phillllll6
Seedling
Hi all!
This is my first post about my first bonsai on a forum that has already been very helpful and inspirational. I got this ficus benjamina pretty much as is 8 months ago. I liked it because it has a nice 2 inch trunk. I am planning on changing its shape for an umbrella & make it grow aerial roots. That would mean cutting right above the 2 lower opposed branches, and getting rid of this big lump of crossing trunks with scars high up.
It was in this pot when I got it and I believe had been there for at least 2 years before that. The big scars, chops covered with brown putty and wire marks were all made by the previous owner. I have since started correcting some of those huge scars that are making huge bulges when healing, that's the green & white paste marks. It gets fertilized with 12-10-11 bonsai fertilizer every 2 weeks in the summer and 4 weeks in winter.
It was doing ok since I got it, growing but not very quickly. Then this winter I went away for 5 weeks. I had set a watering rig with a timer. He still looked fine when I came back, but then lost about 40% of its leaves 2 weeks later in early February. I realized it had not been watered enough, and probably since long before it became under my care. I have since started soaking it every 2 weeks (when the soil in the bottom is dry), and it gets watered once or twice in between when the soil is dry to touch 1 inch from the top.
2 months have now passed since I started watering it enough, and while a lot of leaves have developed back, I still find that lots have not come back. Many branches became bare when it lost its leaves, so theses have dried out. Many of the new leaves are the pales ones, some buds dry out before they open, and the branches certainly don't grow longer at this time.
So right now I am uncertain what to do to help this tree, and be certain that it will survive if I chop it to make the umbrella shape.
- Does it have too many scars to heal before it can grow well?
- Am I just impatient?
- Is it just too soon in the season (since losing leaves in the winter)
- Should I repot it, or even put it in a bigger pot with soil for a while?
Any advice & opinion is welcome, thanks!
This is my first post about my first bonsai on a forum that has already been very helpful and inspirational. I got this ficus benjamina pretty much as is 8 months ago. I liked it because it has a nice 2 inch trunk. I am planning on changing its shape for an umbrella & make it grow aerial roots. That would mean cutting right above the 2 lower opposed branches, and getting rid of this big lump of crossing trunks with scars high up.
It was in this pot when I got it and I believe had been there for at least 2 years before that. The big scars, chops covered with brown putty and wire marks were all made by the previous owner. I have since started correcting some of those huge scars that are making huge bulges when healing, that's the green & white paste marks. It gets fertilized with 12-10-11 bonsai fertilizer every 2 weeks in the summer and 4 weeks in winter.
It was doing ok since I got it, growing but not very quickly. Then this winter I went away for 5 weeks. I had set a watering rig with a timer. He still looked fine when I came back, but then lost about 40% of its leaves 2 weeks later in early February. I realized it had not been watered enough, and probably since long before it became under my care. I have since started soaking it every 2 weeks (when the soil in the bottom is dry), and it gets watered once or twice in between when the soil is dry to touch 1 inch from the top.
2 months have now passed since I started watering it enough, and while a lot of leaves have developed back, I still find that lots have not come back. Many branches became bare when it lost its leaves, so theses have dried out. Many of the new leaves are the pales ones, some buds dry out before they open, and the branches certainly don't grow longer at this time.
So right now I am uncertain what to do to help this tree, and be certain that it will survive if I chop it to make the umbrella shape.
- Does it have too many scars to heal before it can grow well?
- Am I just impatient?
- Is it just too soon in the season (since losing leaves in the winter)
- Should I repot it, or even put it in a bigger pot with soil for a while?
Any advice & opinion is welcome, thanks!
