Ficus Benjamina - Newbie Enthusiast

mikerosal

Hi,

I am a bonsai newbie and I am asking for your thoughts and opinions about how should work on my Ficus Benjamina...dont know which variety...


Thanks
Mike

Attached Images

fb1.jpg (53.5 KB, 207 views)

Advertisement

mikerosal

opposite side view of the ficus...

Attached Images

fb2.jpg (20.0 KB, 194 views)

Mittar

Looks like a decent start on a broom style. I would pinch it back in order to encourage ramification and of course put it in a grow box.

Lots of info on both things in the FAQ section.

__________________
Knees in the breeze.

BonsaiMon

Hi Mike
.. looks like a regular benjamina to me. You've got a good vigorous start on a banyan (tropical broom..) style.
For me the trunk size dictates the height of the tree, the line through the canopy in the pic below is about where I would have the finished height, shorter is better. I would train the lowest branches down somewhat to help spread the foilage outward and prune the top back hard (do this in the spring/summer .. you can pune it back a few inches now but do the major work in its vigorous growing cycle).. leave some leaves on the branches which remain. The benjamina needs tropical environment to total defoliate so it is not a good ting to do if ya live in Oregon...

This will get the canopy beginning and to fatten the trunk and to eventually encourage aerial roots, Mittar's suggestion is right on .. a grow box (shallow, not more than 2" and larger than the desired/finished canopy size) will help. The ficus like to extend their roots shallow instead of deep.
Your tree looks very healthy .. Do you have a indoor grow area to move it to in the winter? What is the top dressing you are using?
Or maybe that's your soil mix??
Loads of info here, and the internet on tropical bonsai..
Jerry Meislik grows tropicals, also in a cold climate ..
'ere's the link
http://www.bonsaihunk.8m.com/

Attached Images

fb1.jpg (68.1 KB, 167 views)

__________________
peace,
tom stoute

http://bonsaiinsights.spaces.live.com/

mikerosal

Hi all,

Thanks for the great advices that you gave me. Never thought broom style is quite the obvious...though my wife wants an informal upright style...

the top dressing are just lose lava rocks, I dont have yet mosses to use...anything wrong with those rocks?

I have already setup a indoor grow area with growlights to enhance the lack of light for the winter

Thanks
Mike

__________________
Mike Rosal
-----------------------
Thus is our treaty written; thus is agreement made.
Thought is the arrow of time; memory never fades.
What was asked is given; the price is paid."

BonsaiMon

.. informal upright eh? I need to see into the foilage for advise but an informal upright can be done.. ? .. as straight as the trunk is you almost have a formal trunk. The lava rocks are fine .. just curious .. :0) .. lights in the winter is a good ting.
your second pic didn't fully load, need to see up the trunk for the branching, etc...

__________________
peace,
tom stoute

http://bonsaiinsights.spaces.live.com/

TreeBay

This reminds me of a story of this guy who goes into the tailor's to get a new suit. He is picks out some cloth and is duly measured, and the cuffs are chalked up and he is told to return in a few hours for a final fitting. He comes back and tries the suit pants on and is surprised to discover that one of the pantlegs is 3" longer than the other. The tailor explains that he just needs to bend one knee a bit when he walks, and everything will be fine. On goes the jacket and sure enough, it is pinched tightly between the shoulders and the right cuff is longer than the left. The tailor explains this can all be corrected by shrugging his shoulders some and carrying the right one a bit higher than the left.

The man pays for his suit and hobbles out into the street, right past two ladies waiting at a bus stop.

One woman exclaims to the other, "That poor man! I wonder if he was injured in the war?" Whereupon the other lady says, "Yes, dear, it's a shame... but look how nice his suit fits!"

The moral to this story is...

It's probably better to buy another tree than to dress this one in clothes that don't fit.

Regards,

Matt

__________________

Want to be a seller on bonsaiAUCTIONS? Get authorized today!

bonsaiTALK: Over 100,005.36 Megabytes Served this Month!

bnsaijim

Mike,

Since thsi is one of your first trees I'd not bother with a grow box. I'd enjoy this one as is and maybe learn a few things in the process.

You've already heard some very good styling advice. You'd really have to hack it back to achieve a decent informal, and it'd be an awkward one at that. I'd opt for a broom style, a broom style variant where the branches emerge at varying heights from a single leader or a formal upright (unnatural for ficus but still an option).

Better yet, save the branches you cut off. Jam them in a pot of coarse sand and you'll probably have much better candidates alter for your informal...

Some other things I've learned which were alluded to by the others:

Pinching back: You'll see spiky growth tips - you can give these a twist to remove- seems to stop the branch dead in it's tracks. If you defoliate the branch too much the branch may shrivel up.

Or, if you let these open up to small leaves you can tweeze the center out, leaving a leaf. At least half the time it seems the whole thing come soff. no big deal.

Defoliation: You'll see larger leaves growing at branch junctions. These seem to suppress branch development and can be cut off. Usually this will cause a fast extension of that branchlet. Control the internode with pinching technique #2 but save that leaf! Not a big deal as you can usually get subranches to pop later or cut the whole new extension back...

You can cut large leaves off ( particularly where you see a desirable bud emerging) at anytime but as stated, never completely defoliate a branch- always leave a few at the ends...

You can see my "first benjamina" in my Gallery...

Sincerely,

Jim Stone
Galveston