some pic's of my new ficus

[jw]

hello
I thought I'd post my ficus bonsai.
1st pic...new pot and the original pot.
[url=https://img261.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0076c.jpg][img]https://img261.imageshack.us/img261/53/img0076c.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=https://g.imageshack.us/img261/img0076c.jpg/1/][img]https://img261.imageshack.us/img261/img0076c.jpg/1/w2592.png[/img][/url]

[url=https://img3.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0124w.jpg][img]https://img3.imageshack.us/img3/917/img0124w.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=https://g.imageshack.us/img3/img0124w.jpg/1/][img]https://img3.imageshack.us/img3/img0124w.jpg/1/w2592.png[/img][/url]

[url=https://img509.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0126w.jpg][img]https://img509.imageshack.us/img509/9735/img0126w.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=https://g.imageshack.us/img509/img0126w.jpg/1/][img]https://img509.imageshack.us/img509/img0126w.jpg/1/w2592.png[/img][/url]

[url=https://img256.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0125y.jpg][img]https://img256.imageshack.us/img256/8053/img0125y.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=https://g.imageshack.us/img256/img0125y.jpg/1/][img]https://img256.imageshack.us/img256/img0125y.jpg/1/w2592.png[/img][/url]

a couple of things:
1- what species of ficus is this?
2- by the looks of the tree, when should I start pruning or cutting back the leaves; a few a disproportionately large it seems.

I have no style decided upon as of yet.

I look forwards to any info

thanks
jw

[Gnome]

jw,

1- what species of ficus is this?

It kind of reminds me of Ginseng Ficus (F. microcarpa) but that is just an impression not a positive ID.

2- by the looks of the tree, when should I start pruning or cutting back the leaves; a few a disproportionately large it seems.

Although you have not stated so, I infer that you have recently re-potted this tree. I think I would hold off on any pruning for a while, the tree needs to reestablish itself in the new pot and to do that it will need all of it's resources.

The new pot seems a little on the large side but nothing can cannot be managed with proper watering. You should let the soil approach being dry between watering for Ficus, which don't like soggy soil. Are you familiar with the skewer method of monitoring the soil? Perhaps you would like to read one of our articles.
https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1479

Also this site is of interest to anyone who grows Ficus.
https://www.bonsaihunk.us/cultural.html

Norm

[jw]

Thank you for your response Gnome. It has been a confusing endeavor trying to identify it. You would be quite correct about the re-potting. I had the help of a grower and he made up the soil mixture. He said the roots were small and healthy and over all health of the tree is good.
What I am finding is that the soil is remaining quite moist; I do use the tray as a humidity tray, but I have not had to water the tree since March 17, when it was re-potted. I mist it in the morning and have added water to the tray 3 times now.
On the top there is a new bud coming up, it was grown a lot since I bought it and it continues to do so, I attribute it to good fortune at this point.
I haven't pruned nor cut anything on it yet.... I've wanted to though, so that's a good thing. I was thinking that it might be around a year before I really start to do anything with it.
I have bought a couple of books and read them and searched the net but there is nothing like good ole' people interaction.
I thank you again.
I thought I'd just let you know that I live in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, it is usually pretty dry here humidity wise.

john

[kdodds]

Let me first apologize and say that it is hard not to be critical of this planting. My first impression was, "what the heck is that?" Let me explain. This "tree" is about as far from being a "bonsai" as you can get. It's a stump with a few leaves. Planting it with "scenery" only adds to the "what the?" factor. The pot it is in is WAY too large for it. I don't know, maybe the "grower" had a much larger tree and just chopped it down? This is probably the main reason why the soil is becoming waterlogged, the pot is easily two times to big for the plants, and maybe even worse. As far as styling goes, because of the chop, you really don't have much choice. Uprights are out, cascade or semicascade are out, windswept out, pretty much it's broom or, well, broom. But, to get there, you have an incredible amount of growth and waiting before you. I'd say it's a good two to three years before you can actually do much of anything with it. If you want to save it, I'd try repotting it into a smaller pot before the waterlogging becomes a major problem. And then, well, just wait for it to grow out. Sorry, but there's not a whole lot to be positive about here. The "grower" you purchased this from simply threw a stump in a pot, little better than "mallsai" creations (if at all). In fact, I've seen fields of Ficus (and others) being grown for "mallsai" in row upon row that look exactly like this after being chopped.

[majed]

let it grow for some while,may be three or four years then you will got some idea for it,