Is my Ficus suffering from root/trunk rot?

[tokamoon]

I received this Ficus about 4 months ago from brussel's bonsai. I noticed the trunk started looking brown/wet over the last 2 months. Any ideas what I should do or if this is normal? Thanks!

 

[DonovanC]

Looks like you are watering a bit too frequently. Keep an eye on the soil. Only water it when the soil is dry at the surface. Dig your finger in half a cm and if it’s damp, leave it alone.
this tree will needs some drying out time.
Where are you located? Is it possible to put the tree outdoors?

 

[sorce]

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce

 

[tokamoon]

Looks like you are watering a bit too frequently. Keep an eye on the soil. Only water it when the soil is dry at the surface. Dig your finger in half a cm and if it’s damp, leave it alone.
this tree will needs some drying out time.
Where are you located? Is it possible to put the tree outdoors?

Thanks for the tip! I live in Southern California. I placed it outside in indirect sunlight for the meanwhile

 

[DonovanC]

Thanks for the tip! I live in Southern California. I placed it outside in indirect sunlight for the meanwhile

Good on ya
As long as there is no frost (Temps below 40°f), the tree will be most happy outdoors. I assume you don’t have too many frosty days, so your tree will be happiest out there most of the year.
switching to the outdoors you may start to have the opposite problem, you may need to increase your watering. Just check multiple times a day, if the soil is dry give it some water - if not let it be. The tree will also enjoy some misting throughout the day when it’s hot.
Also, your tree looks fine to me, I don’t think you have root rot.
A pic of the full tree would be cool!

 

[Maiden69]

Ficus love the sun, although they are advertised as indoor bonsai. If you can manage the watering, I would place it on direct sun light. Also, the soil that all this mall-sai vendors use is straight bark-peat moss that waterlogs easily, the first thing I have done to the few ficus I bought from stores is remove the soil entirely. You can repot ficus in summer, just keep it under indirect sunlight for a couple of weeks. I will be repotting mine next week.

As Donovan mentioned, the main thing with them (as any tropical tree) is to keep them away from cold temperatures. Anything below 40 can damage the tree.