Willow leaf Ficus and Mini Jade. Help?

[JustinBoi]

Okay, well I ordered 2 plants online (A willow leaf ficus and mini jade).
The mini jade is in a miniature pot about 3 inches and the plant itself is 4 inches.
The willow leaf is in a regular oval bonsai pot and about 7 inches tall.
They both have this red lava rock soil mixture which accents both plants very well if I do say so myself.
My only problem is how to approach taking care of them.
I have googled and binged my questions but a lot of the sites contradict themselves.
I will be posting pictures of these plants ASAP.
I tried the chopstick method to try to watch how to water but the pointy end got stuck in a hole of one of the lava rock pieces.
I also want to know whats under this lava rock stuff, or atleast how to make it.
Any suggestions?

[TomM]

If your question is "what's under this lava rock stuff"?..... take a look. You may find that it is the primary ingredient in your bonsai soil mix. If that's the case it will be all throughout the pot. Or it might be a 'top dressing' over the soil mix - just to look nice, as you pointed out.

If the pointy end of your chopstick catches in a hole in the lava rock you can just find a different spot and try again.

[JustinBoi]

Well I tried to look underneath but gave up after half of it poured onto the floor and I had to pick it up.
I picked up the chopsticks and tried it in a different spot and it got stuck again. I tried it 5 times but kept going in wrong.
I'm hopeless!

I asked the guy I bought it from what he used but no answer...
UGH

[TomM]

If half of it poured onto the floor, and it was all this lava rock stuff, then that is what your soil mix is. It is the main ingredient. The pot is filled with it. This may be the free draining bonsai soil that Norm (and others) have been telling you about - and now you won't need to make your own.

This is so much better than the heavy packed-down soil that is usually sold with new plants.

Don't disturb your new trees any more. They need to settle into their new home. For now don't worry about the chopstick thing.

Enjoy. And, oh yeah, Happy Birthday !!

[Gnome]

Justin,

You're not hopeless, you just need to learn more, this is not an overnight type of hobby.

The chopstick method is better suited to the heavier soils that often come with mass produced bonsai. The coarser your soil (a good thing) the less effective, and necessary, it becomes. The idea behind the chopstick method is to indicate when to water, with a good free draining medium this becomes much less of an issue as it becomes much harder to water too often.

A good, open bonsai soil will only retain so much water no matter how much you pour through it so watering more frequently becomes more appropriate. A healthy, established plant in a good mix and an appropriately sized pot should require watering once a day during the growing season. Note that this does not apply to the Baby Jade (Portulacaria) as this is a succulent.

Allow the soil of the Portulacaria to dry completely before watering it again. I don't know if you, or anyone you know, grow full sized Jades but Ports are similar. They do tolerate/require watering more often than the big boys but still should be allowed to dry down well. Note the condition of the leaves, if they begin to shrivel you should adjust your watering pattern accordingly.

Norm

[JustinBoi]

Thanks for the Happy Birthday thing Tom .
Also, I will leave it alone for now till I know exactly what needs to be done with them.
So far their doing okay, just want to plan ahead.
The lava rock is a top dressing (almost positive).
In the Jade there's regular soil that it has established itself in and on top is the rocks.
So I'm guessing they did the same the Willow leaf.
I may buy some of that lava rock stuff since it looks nice.
Also buying many other things.
Trying to decide which side is the front of the Bonsai and which is the back..
Decisions, decisions...

[froggy]

I use the skewer mehod with my orchids, some of which have a similarly annoying soil... With those I just wiggle he skewer along the side or in the corner of the pot and that works fine (mind, I cut the pointy end off, so I won't skewer the roots)
Patience is the key

[JustinBoi]

Well for now I am going to leave them alone.
Also, for Norm, he helped me a lot with my Chinese Elm and now its bouncing back from the aphids and ect.
I took some pictures and some other pictures of my plants (I don't know why):

https://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l612/Justin_Broughton/Newcameraphotos017.jpg
https://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l612/Justin_Broughton/Newcameraphotos018.jpg
https://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l612/Justin_Broughton/Newcameraphotos019.jpg
https://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l612/Justin_Broughton/Newcameraphotos020.jpg
https://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l612/Justin_Broughton/Newcameraphotos024-1.jpg
https://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l612/Justin_Broughton/Newcameraphotos025-1.jpg
https://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l612/Justin_Broughton/CrazyPhotos005.jpg
https://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l612/Justin_Broughton/CrazyPhotos006.jpg