New Wigerts Tiger Bark PreBonsai.....I could use some help!

[boss99er]

Hi all! This is my first post here. I've recently taken up learning about bonsai, and ordered myself a thick trunk Tiger Bark from Wigert's. I'm having trouble deciding a front, as well as a general direction to go in for shaping, especially in dealing with the thick upright branch in the middle and the odd protrusion off to the side, as seen in the pics.

I'm also curious, those of you that have ordered from Wigerts, did you repot right away into inorganic soil, or did you leave it in this organic soil for a bit? I've done a little bit of super light trimming since taking these pics, mostly just removing dead material, obvious crossing and inward growing branches, and general light thinning out.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[BrianBay9]

First piece of advice is to add your general location to your profile. You'll get better advice. Do you have space outdoors for your tree? Is it warm enough where you live to keep it outside year round? Only spring and summer? Or do you intend to keep it inside permanently?

 

[boss99er]

First piece of advice is to add your general location to your profile. You'll get better advice. Do you have space outdoors for your tree? Is it warm enough where you live to keep it outside year round? Only spring and summer? Or do you intend to keep it inside permanently?

Done! Located in Nebraska, zone 6A.

The plan is to keep it outside all spring, summer, early fall and then keep inside by large windows over winter.

 

[BrianBay9]

Wait until your area is past risk of frost to take it outside. Don't be surprised if it decides to drop some leaves when you do. They'll often do that when you significantly change the light they receive. Ficus are best worked on during warm weather, so maybe wait until around June to do much. I can't tell from your pics what kind of soil it's in. You want it to be freely draining. If water pools up on the top or runs off you might want to think about changing it out for something more granular.

The tree looks healthy. You've got a nice thick trunk, but some styling challenges. Ask yourself what you like about it. What do you want to keep? Emphasize? Do you like those two aerial roots or want to eliminate them?

 

[boss99er]

Wait until your area is past risk of frost to take it outside. Don't be surprised if it decides to drop some leaves when you do. They'll often do that when you significantly change the light they receive. Ficus are best worked on during warm weather, so maybe wait until around June to do much. I can't tell from your pics what kind of soil it's in. You want it to be freely draining. If water pools up on the top or runs off you might want to think about changing it out for something more granular.

The tree looks healthy. You've got a nice thick trunk, but some styling challenges. Ask yourself what you like about it. What do you want to keep? Emphasize? Do you like those two aerial roots or want to eliminate them?

I like the aerial roots, but I think they may end up being more of a hindrance than a benefit.

The knob like growth on the one side of the trunk is my biggest styling challenge….at least in my opinion. I’m worried about doing a major cut to get rid of that.

The soil it’s currently in is very much an organic potting soil. It’s very compact and doesn’t really drain very well. I’m assuming I should get it out of that asap? Maybe do that before anything else? Do I still leave it in a larger pot though? I don’t know that it’s ready for a bonsai pot yet, this early on in its development. Thoughts on that?

As for general direction. I really enjoy the ficus in my profile pic. I’d like to work my way toward something similar to that. Would that be an informal upright style? For that, I believe I should also start wiring down some limbs. I’m just not super sure about the order of operations. Still learning a lot!

 

[BrianBay9]

Yes, step one would be getting into better soil. And you probably don't need a pot that deep, but more soil = more roots = develops faster. You can certainly cut that knob out of the trunk. If you're going for an image like your profile pic those aerial roots would have to go. Once the base and trunk are on their way you can start bringing the top down. Once healthy, outside, in good soil, hard pruning will result in lots of back budding to choose from. You can take whatever you cut off and stick it in a pot. Most likely many starts will sprout out and you'll have a forest of starters to play with.

 

[Carol 83]

Most of my tropical's are from Wigert's. It will be fine in that soil until you repot it in the summer, which is the best for them. Just don't keep the soil soggy.

 

[boss99er]

Most of my tropical's are from Wigert's. It will be fine in that soil until you repot it in the summer, which is the best for them. Just don't keep the soil soggy.

Ah cool, that makes sense. I’m used to using a moisture probe on all of our regular house plants, so I’ll be able to keep it watered but not soaked.

 

[boss99er]

Yes, step one would be getting into better soil. And you probably don't need a pot that deep, but more soil = more roots = develops faster. You can certainly cut that knob out of the trunk. If you're going for an image like your profile pic those aerial roots would have to go. Once the base and trunk are on their way you can start bringing the top down. Once healthy, outside, in good soil, hard pruning will result in lots of back budding to choose from. You can take whatever you cut off and stick it in a pot. Most likely many starts will sprout out and you'll have a forest of starters to play with.

I plan to keep it in a pretty big pot for the time being. Keep the vitality and ability to recover from big changes a little quicker. Ha ha, I'm nervous about cutting that knob off the trunk. Not sure why, I'm just worried about botching it. I'll need some wound putty for a cut like that though, right?

Yeah, at first I liked the look of the aerial roots, but I think they just end up providing more of a styling challenge that doesn't fit where I'm hoping to go. I've also considered the fact that maybe this specific tree isn't the best for what I'm going for. If that's the case, I'm not sure what else to do with this specific tree. If you owned my tree, what approach would you take? Just brainstorming.

I've already trimmed off a few dead and blatantly unneeded branches, and a few of the branches I cut off I've put into soil to see if they root. Hopefully I haven't started light pruning too early. It's been warm during the day here, but pretty cold still at night, so for not it stays in a south window.