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Bonsai Boy
- Full Member
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Sat Aug 15, 2009 10:09 am
Starting from scratch
I am looking to make a bonsai to keep indoors and I want to start from scratch and I need some help doing so. I am in college and I have little money and no where to get supplies. but will someone help me?
Ficuses make great indoor beginner bonsai. They are also relatively cheap. They grow year round (thought they grow much more in the spring and summer when they can be outside) and deal well with pruning. To get a nice one would be out of your price range, but you can buy a mass produced one for pretty cheap. You can buy them online or I've even seen some at Wal-Mart for 10 bucks. Personally mine was a gift and came from Sam's Club. One thing to remember with mass produced bonsai is they all come with poor soil. This is an easy fix, you just re-pot it in a better mix. A good mix should be about 1/2 to 3/4 inorganic (fired clay, lava rock, coarse sand etc.) and the rest coarse organic like pine bark or wood chips. I would do it after the tree has had some time to settle in. Also, a tree is going to need a bit more light than the average houseplant. A sunny, preferably east or southeast facing window, or a grow lamp would work for a ficus. Also, for indoor growing a humidity tray and water spraying. Other indoor options are Schefflera Arboricola or Fukien Tea (carmna microphylla).
I'm also a college grower, here's the set-up I had last year for my ficus.
[img]https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v144/JTsoccer59/BonsaiRecovery007-1.jpg[/img]
(The defoliation is due to too much stress to the tree, be careful about making too many changes, you might end up having your tree suffer the same problem I did. Fortunately, mine bounced back wonderfully)
Here's some links to plant profiles:
https://www.bonsaigardener.org/hawaiian-ubrella-bonsai.html
https://www.bonsaigardener.org/fukien-tea-bonsai.html
https://www.bonsaigardener.org/ficus.html
I'm also a college grower, here's the set-up I had last year for my ficus.
[img]https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v144/JTsoccer59/BonsaiRecovery007-1.jpg[/img]
(The defoliation is due to too much stress to the tree, be careful about making too many changes, you might end up having your tree suffer the same problem I did. Fortunately, mine bounced back wonderfully)
Here's some links to plant profiles:
https://www.bonsaigardener.org/hawaiian-ubrella-bonsai.html
https://www.bonsaigardener.org/fukien-tea-bonsai.html
https://www.bonsaigardener.org/ficus.html
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Bonsai Boy
- Full Member
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Sat Aug 15, 2009 10:09 am
I've had a Ficus Ginseng since July 08 and it's great for indoors. It has flourished with very little maintenance. I gave it an instant repot after about a week of placing it then cut it back a lot in late August.
In April of this year I gave it another cutback and wired some of the branches and it's still going strong.
Cuttings have also been relatively easy as well. I have two cuttings right now, one of which was about an inch and a half with three leaves on it that has since sprouted nicely and shot up to almost 6 inches since May! The second cutting had only one leaf on it and wasn't as green of a branch but it finally popped and is also dong well.
In April of this year I gave it another cutback and wired some of the branches and it's still going strong.
Cuttings have also been relatively easy as well. I have two cuttings right now, one of which was about an inch and a half with three leaves on it that has since sprouted nicely and shot up to almost 6 inches since May! The second cutting had only one leaf on it and wasn't as green of a branch but it finally popped and is also dong well.
There is a huge list of indoorable plants one can use as bonsai. I would recommend any of the following: Polyscias spp., dracaena spp., Begonia spp., Coffea spp., Dizygoethica 'Castor', as well as Jades, Tamarinds, and some cycads (mostly of the genus Zamia). Some species of philodendrons could also be used, if they become woody, such as in philodendron bipennifolium (or better yet, Philodendron grazielae).
For your cuttings, what time of year did you do it and what type of cuttings did you use? I've been having a lot of trouble getting anything to root. I've tried different species, keeping them very humid, different mediums, rooting hormone and still nothing. what exactly did you do becuase I would really like to root some of the cuttings from my ficus as well.manIK wrote:I've had a Ficus Ginseng since July 08 and it's great for indoors. It has flourished with very little maintenance. I gave it an instant repot after about a week of placing it then cut it back a lot in late August.
In April of this year I gave it another cutback and wired some of the branches and it's still going strong.
Cuttings have also been relatively easy as well. I have two cuttings right now, one of which was about an inch and a half with three leaves on it that has since sprouted nicely and shot up to almost 6 inches since May! The second cutting had only one leaf on it and wasn't as green of a branch but it finally popped and is also dong well.[/I]).
P.S. I take back what I said about getting a ficus from wal mart. I took a better look at them the other day and they don't look like anything that could one day be a respectable bonsai, even if left to grow out.
I'm not sure what to tell you.
The cuttings I have now were cut in April as part of a cutback. I placed the only one I thought would work out in water. A few days later I decided to place another piece I had cut but didn't throw away, which had more barkness to it.
Within a few weeks, they had both sprouted roots then I bagged (although I say bagged, It was a halved plastic water bottle) them off for another week or so to get the humidity up then planted them in a mix of pebbles from the yard and some bagged soil and bagged them again for another few days. That's it. They've pretty much just been sitting on the window sil in plastic water bottles with pebbles and soil.
I replanted the larger one a few days ago into a taller pot, it's dropping a little but I'm hopeful. Along with a little wire work to get some curves into it, I'm sure it's feeling pretty stressed at the moment.
The cuttings I have now were cut in April as part of a cutback. I placed the only one I thought would work out in water. A few days later I decided to place another piece I had cut but didn't throw away, which had more barkness to it.
Within a few weeks, they had both sprouted roots then I bagged (although I say bagged, It was a halved plastic water bottle) them off for another week or so to get the humidity up then planted them in a mix of pebbles from the yard and some bagged soil and bagged them again for another few days. That's it. They've pretty much just been sitting on the window sil in plastic water bottles with pebbles and soil.
I replanted the larger one a few days ago into a taller pot, it's dropping a little but I'm hopeful. Along with a little wire work to get some curves into it, I'm sure it's feeling pretty stressed at the moment.
Yep, I've just put them in water.
I cut a water bottle twice, about two inches from the bottom and about two inches from the top (around where the curve straighten out). I flip the top and place it in the bottom so the opening sits the the water then place my cutting in it then call it done until it sprouts.
I cut a water bottle twice, about two inches from the bottom and about two inches from the top (around where the curve straighten out). I flip the top and place it in the bottom so the opening sits the the water then place my cutting in it then call it done until it sprouts.
A quick pop-in update on the last message I wrote regarding "Yep, I've just put them in water. "
Two cut-backs I was going to toss. They sat out for about a day or so before I decided (like I do) to try them out (like I did with others that have since rooted and been planted) so here they are after about two weeks of sitting in what you see - I changed the water frequently and added some Miracle-grow to the water in two of the changing's and this is what I have:
One has sprouted:
[img]https://mysweetslaughterhouse.com/uldl/images/dsc07505.jpg[/img]
The other, you can see, is about too:
[img]https://mysweetslaughterhouse.com/uldl/images/dsc07506.jpg[/img]
They were pretty mature cuts too - that is to say, they weren't totally green, as you can see.
Two cut-backs I was going to toss. They sat out for about a day or so before I decided (like I do) to try them out (like I did with others that have since rooted and been planted) so here they are after about two weeks of sitting in what you see - I changed the water frequently and added some Miracle-grow to the water in two of the changing's and this is what I have:
One has sprouted:
[img]https://mysweetslaughterhouse.com/uldl/images/dsc07505.jpg[/img]
The other, you can see, is about too:
[img]https://mysweetslaughterhouse.com/uldl/images/dsc07506.jpg[/img]
They were pretty mature cuts too - that is to say, they weren't totally green, as you can see.
Yet again you have me stumped lol. The pics I showed earlier were not where they've been growing. I just shot those so I could expose them better for the camera - this is what they normally live in.
[img]https://mysweetslaughterhouse.com/uldl/images/roots1.jpg[/img]
[img]https://mysweetslaughterhouse.com/uldl/images/roots2.jpg[/img]
[img]https://mysweetslaughterhouse.com/uldl/images/roots3.jpg[/img]
[img]https://mysweetslaughterhouse.com/uldl/images/roots4.jpg[/img]
Maybe it helps that they are hanging in water and not sitting at the bottom? I don't know. It's probably luck though - or has something to do with the exterior of the stem - maybe it takes more effort for some to break through and they end up not being able too, while other roots easily can...?
[img]https://mysweetslaughterhouse.com/uldl/images/roots1.jpg[/img]
[img]https://mysweetslaughterhouse.com/uldl/images/roots2.jpg[/img]
[img]https://mysweetslaughterhouse.com/uldl/images/roots3.jpg[/img]
[img]https://mysweetslaughterhouse.com/uldl/images/roots4.jpg[/img]
Maybe it helps that they are hanging in water and not sitting at the bottom? I don't know. It's probably luck though - or has something to do with the exterior of the stem - maybe it takes more effort for some to break through and they end up not being able too, while other roots easily can...?
Back with another quick update on the above cuttings I posted.
There were two and the one that rooted early got planted today:
[img]https://mysweetslaughterhouse.com/uldl/images/freshplant.jpg[/img]
The second one finally broke through:
[img]https://mysweetslaughterhouse.com/uldl/images/roots.jpg[/img]
And here is a shot of all three lined up:
[img]https://mysweetslaughterhouse.com/uldl/images/lineup.jpg[/img]
- including the two I did last year which had their final repot about a month ago:
[img]https://mysweetslaughterhouse.com/uldl/images/oldplant.jpg[/img]
- I put both in the same pot mainly because I like the look of it. We'll see what comes of that in time. For now, I'm going to let them be. The one on the left had a rock under it and the roots have been growing nicely over it - hopefully it'll ne a nice RoR in the future. The curve in the one on the right was done early as it was rooting in it's own pot, I added a small bit of wire to it and left it for about 8mos before removing it. It curved nicely.
There were two and the one that rooted early got planted today:
[img]https://mysweetslaughterhouse.com/uldl/images/freshplant.jpg[/img]
The second one finally broke through:
[img]https://mysweetslaughterhouse.com/uldl/images/roots.jpg[/img]
And here is a shot of all three lined up:
[img]https://mysweetslaughterhouse.com/uldl/images/lineup.jpg[/img]
- including the two I did last year which had their final repot about a month ago:
[img]https://mysweetslaughterhouse.com/uldl/images/oldplant.jpg[/img]
- I put both in the same pot mainly because I like the look of it. We'll see what comes of that in time. For now, I'm going to let them be. The one on the left had a rock under it and the roots have been growing nicely over it - hopefully it'll ne a nice RoR in the future. The curve in the one on the right was done early as it was rooting in it's own pot, I added a small bit of wire to it and left it for about 8mos before removing it. It curved nicely.