Hello all! I am glad I came across this forum. Just to introduce myself, my name is Dustin. I recently came into contact with a few bonsai trees and have since became quite interested in them. I just bought my first bonsai tree today. I'm not sure of the type, if anyone could help me out I'll post some pictures up. I'm hoping I can get some good ideas of how to go about shaping the tree and some ideas for some general shapes maybe pictures to go along with it?
I have already had a little accident with the tree on it's way home from the store. Something fell on it and actually seperated one of the truns from the other trunk. I'm hoping there is a way I can fuse the two back together, once again, I'm a complete newb at this so any advice is greatly appreciated. Here are some pictures, please let the knowledge flow!!
[img]https://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w145/stangcrazy1987/BonsaiandVensFlytrap006.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w145/stangcrazy1987/BonsaiandVensFlytrap004.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w145/stangcrazy1987/BonsaiandVensFlytrap003.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w145/stangcrazy1987/BonsaiandVensFlytrap002.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w145/stangcrazy1987/BonsaiandVensFlytrap001.jpg[/img]
Here is a shot of my other recent acquisition which I am also really excited about: Venus flytrap!!! Sorry for the blurry quality.
[img]https://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w145/stangcrazy1987/BonsaiandVensFlytrap005.jpg[/img]
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Gnome
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 5122
- Joined: Wed Jul 05, 2006 12:17 am
- Location: Western PA USDA Zone 6A
Dustin,
Hi, welcome to bonsai and our forum. I believe that your tree is a Ficus microcarpa. Look [url=https://bonsaihunk.8m.com/Figsindoors.html]here[/url] for information about Ficus. This is one of the best sites for this type of information. After you read the page follow the link at the bottom and explore the rest of the site, there is a lot of good information there.
Please remove the moss so that you can better evaluate the condition of the soil. After you remove the moss please post a picture of the soil. By the way are these pics a month old? Careful with the watering, allow the soil to dry somewhat before watering again. Not too dry but not always wet either.
I think the broken root will heal by itself if it is not disturbed. If you use the search function at the top of the page you find a lot of previous posts about these trees, they are a very popular indoor species.
[url=https://www.bonsai4me.com/Basics.html]Here[/url] is some further information, not Ficus specific. Concentrate on watering first then soil.
Norm
P.S. In the future please size you pictures a little smaller so we don't have to scroll horizontally. Alternately, you could use the linking code for thumbnails instead of full size pictures, thanks.
Hi, welcome to bonsai and our forum. I believe that your tree is a Ficus microcarpa. Look [url=https://bonsaihunk.8m.com/Figsindoors.html]here[/url] for information about Ficus. This is one of the best sites for this type of information. After you read the page follow the link at the bottom and explore the rest of the site, there is a lot of good information there.
Please remove the moss so that you can better evaluate the condition of the soil. After you remove the moss please post a picture of the soil. By the way are these pics a month old? Careful with the watering, allow the soil to dry somewhat before watering again. Not too dry but not always wet either.
I think the broken root will heal by itself if it is not disturbed. If you use the search function at the top of the page you find a lot of previous posts about these trees, they are a very popular indoor species.
[url=https://www.bonsai4me.com/Basics.html]Here[/url] is some further information, not Ficus specific. Concentrate on watering first then soil.
Norm
P.S. In the future please size you pictures a little smaller so we don't have to scroll horizontally. Alternately, you could use the linking code for thumbnails instead of full size pictures, thanks.
Thanks so much for the info. No, the pics are from only yesterday, my camera's date is wrong. I'll get the moss off and see what it looks like. Sorry about the picture size, I'll definitely use thumbnails next time.
I do have one question that I'm curious about. In wal-mart where I bought the tree, it was sitting in a large tray that had a very small amount of water in the bottom. However, all the sites I read say not to water in this manner. They suggest daily watering instead of constant watering. Why would Wal-mart do that to them?
Glad to hear the trunk should fuse back, I really want a big trunk when it begins to grow. Thanks again!
I do have one question that I'm curious about. In wal-mart where I bought the tree, it was sitting in a large tray that had a very small amount of water in the bottom. However, all the sites I read say not to water in this manner. They suggest daily watering instead of constant watering. Why would Wal-mart do that to them?
Glad to hear the trunk should fuse back, I really want a big trunk when it begins to grow. Thanks again!
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Gnome
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 5122
- Joined: Wed Jul 05, 2006 12:17 am
- Location: Western PA USDA Zone 6A
Dustin,
Regarding watering, you cannot water your tree on a daily schedule. It may require watering daily but the only way to determine this is to check it every day, only watering as required. Some of the variables that effect watering would be the size of the pot, the conditions the plant is growing in, the type of medium it is potted in, etc. This is one of the reasons that I would like to see a picture of the potting medium, (I'm trying to break myself from using the word soil as there is almost never any actual soil in bonsai today). If, as I suspect, the medium is comprised mainly of peat the tree will not need watering as frequently than if it were potted in a proper bonsai soil. Please read [url=https://www.bonsai4me.com/Basics/Basics_Watering.html]this[/url] ASAP.
Norm
I think that you are confusing two different concepts. I suspect that the tray was not so much for watering as it was for either catching the drippings from watering or, more likely, it was a humidity tray. This is, as you noted, a shallow tray that usually contains pebbles but always contains water. This is not used to water the tree but to raise the humidity in the area of the tree. An efficient humidity tray would be fairly large and the pebbles create a much greater amount of surface area from which the water can evaporate.I do have one question that I'm curious about. In wal-mart where I bought the tree, it was sitting in a large tray that had a very small amount of water in the bottom. However, all the sites I read say not to water in this manner. They suggest daily watering instead of constant watering. Why would Wal-mart do that to them?
Regarding watering, you cannot water your tree on a daily schedule. It may require watering daily but the only way to determine this is to check it every day, only watering as required. Some of the variables that effect watering would be the size of the pot, the conditions the plant is growing in, the type of medium it is potted in, etc. This is one of the reasons that I would like to see a picture of the potting medium, (I'm trying to break myself from using the word soil as there is almost never any actual soil in bonsai today). If, as I suspect, the medium is comprised mainly of peat the tree will not need watering as frequently than if it were potted in a proper bonsai soil. Please read [url=https://www.bonsai4me.com/Basics/Basics_Watering.html]this[/url] ASAP.
Norm