This is my ginseng ficus named Benji. I'm lost on what to do for him and kinda need some solid direction.

[Oddly_Aude]

Hi! I'm so glad to have found this website! This is Benji, my Ginseng Ficus. He my first "bonsai", I've had him for 3-4 years and he's my best buddy. I got him at Walmart on clearance. I felt bad for him because he's so... crass. And I figured no one would want a terribly crass ficus.

His wiring is terrible, he keeps growing scraggly, and I know he's in neither the right pot or right soil.

I've ordered more wire, trimmed the scraggly twigs from him, and am planning to rewire him if I can figure out what to do with him. I also upgraded his light to an actual good light.

I ordered some bonsai soil yesterday and I need an actual bonsai pot for him.

He's not like dying, he's thriving in spite of my love and care. I know he might never be a real bonsai, but I'd like to keep him around and use him as my guinea pig.

Any solid advice is welcome! I know I can't do everything at once, though at the rate this is going, I'm pretty sure he's hardy enough to survive an atomic bomb much less my meager attempts at bonsai.

I'm taking the wire off today, next step is repotting? In a while? Thoughts? Thank you in advance!

Ok the meantime, I'm enjoying the hobby. I ordered some new trees and some arrive tomorrow. All tropical, so they'll be spending a lot of time indoors with me.

 

[Carol 83]

Welcome to the forum! Getting some better soil and a shallower pot are good ideas, although it's best to repot tropical's in the summer when they're growing well. It's doing OK, so I would wait. The wire isn't really doing anything, might as well remove it. If you like those big tubers, by all means keep them. If not, you can chop them off and put it back in the pot and it will most likely be fine, also in the summer. I'm surprised to hear you're receiving tropical's in the mail this time of year. Just curious, where are they being shipped from?

 

[Shibui]

he keeps growing scraggly,

This is usually the result of not enough light or not enough pruning. I'm guessing light is the limiting factor here. Hopefully the new light is some sort of plant grow light to provide plant friendly spectrum.
Nutrient deficiency can also produce thin new shoots. Have you provided fertiliser? What sort and how often?

Agree on summer growing season for repotting though if it is growing well and/or you don't remove many roots any time is OK though not ideal.
As it is doing OK in the current pot I'd defer repotting and concentrate on getting the tree stronger. Weak plants don't recover easily from stress like repotting.

 

[Oddly_Aude]

Welcome to the forum! Getting some better soil and a shallower pot are good ideas, although it's best to repot tropical's in the summer when they're growing well. It's doing OK, so I would wait. The wire isn't really doing anything, might as well remove it. If you like those big tubers, by all means keep them. If not, you can chop them off and put it back in the pot and it will most likely be fine, also in the summer. I'm surprised to hear you're receiving tropical's in the mail this time of year. Just curious, where are they being shipped from?

Thanks! I feel like the tubers give him character, so I think I'll keep them.

I'm getting them from wigerts nursery in Florida. The temperatures have been pretty cold there lately and I added a heating pack.

I know it wasn't very smart of me to do, but I figure a lesson will be learned.

I'll remove the wire today! Thanks!

 

[Oddly_Aude]

This is usually the result of not enough light or not enough pruning. I'm guessing light is the limiting factor here. Hopefully the new light is some sort of plant grow light to provide plant friendly spectrum.
Nutrient deficiency can also produce thin new shoots. Have you provided fertiliser? What sort and how often?

Agree on summer growing season for repotting though if it is growing well and/or you don't remove many roots any time is OK though not ideal.
As it is doing OK in the current pot I'd defer repotting and concentrate on getting the tree stronger. Weak plants don't recover easily from stress like repotting.

It is! The light worked super well on succulents when I had them.

I also use kelp fertilizer, is there a better fertilizer I can use?

 

[Carol 83]

I'm getting them from wigerts nursery in Florida. The temperatures have been pretty cold there lately and I added a heating pack.

Excellent choice, I love Wigert's. They wouldn't ship it if they thought it was too dangerous.

 

[Oddly_Aude]

Excellent choice, I love Wigert's. They wouldn't ship it if they thought it was too dangerous.

That's a relief to hear. They seem great, but it's reassuring to hear other people like them too!

 

[Shibui]

I also use kelp fertilizer, is there a better fertilizer I can use?

Kelp fertiliser is great for trace elements but has low amounts of NPK which are vital to plant growth. Actual amounts of nutrients also very variable depending on where the kelp came from, what time of year and how it was processed.
Down here, Kelp is marketed as 'soil conditioner' because the makers cannot provide a realistic nutrient analysis so it cannot be legally called 'fertiliser'.

Not sure what is available in your region. Anything that is labelled as 'fertiliser' will be good for growth. The name and label don't matter because Benji has never learned to read. All it is interested in is the nutrients. Use whatever is convenient. I guess for indoor plants you'll also want something that does not smell bad. I prefer liquid fert but also use controlled release mixed into the soil - something like 'Osmocote' but there are several competing brands of controlled release now.

 

[Oddly_Aude]

Thank you so much! I didn't know that!

 

[TimIAm]

Others have made good suggestions for getting your tree to grow healthy. With styling, getting your tree growing well is def first priority, but once you start getting healthy growth the main thing I suggest you work on is selecting a leader and then begin selecting which branches you want to grow. At the moment all of the branches are coming out radially from the same level on the tree, which is something you want to move away from. Even with banyan style trees it doesn't look nice if all of the main branches come out from the main trunk in the same place.

As the tree starts putting on new growth, I would clean up the stump at the top and select a new leader to grow out and then build branching from that.

Search around here and on the net for other examples of ficus bonsai, find something you like and study how the branches are at different levels (also avoiding branches that are directly parallel / above another branch).

One thing helpful in growing a pleasing looking tree is having a design to work towards as you will feel you are progressing in a direction.

 

[Oddly_Aude]

Others have made good suggestions for getting your tree to grow healthy. With styling, getting your tree growing well is def first priority, but once you start getting healthy growth the main thing I suggest you work on is selecting a leader and then begin selecting which branches you want to grow. At the moment all of the branches are coming out radially from the same level on the tree, which is something you want to move away from. Even with banyan style trees it doesn't look nice if all of the main branches come out from the main trunk in the same place.

As the tree starts putting on new growth, I would clean up the stump at the top and select a new leader to grow out and then build branching from that.

Search around here and on the net for other examples of ficus bonsai, find something you like and study how the branches are at different levels (also avoiding branches that are directly parallel / above another branch).

One thing helpful in growing a pleasing looking tree is having a design to work towards as you will feel you are progressing in a direction.

This is super helpful! I really appreciate the concise directions. I'm printing this out so I can reference it later!

I really really appreciate it!