Bonsai from ikea. Am I doing it right?

[regularbonsai]

Hi all, I have a bonsai that I got from ikea however I’m not sure how to look after it properly. I have it next to a semi opaque window (frosted glass) and I live in the UK. I water it when the soil gets dry which at the moment in the current heat takes 1/2 days. I make sure there is little water in the bottom of the pot but I don’t know if this is right. There is like green stuff on the dirt and some sort of what looks to be a weed coming out of it too. The leaves look okay however a couple have small black bits on. Could anyone give me some advice please? Thanks, I have attached pictures.

 

[JeffCrawford673]

The weeds should be fine as long as they don't get out of control, in my opinion at least, it is probably for the best that you pluck them tho. They can often clog up the top of the pot or they can interwind with the rest of the bonsai's roots. And that green stuff, if it is not real moss, I HIGHLY recommend removing it. If you wish, you could even replace it with moss you find on the side of the road.

You can keep it inside for the majority of the time, that is due to it being what looks like a Ficus retusa (correct me if I am wrong.) Although I do recommend putting it outside often, you will see the difference in how well it acts outdoors.

If you do keep it outside often, then when it becomes winter, it is nearly essential that you bring it indoors.

The leaves look fine to me, but if you do notice any pests or molding on the leaves, you should put it outside and get a safe, natural pesticide to put on the leaves if it is overwhelmingly infested.

Good luck with it!!

 

[Forsoothe!]

Pull the weeds, they serve no purpose. The green is a algae that is common in greenhouse plants and will fade to nothing. Don't put outdoor found moss on a houseplant, it won't last and will become a mush indoors. Outdoors it looks great, but keep it off the bark of the trunk and top of exposed roots. The black bits could be leaf bracts that dry up and fall off of new buds as they begin to open. perfectly normal.

How long have you had it? It looks to be pretty happy right now. You need to give us more info on your living conditions and preferences for the plant. The plant is as big on top as it will get in that container. If uses all the water in one day, that says it needs a bigger container. How big do you want it to get? Do you have a place to grow it outdoors in summer? If you grow it outdoors it will need some root space to grow with all that entails, you need to say whether you want a houseplant year-around or want a plant that cycles between house & yard/patio/whatever.

 

[regularbonsai]

Pull the weeds, they serve no purpose. The green is a algae that is common in greenhouse plants and will fade to nothing. Don't put outdoor found moss on a houseplant, it won't last and will become a mush indoors. Outdoors it looks great, but keep it off the bark of the trunk and top of exposed roots. The black bits could be leaf bracts that dry up and fall off of new buds as they begin to open. perfectly normal.

How long have you had it? It looks to be pretty happy right now. You need to give us more info on your living conditions and preferences for the plant. The plant is as big on top as it will get in that container. If uses all the water in one day, that says it needs a bigger container. How big do you want it to get? Do you have a place to grow it outdoors in summer? If you grow it outdoors it will need some root space to grow with all that entails, you need to say whether you want a houseplant year-around or want a plant that cycles between house & yard/patio/whatever.

The plant isn’t actually mine, someone bought it but they don’t live in the UK so I am sort of looking after it until all of this corona stuff is over. The only thing I’m trying to do is keep it alive haha. I have put a picture of the black bits below

 

[Maw]

I think the black bits are leaves then have been bend or broken! Mine get them sometimes as wel! Nothing to worry about

 

[sorce]

Welcome to Crazy!

Did you have to assemble it?

As long as you didn't lose the hex key you're doing fine!

Sorce

 

[canoeguide]

...that is due to it being what looks like a Ficus retusa (correct me if I am wrong.)

According to Jerry Meislik, who is, as far as I can tell, the foremost expert on Ficus as bonsai, there is a species named Ficus retusa, and this ain't it. In fact, nothing being commonly used for bonsai should be called that, if we're trying to be correct, and we should be. This is a Ficus microcarpa. The bulbous bottom part is whatever variety of F. microcarpa that it is (who knows). The top, grafted on part, is likely the variety of F. microcarpa called "green island".

@regularbonsai If you're interested in the best book on ficus bonsai, this is it: https://www.amazon.com/World-Ficus-Bonsai-Jerry-Meislik/dp/152553288X

 

[Forsoothe!]

God only knows how many varietals there are of microcarpa, but that ain't Green Island. Green Island has rounded leaves...

and Green Mound is very slightly elongated...

That makes it closest to Green Mound, a relatively new name for Green Island varietals that have a less-rounded, elongated leaf.