I bought a 8 year old Ficus retusa bonsai

[Tibar96]

I recently bought a ficus retusa from a bonsai shop in my city. I did my research on how to take care of it (watering, wiring, styling it), but i am happy to get any advice.
My question has to do with the placing of the tree. I know that ficus trees are suited as indoor bonsai, but since i have a garden, i think it s a better environment for it to grow in, due to higher humidity, full sun etc.
The problem is, here in Bucharest, we're having temperatures of 25-30 degrees Celsius during the day, and at night it comes down to 7-15 degrees C during this time of the year. I heard that ficus trees don't do well below 15 C and i don't really know if it's ok to leave it outside or move the tree inside at night time, and back outside in the morning everyday.
What do you advise me to do?
I'll attach a picture below. The tree is about 40 cm tall and really healthy, as it started to grow after just a couple of days after the shippment arrived.
Thank you in advance!

 

[NOZZLE HEAD]

The indoor placement looks good, as for outside placement the bonsai shop in your city may be your best resource.

 

[Tibar96]

The indoor placement looks good, as for outside placement the bonsai shop in your city may be your best resource.

Thank you for the quick reply!
The bonsai shop is in an appartment and the guy there keeps all of his trees in the balcony, he just imports this trees to sell them and i think he doesn't know exactly how to care for them outside, that is why i asked here.

 

[jason biggs]

hi
our winter temps drop to about 5degrees c. and all the ficus stay outside...
at the moment it is 10 degrees every morning and the trees are still flourishing...
Your tree is begging to get outdoors
and it looks like a great starter tree (has a nice base)

 

[BrianBay9]

You should try to get your tree outside for the summer if you can. It will do better outside, but as you can tell, it does OK inside too. When you move it out, start in shade, then increase to full sun over a week or two. It still may drop leaves when you change conditions. Ficus are one of those plants that you should work on (repot, hard pruning, etc) when it is growing strongly. Most work should occur in summer.

 

[Tibar96]

hi
our winter temps drop to about 5degrees c. and all the ficus stay outside...
at the moment it is 10 degrees every morning and the trees are still flourishing...
Your tree is begging to get outdoors
and it looks like a great starter tree (has a nice base)

nice to hear that, probably your trees are well aclimated to warmer temperatures. I ll let mine outside at all times too and i'll keep an eye on it...until now i kept bringing it inside for the nights.
Thank you !

 

[Tibar96]

You should try to get your tree outside for the summer if you can. It will do better outside, but as you can tell, it does OK inside too. When you move it out, start in shade, then increase to full sun over a week or two. It still may drop leaves when you change conditions. Ficus are one of those plants that you should work on (repot, hard pruning, etc) when it is growing strongly. Most work should occur in summer.

Clearly in the summer time the tree will stay outside, my question was for this time of the year when the temperatures are very inconsistent, but i think i got my answer, i'll stop bringing the tree inside for the nights and leave it outside at all times untill winter comes. Also, thank you for the tip about when it's the best time to work on the tree. I have to mention that the tree didn't have many leaves on it when i got it, since then it almost doubled the number of leaves and it lost the majority of the old ones, so i think it adapted pretty well.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

In Southern California, I have ficus both in my landscape and as bonsai. The temperatures frequently get down as low as 40 F (5 C), and the ficus don't show any ill effect. The only time I have problems is when it gets colder and the wind is blowing - at which point I will get some leaf drop. If it is colder and there is no wind, I usually don't see any impact.

 

[Tibar96]

In Southern California, I have ficus both in my landscape and as bonsai. The temperatures frequently get down as low as 40 F (5 C), and the ficus don't show any ill effect. The only time I have problems is when it gets colder and the wind is blowing - at which point I will get some leaf drop. If it is colder and there is no wind, I usually don't see any impact.

good to know, thank you!
i think i'll get mine inside for the winter, the temperatures can drop well below freezing.

 

[Michael P]

Good first tree! You will be delighted by the change you see when it goes outside.

 

[Tibar96]

I want to share some pictures of the tree after the growing season has ended. The tree grew like crazy, i partially defolieted it in mid summer and a lot of ramification happened. I wired it again a month after. This is the result:
View attachment 334477

 

[Cypress187]

5degrees c.

5C? I thought 15C was the limit. If I let them out untill 5C, won't they get a shock when I put them inside afterwards? (I don't have a garage).

 

[Tibar96]

5C? I thought 15C was the limit. If I let them out untill 5C, won't they get a shock when I put them inside afterwards? (I don't have a garage).

I don' t have a garage either. I decided to bring the tree inside today ( october 13) because tonight the temperature here is gonna drop to 7-8C and the wind is blowing really fast.
I'll keep it at room temperature (24-25C) near a window facing South.
I'll post updates if anything changes.

 

[Michael P]

I leave mine out in the fall to 5-7C, 41-45F.

 

[Housguy]

Like the little elm hitch hiking a spot in the pot.

 

[Tibar96]

View attachment 334483
Like the little elm hitch hiking a spot in the pot.

the little guy was growing at the base of another elm and i potted him in this container with the ficus till spring)) he even grew 15 cm here!

 

[Tibar96]

Hello everyone! I want to show you the furher development of the ficus after another year.
In spring I did a big styling decision in the apical region where I cut the apex down and replaced it with a branch, and also changed the front and repot the tree. Here is the result after the summer: