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| Hello
I am a complete newbie for bonsai - and plants in general. I've just received a ginseng ficus from a friend who is down-scaling his plant collection. He's not a bonsai expert - but he has a green thumb and the ficus is very healthy. [As far as I can tell] He has it in a soil that has a mixture of dirt/sand/rocks for quick drainage. but it isn't a bonsai mix specifically. Strictly been indoors. I plan to keep it so. I'm wondering about general care - and training. First general care - I know it likes a lot of light - and will be placing it on an Eastern window sill after I move to a new home. I know to water it when the top of the soil gets dry - checking daily. Should that cover it? Training - I'm not trying to do something super exotic. I just want to get a trunk to grow up out of the roots -pretty much straight up - and have it look like a little tree as best I can. The gnarly roots will serve to make it look unworldly enough for my first bonsai. Like here: http://216.71.152.51/cgi-bonsaiboy/sb/productsearch.cgi
I don't have access to my camera- but made fairly accurate sketch to show its development. Link is below: http://new.photos.yahoo.com/album?c=hcsdog&aid=576460762400965323&pid= &wtok=sklyxb3XOGbE7BS1aVyFbQ--&ts=1178729638&.src=ph Specs:
Did a quick count, and there are about 6 brown branches growing from trunk area. Plus 2 new green ones. There are 30-35 leaves total. I think I need to start trimming to get tree effect.(?) But I have no idea how much to trim, or which branches i should select to keep. Or how to encourage to tiny trunk to look, well, trunky.
Also - its in a pot about 6" in diameter, 4" high |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| You have had most of these answered and discussed on another forum... and the answers were pretty good I thought. |
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| I can tell you from experience, you won't be able to affect much change. It seems that once they are whacked to the trunk right above the bulbous root, it doesn't really get any taller. I have had mine for a year and a half and it is the same size - no upward growth, just branches coming from the apex of the trunk. There are things you can do to get a bushier top and that is about all you can do. You might try to find a book on basic bonsai or bonsai for beginners. There are leaf pruning techniques that will cause it to branch out more on top. Good luck. What ever you do with your soil, you want a 50/50 mix between organic and inorganic. Your inorganic will be in the form of grit (decomposing granite, irregularly shaped pebbles, fired clay, etc.). You should use between a 2mm and 5mm sized grit and whatever organic you're going to use. If you root prune when you pot up, don't fertilize for about five or six weeks, then, fertilize with house plant fert. once every two weeks. Good luck. |
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| Thank you for the info. Lucy 5 - that wasn't me posting previously. but if you remember where the post was, I'll take a look. If tanyag is correct - then I guess I'll enjoy my ficus bush. hopefully over the course of the next 5-10 years it will develop a better trunk, and I can bonsai it. Either way it looks nice as it is as a plant. I'm going to try to bonsai buckthorn. We've got a ton of it in our yard that my girlfriend is trying to purge. So I have lots of stock to experiment with. |
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- Posted by BonsaiGinseng none (My Page) on Sun, May 6, 12 at 19:18
| i think the ficus ginseng is one of those plants that once lopped off at the base, its pretty tough to increase its size. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Bonsai Ginseng Blog
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