really healthy one to start with.
They like bright light and bottom heat. If you happen to have a seedling mat and a grow light you could try that. I’m in Iowa.

 

[amcoffeegirl]

I would try to get it healthy before doing any work to it. If needed you could remove it from this container and put it in a slightly larger container- being very careful not to disturb the roots too much.
this would give you a chance to see what the roots look like. Are they white? Brown? Smelly?
Is the soil a potting mix or a bonsai mix?
If it is soil it will probably need watered less often.