Advice for new bonsai

[Chriscenzo21]

Hi all - I'm very new to bonsai (bought my first Tiger Bark Ficus only a few days ago) and have some general questions about it. Any advice on how much pruning should be done now heading into the winter or would I be better off waiting until late March? I'd also like to defoliate and attempt to grow smaller leaves but not sure this is the best time for that. Also, I plan to keep it in an east facing window throughout the winter until I can move it outside but was wondering if I would need some sort of grow light setup to get it through the winter?

Any other advice about styling or shaping would be a great help. Thanks in advance!

 

[Lorax7]

Hi all - I'm very new to bonsai (bought my first Tiger Bark Ficus only a few days ago) and have some general questions about it. Any advice on how much pruning should be done now heading into the winter or would I be better off waiting until late March? I'd also like to defoliate and attempt to grow smaller leaves but not sure this is the best time for that. Also, I plan to keep it in an east facing window throughout the winter until I can move it outside but was wondering if I would need some sort of grow light setup to get it through the winter?

Any other advice about styling or shaping would be a great help. Thanks in advance!
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If it was mine, I’d wait until mid summer to prune it. Winter is the most difficult time for the tree, even if you have grow lights. Prune the tree when it’s strong and has time to recover before the next hardship.

I would, however, partially defoliate upon bringing the tree indoors for the winter. This can be done by cutting through each individual leaf with scissors, leaving just a small amount of the leaf’s surface area remaining (to provide some photosynthesis while waiting for the replacement leaves to grow). Cutting the leaves stimulates the tree to push out a new set of leaves, which will be adapted to the changed lighting conditions. Many tropicals will naturally drop their leaves and grow new ones in response to a change of environmental conditions, but it takes them a while to respond on their own. Cutting leaves makes them respond a bit faster.

 

[BubblePopScott]

welcome, hope you enjoy your bonsai

 

[BonsaiNaga13]

Hi all - I'm very new to bonsai (bought my first Tiger Bark Ficus only a few days ago) and have some general questions about it. Any advice on how much pruning should be done now heading into the winter or would I be better off waiting until late March? I'd also like to defoliate and attempt to grow smaller leaves but not sure this is the best time for that. Also, I plan to keep it in an east facing window throughout the winter until I can move it outside but was wondering if I would need some sort of grow light setup to get it through the winter?

Any other advice about styling or shaping would be a great help. Thanks in advance!
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I'd let it grow freely for a while and put on some size and focus on keeping it happy an healthy for now. Defoliation should only be done on strong refined trees

 

[Chriscenzo21]

Thanks for the advice! Would grow lights be recommended to let it continue to grow freely or not really necessary to get it through the winter?

 

[Lorax7]

Thanks for the advice! Would grow lights be recommended to let it continue to grow freely or not really necessary to get it through the winter?

Lights are desirable, but not necessary for a tiger bark ficus. I wintered mine by an east facing window last year and am doing the same this year. However, it’s best to keep it outside during spring/summer/fall when temperatures are consistently above 50 Fahrenheit to maintain the vigor of the tree with natural sunshine and humidity.

 

[Chriscenzo21]

Lights are desirable, but not necessary for a tiger bark ficus. I wintered mine by an east facing window last year and am doing the same this year. However, it’s best to keep it outside during spring/summer/fall when temperatures are consistently above 50 Fahrenheit to maintain the vigor of the tree with natural sunshine and humidity.

Thanks for the response! Ok, maybe I will do this as well and see how it goes. Just trying my best to prevent killing my first tree!