GinaRothfels

I have now repotted the tree in a much wider pot.

As the soil was full of tiny insects which I believe may have been springtails (according to a houseplant book I have), I had the plant soaking in water in its pot for a few hours a couple of days ago, then briefly today without a pot, so that nearly all the old soil was washed away. Because of this I am reluctant to do anything else until I am sure it is healthy after all the trauma it has been through. If it looks good I may wire the trunk in about two weeks time.

It lives in the middle of my lounge, half way between two windows. So far it seems to be happy with its position, so I am hoping it can stay there, though if the branches grow too long it may be a problem later on. Would it slow down growth if I shortened branches slightly to try to make the growth thicker instead of longer?

I don't want to move it outside as it seems happy, also I had a lot of possible bonsai material badly damaged by a dreadful hail storm (which also broke several of our windows) two weeks ago. I'm still trying to work out how to protect my plants in the event of future storms.

As far as cuttings go, I have tried with ficus in the past with mixed results. Benjamina with darker leaves seem to work, but I have had no luck with Benjamina with paler mottled leaves. I believe this one is Nitida, something I have never tried rooting before, so I have no idea whether it will work for me or not. But that's something I don't have to worry about just yet if I'm not cutting the tree.

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