New Ficus Retusa

[RonVachyier]

Finally went ahead and got myself my first tree to learn with

I got it online and had it mailed to me I wasn't happy with the little I could find locally.

In any case, I have it outside right now letting it be after a few days transit in the mail.

I was hoping some experienced folks would point me towards some reading material or suggestions as to what steps I can take to learn what it is to make a bonsai out of a shrub. I have never repotted, or trimmed or anything for that matter.

Since it is a tropical, is there a period of the year that I should not be doing any of the above?

 

[mat]

Nice choice. I have no experience with plants in Quebec, but for tropicals in general, it's best to work on them during the growing season. That's when it's hot and humid (for me, right now). They're pretty forgiving when healthy, and this one appears to be happy. You'll want to think about that soil and how it relates to your watering. You don't want it to sit in wet soil, but obviously drying out to much is also not good. Frequent watering of well-draining soil is my basic goal.

 

[edprocoat]

Thats a nice looking tree, what do you want to do with it. It can be worked on anytime, even during the winter as you will have to keep it inside under 45 degrees farhenheit, sorry do not know the celsius equivelant. They are very forgiving plants, they air layer easily and cuttings will grow very easily. I would air layer it right above that second branch from the bottom if it were mine, it would have roots in a month and could be seperated then and you would have two short trees with great trunks. The shorter the tree the thicker the trunk appears and the older it appears to the eye. Once seperated the bottom half would burst with new growth, the top half will retain the leaves it has now and would start to build a thicker root system. Good luck with your tree, you will love tropicals for their ease of care and the ability to work on them with not much worry about doing damage, these things are tough to kill.

ed

 

[RonVachyier]

looking for some links on air layering? not familiar with this

 

[Fallen_Reality]

http://www.bonsaihunk.us/info/FigPropagate.html
http://www.evergreengardenworks.com/airlayer.htm
http://www.bonsai4me.com/AdvTech/ATLayering.html

 

[linlaoboo]

nice size tree. If was mine I'd work on uncovering the nebari. Improve taper by either increasing the lower trunk girth or airlayer up top. Might consider developing aerial roots. Develop branch structure and improve remification over time. I defoliate mine at least twice in the summer.

Also don't throw away cuttings longer than 4 inches, they root easily in soil, sphagnum moss and water.

 

[RonVachyier]

nice size tree. If was mine I'd work on uncovering the nebari. Improve taper by either increasing the lower trunk girth or airlayer up top. Might consider developing aerial roots. Develop branch structure and improve remification over time. I defoliate mine at least twice in the summer.

Also don't throw away cuttings longer than 4 inches, they root easily in soil, sphagnum moss and water.

keep in mind this is my first ever tree I have read about all these things, and they all appear to be reasonably within my means, yet I have yet to execute even a single cut or prune ever I want to make sure I do things right.

First thing I have to do is transfer it to a bonsai pot, since it is in a cheapo plastic nursery pot. Is it wrong to remove some of the dozens of branches coming out of the top at that point as well?

as well, any soil recommendations before I proceed??

 

[linlaoboo]

No worries, ficus is the easiest tree to keep but for a beginner you can definately use it to advance your skills or some smaller material to practice on 1st. It's up to you. Now if you just pot it up in a bonsai pot and call it done and do minor trimming and maintenance to it it's all good. Ficus isn't picky about soil but mine are all in bonsai soil with hydite, lava rock mixed with some other types of inorganic aggregates to improve drainage and prevent bugs.

If you have in mind to advance this tree further it's a different story. Are you happy with the nebari and trunk size? Growing it out in a larger, wider pot or in the ground is the quickest way to increase size. Do not do major prunning in this case and only grow in the ground from April to October. From your picture I'd trim off branches that come from the same point or height on the upper trunk, since they cause the tunk to increase thickness at that point and cause reverse taper. The lowest 2 branchs are pretty much set, you'd just need to wire it every so often to keep the new foliage from growing upwards and clip the new growth using clip and grow technique to shorten branchese down to a pair of leaves keeping in mind which direction you want the new buds to form.

keep in mind this is my first ever tree I have read about all these things, and they all appear to be reasonably within my means, yet I have yet to execute even a single cut or prune ever I want to make sure I do things right.

First thing I have to do is transfer it to a bonsai pot, since it is in a cheapo plastic nursery pot. Is it wrong to remove some of the dozens of branches coming out of the top at that point as well?

as well, any soil recommendations before I proceed??

 

[Hoosteady]

Looks so much like a large leaf fukien tea, sans flowers and scale.

Have fun with it, whatever you end up doing! Keep us posted.

 

[RonVachyier]

having a small problem with it. I am about to repot it, but over the last few days, I have noticed that a number of leaves, mostly on the lower two branches, have started turning to a marble yellow and will easily drop off. I have a number of leaves showing a certain amount of transparency, with this marbling look starting to be evident. I am wondering what might be causing this? This tree gets a good amount of light, any tips would be great thanks.

ETA: did a bit of reading and I am leaning towards overwatering. Since most if not all of these marbling leaves are smaller developing leaves and not the fully grown leaves, I am supposing this is the case. Going to ease off the watering for now and see what happens.

 

[Ariadne]

Retusa doesn't like to be moist all the time. Let it dry out some, tho' not fully, before you water it again. Nice tree. Looking forward to see what you do with it. I just acquired an F. retusa myself. Got a fab buy on it and now I think I'm in love. It's about 17" tall, 8" wide at the canopy. Trunk has several inches of gorgeous strangled root at the base. Will post a pic when I've got the imaging process down. Need some suggestions on best way to shape the canopy.

 

[RonVachyier]

From your picture I'd trim off branches that come from the same point or height on the upper trunk, since they cause the tunk to increase thickness at that point and cause reverse taper. The lowest 2 branchs are pretty much set, you'd just need to wire it every so often to keep the new foliage from growing upwards and clip the new growth using clip and grow technique to shorten branchese down to a pair of leaves keeping in mind which direction you want the new buds to form.

you have a good eye with regards to "shorten branches down to a pair of leaves", do you have any reading material/links I could look at to learn these techniques?! It would be helpful for me to develop this tree.

 

[linlaoboo]

Here you go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yy1NLoBjj0

From my experience it's better for the branch to lignify before clipping so the tree will have stored up some energy so when you clip, you'd get more back budding; if back budding is desired.

you have a good eye with regards to "shorten branches down to a pair of leaves", do you have any reading material/links I could look at to learn these techniques?! It would be helpful for me to develop this tree.

 

[RonVachyier]

I am wondering if it is committing suicide the yellowing leaves are still going, and I know I am not over-watering it. Here is a picture. Any tips or comments??



some tiny leaves seem new and growing but a crapload are just marbling yellow and falling off

 

[linlaoboo]

check how much you water, direction of sun, length of exposure, wind draft, fertilizer feeding etc, also rain water is better than tap water.

 

[rockm]

If the plant is indoors, it is adjusting to the new lower light level. It doesn't need all those leaves. The new growth is an indicator that nothing is really "wrong."

Watch the watering...

 

[linlaoboo]

yes the soil looks like garden soil which keeps roots wet for a long time.

 

[RonVachyier]

the soil is "bonsai mix" recommended to me by someone that allegedly grows retusas with it. The mix is sphagnum peat moss, pine bark, vermiculite, perlite, dolomite. I am keeping a good eye on the watering to not get the soil too damp. So far about 60% of the leaves have dropped, but there are tiny buds and leaves growing all over the branches where the leaves dropped, and even in places where there were no branches before. So I am guessing it doesn't like something about its former leaves and is growing new ones now.

 

[tmmason10]

I think it will be fine as long as the soil mix isn't overly water retentive. Ficus are resilient, see my willow leafs thread for a progression, of scary leaf drop.