Help identifying Walsai

Pictured below are two specimens available at Walmart. I'm not exactly sure what they are, but, one of them they looked like ficus.

To my untrained eye, a couple have some interesting trunks.

The first is a fulken tea tree. The second is some sort of ficus. Both are tropical and would need to come inside for the winter.

First is a Fukien Tea, second is a Ficus microcarpa. I would pass on these due to their hard-to-work-with trunk shapes. The Ficus can be good practice material though.

jkd2572 said:

The first is a fulken tea tree. The second is some sort of ficus. Both are tropical and would need to come inside for the winter.

Click to expand...

Hmm... Fukien tea. Wonder if it's beginner friendly....

Siguy said:

Hmm... Fukien tea. Wonder if it's beginner friendly....

Click to expand...

Ficus is. The Fukien is good for attracting bugs.

Ficus Guy

Mites, eh? Do you have the same problem for all Fukien tea? I see from your "quick" styling that you either have a good deal of experience or have a braveheart *OR* both

Nice blog.

Siguy said:

Mites, eh? Do you have the same problem for all Fukien tea? I see from your "quick" styling that you either have a good deal of experience or have a braveheart *OR* both

Nice blog.

Click to expand...

Thanks! Mostly just a brave heart and lots of victims

Either way I bet they are cheap so by both and start the addiction.

Number one first thing to do if you do get one/them is get those glued-in rocks and faux moss off the top and throw them away.

jkd2572 said:

Either way I bet they are cheap so by both and start the addiction.

Click to expand...

Under $12. Yes, I consider them inexpensive.

Jaberwky17 said:

Number one first thing to do if you do get one/them is get those glued-in rocks and faux moss off the top and throw them away.

Click to expand...

I actually pulled up all that junk when I was there. I was surprised how much of that useless junk there was and how little soil. I'd imagine, I'd have to repot both right away though I believe both species are sensitive to moving(??).

I considered pulling the plant out of its container to take a picture of the roots to get your opinions, but that may frowned upon at my Walmart. Might do it anyways. They call my name.

I'm leaning more to the Fukien Tea.

Love to kick it around a bit more with you folks. Great place, great members, great forum.

You're much more likely to kill kill the Fukien tea. I would get the ficus. You can do all kinds of stupid things to them and they will just keep on ticking. You could try to encourage aerial roots to alter the trunk trunk or just chop it and root pieces of it.

I beleive you are better off with ANYTHING else if you are beginning.

People give away Overgrown ficus all the time. Usually with a couple branches suitable for layering, = more trees.

Your $ is better spent on sphagnum moss.

Or a regular nursery plant hardy to your zone.

Or bidding on Don's Penny Start auctions!

Or a shovel to dig an elm that you can beat up pretty good too.

You see, thats the problem with Walmart, you CAN take it out of the pot, so can everyone else. They don't even water anything by me. Everything is dying until you rescue it. Im sure water costs more than they pay for the trees.

Support your local bonsai professional. Buy good stock.

Just my opinion! I bought a microcarpa 3 years ago and my daughter cares for the 12 cuttings that remain from it. Fun. But no bonsai!

But fukien the tea tree for sure! Every post i've ever read of them is about pests. And the other millions of these? Never a post? Maybe cuz they die too quick!

Rizant.

Sorce