Pure_Ignorance
Seedling
Hello future Bonsai family! 
I split a very straggly neglected ficus a while back. It had quite a few trunks and now I have eight ficus ranging from about 40cm to 80cm tall. I thought it might be nice if I could bonsai them into interesting little trees but would like some ideas on how to get this started. I've never had bonsai before but have read quite a bit about it. Not so much after advice on which forms are suitable, more on how to reduce their heights and train branch growth dor this type of plant.
The tap roots were trimmed and they've been in shallow pots for a few years, they are actually pretty much due for a root trim and repotting. I think I will wait until spring for that though.
Some major questions I have:
1. Are these Ficus Benjamina? It looks close, but I really am not sure.
2. How can I encourage branches to grow lower? I found out early that new shoots dont seem to want to grow from anything pruned back to a trunk without any growth I see advice to notch or graft ficus, but not sure how well this type of ficus would take that.
3.What season is it best to repot, prune heavily, graft or notch these guys? I just tried some dodgy grafts this morning to add some lower branches, though I imagine coming into a cold period (temps in the low 20's celcius this week) it isn't a great time to do this. They are actively growing though, so maybe it will take.
4. I hear the branches don't keep their shape well with wiring. I am guessing I will need to work with the trees own plans for itself largely, but how much can I expect to get the branches to move (and stay) even if it means using some other tricks like making a few small strategic cuts?
I live in a temperate to semi tropical zone, (nsw Australia, mid coast) and Autumn arrived with rain and cold wind right after I pruned these guys savagely and tried to strike some cuttings. Serves me right for not planning it better I guess. I was just bored and decided to stop putting it off, thinking I had a month or so left of decent sun and a probably a mild autumn to boot.
They seem to have mostly coped pretty well though, and new leaves are growing already on the few branches I left and the cuttings are still alive at least after 14 days.
Any answers to my questions, or other advice will be much appreciated. Hopefully I will learn enough to one day be of help to others here, it does seem like a nice place!
I've added a pic of one of the ficus. It's a bit more upright than the others, though still a similar habit, and a little taller (about 80cm). I would think I'd like it to be cut back to about 20-30cm if I can, but how to get something green growing that low in these trunks?
Cheers,
Greg xox
I split a very straggly neglected ficus a while back. It had quite a few trunks and now I have eight ficus ranging from about 40cm to 80cm tall. I thought it might be nice if I could bonsai them into interesting little trees but would like some ideas on how to get this started. I've never had bonsai before but have read quite a bit about it. Not so much after advice on which forms are suitable, more on how to reduce their heights and train branch growth dor this type of plant.
The tap roots were trimmed and they've been in shallow pots for a few years, they are actually pretty much due for a root trim and repotting. I think I will wait until spring for that though.
Some major questions I have:
1. Are these Ficus Benjamina? It looks close, but I really am not sure.
2. How can I encourage branches to grow lower? I found out early that new shoots dont seem to want to grow from anything pruned back to a trunk without any growth
I see advice to notch or graft ficus, but not sure how well this type of ficus would take that.3.What season is it best to repot, prune heavily, graft or notch these guys? I just tried some dodgy grafts this morning to add some lower branches, though I imagine coming into a cold period (temps in the low 20's celcius this week) it isn't a great time to do this. They are actively growing though, so maybe it will take.
4. I hear the branches don't keep their shape well with wiring. I am guessing I will need to work with the trees own plans for itself largely, but how much can I expect to get the branches to move (and stay) even if it means using some other tricks like making a few small strategic cuts?
I live in a temperate to semi tropical zone, (nsw Australia, mid coast) and Autumn arrived with rain and cold wind right after I pruned these guys savagely and tried to strike some cuttings. Serves me right for not planning it better I guess. I was just bored and decided to stop putting it off, thinking I had a month or so left of decent sun and a probably a mild autumn to boot.
They seem to have mostly coped pretty well though, and new leaves are growing already on the few branches I left and the cuttings are still alive at least after 14 days.
Any answers to my questions, or other advice will be much appreciated. Hopefully I will learn enough to one day be of help to others here, it does seem like a nice place!
I've added a pic of one of the ficus. It's a bit more upright than the others, though still a similar habit, and a little taller (about 80cm). I would think I'd like it to be cut back to about 20-30cm if I can, but how to get something green growing that low in these trunks?
Cheers,
Greg xox
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