New to Bonsa . Need help ID'ing!

[sorce]

So my pot has one hole on bottom. That should do for drainage as far as that goes correct? And i might do the napa 8822. But do i NEED to mix or just by itself is ok?

I have one of those in sifted 8822and pine fines from the depot....
Pine fines make it dry out way quicker....

Mine is kept inside a foot below fluorescents....and I water about every third day to keep it .....well....as happy as this POS can get.

Sift the dust out of your 8822.
You can also sift it the next grade higher for better results.....but you have to take the dust out.

I wouldn't put it outside until we don't see 50 again.

Sorce

 

[sorce]

Oh...and mine is

Ficus Ginseng Retusa Tiger growl variation...
Wal-Mart!

Oh yeah....it's not "mine" anymore!

Sorce

 

[markyscott]

I have one of those in sifted 8822and pine fines from the depot....
Pine fines make it dry out way quicker....

Mine is kept inside a foot below fluorescents....and I water about every third day to keep it .....well....as happy as this POS can get.

Sift the dust out of your 8822.
You can also sift it the next grade higher for better results.....but you have to take the dust out.

I wouldn't put it outside until we don't see 50 again.

Sorce

It's your choice, but in my opinion it is no problem to put it outside. Retusa is a semi-tropical. It can tolerate temperatures into the 30's and even brief freezes to 30 or so if it's protected from the wind. I pull mine out of the greenhouse as soon as we're past the last frost. (Early March, here in Houston). They see lots of weather like your having in Indiana now. It's no problem.

 

[Braxton Campbell]

UPDATE: I have moved it outside on a table with a lot of sunlight. Im going to buy 8822 now.

The soil that is currently in it is still pretty damp from the store, when should I water this? Im going to mist it later.

As far as repotting goes.. I should just keep the soil it has in it now until july-ish then exchange for the 8822 or should I do this ASAP?

Sorry for all the questioms but you guys have been of tremendous help to me! Thank you all tons!

 

[eferguson1974]

Read about parched water in soil, so you understand why free draining soil is so important in little pots.
You might want to plant it in a colander to grow good strong roots. Theres lots of info here to read the pros and cons of colanders. I personaly like them and use them. They air prune the roots instead of growing around the pot. And they develope finer, more "branchy" roots.
Read, read, then read more if you really want to learn about bonsai. Welcome to the forum and your new addiction. Bring thick skin and a strange sence of humor!

 

[M. Frary]

Sift the dust out of your 8822.

I've heard of people doing that.

 

[Alain]

UPDATE: I have moved it outside on a table with a lot of sunlight. Im going to buy 8822 now.

The soil that is currently in it is still pretty damp from the store, when should I water this? Im going to mist it later.

As far as repotting goes.. I should just keep the soil it has in it now until july-ish then exchange for the 8822 or should I do this ASAP?

Sorry for all the questioms but you guys have been of tremendous help to me! Thank you all tons!

I'm pretty sure you will be able to re-pot before July, hopefully at least, if Spring actually decides to show up.
As soon as the T stays steady around 60 at night it should be good.
So you keep it like that (but remove the glued on gravels if it's not already done) until you re-pot in your new soil.

For the watering: wait until the soil becomes dry-ish and water (you could use a toothpick to check the humidity, plant the toothpick in the soil and check if it's humid or not and how deep).

And essentially: don't freak out too much.
Those ficus are really though and yours survived the Lowes conditions (ie. mass production, shipping from SE Asia in big containers, storage in warehouses, truck trip to the retailer, unloading display and aftercare done by a Lowes employee that most certainly knows f..all about bonsai etc...) and it's still alive, everything will be fine

 

[Braxton Campbell]

Update #2. Took out all the mossy crap and trimmed some of the branches to shape it how I wanted. I misted it a little bit. Thanks all for your help. I really appreciate it