Ficus Bonsai Rescue

13 years ago

I rescued this ficus bonsai from someone who has had it for 15 years, but had neglected it recently. It desperately needs to be repotted and most of the foliage is gone. My question is, do I dare root prune and re-pot it now or try to nurse it through to spring? It's pretty sad looking, but on close inspection I do see some new buds forming. I'm still very new to Bonsai and I'd hate to kill it. It's currently out doors in a screen porch under flourscent grow lights. I will be switching it to indoor under lights soon as the nights are cooling off rapidly here.

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Comments (3)

tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
13 years ago
I wouldn't repot it now (unless you have good supplemental lighting & a warm spot), but I would scrap the bonsai pot (or use one considerably larger) and pot up. The tree is already seriously stressed and going into winter in a weakened state, so it won't tolerate a lot of work. Hopefully, with good light and warm temperatures, you can coax it through the winter and get it outdoors in the early summer so it can store a little energy and be able to tolerate root work in Jun and you can start chasing foliage back closer to the trunk in Jul/Aug.

Flush the soil thoroughly several times to ensure soluble salt levels are slow. If you're worried about root rot, set the plant on newspaper for a few hours after you flush the soil. Add a wick to the new pot to help the soil drain (ask, if you don't understand). Tilt the pot at a 45* angle after you water to help drain excess water from the soil. Fertilize with Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 or another soluble fertilizer in the 3:1:2 ratio. 24-8-16 and 12-4-8 are other examples of 3:1:2 ratios. How often and at what rate you should fertilize depends on several factors. How well your soil drains, how robustly the plant is growing, and your watering habits are key elements. W/o some knowledge of these factors, there's no way to offer concrete advice and be sure it's favorable.

You might want to inspect very carefully for insects and make SURE it's free of pests. Especially in a weakened state, indoor conditions will usually allow pest numbers to multiply much faster than when the plant is outdoors and under a careful watch by predators usually in short supply indoors.

Al
larke
13 years ago
And please don't use peaty 'potting soil'.
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planecrazy29
Original Author
13 years ago
I moved this to a larger pot this evening. Most of the roots are gone, I removed the compacted soil and added Hoffman's Bonsai soil in the new larger pot. We'll see how it goes. I could also put a seed germination pad under it to heat to roots if that could help. I'll look to see what fertilizers I have. Not sure if I have anything like you say to use. I am sure that I would not use it at full strength. Thanks for the replies!