Unidentified bonsai, help please

[hallockhill]

Hi, I am brand new here, and new to bonsai. I bought this tree, images attached, at a local garden store. It comes from the Art of Bonsai (https://www.tropex.ca) but the label was rubbed off, so it was not identified. Can anyone help?

Once it is identified, I need lots of help with care and hope to be able to ask those questions as well.

Many thanks, Tom

[rainbowgardener]

Interesting. I'm thinking it is a ficus, but there are many different kinds of ficus and I'm not sure what kind, not one of the most common ones.

To start with in the non-forum, gardening tips section of this website, there are articles on bonsai care here: https://www.helpfulgardener.com/bonsai/

I would get the gravel off the soil; interferes with breathability and makes it more difficult for you to know when to water. Is that peat mossy kind of stuff around the trunk or is it little roots. If it is moss, I would get rid of that too. There is a dark area at the base of the trunk that looks like it has been staying too moist.

Ficus is a good choice, being one of the easier bonsais to maintain indoors during the winter.

Welcome to the Forum and best wishes getting started on your new hobby!

[Demosouthpaw]

Hi, I am brand new here, and new to bonsai. I bought this tree, images attached, at a local garden store. It comes from the Art of Bonsai (https://www.tropex.ca) but the label was rubbed off, so it was not identified. Can anyone help?

Once it is identified, I need lots of help with care and hope to be able to ask those questions as well.

Many thanks, Tom

image2.JPG

image1.JPG

Yeah I would agree in saying a Ficus but when I took a look at the trunk picture I don't think its a ficus. Or as stated above any common cultivar. That being said I glanced over the site you purchased the tree from. Now I'm just shooting in the dark here but I would dare to say its a Carissa macrocarpa or Natal Plum. Good luck with your new tree!

[rainbowgardener]

Dunno.... I'm definitely not feeling certain about ID'ing it as ficus, since it doesn't look just like any of the common ones. But I'm not convinced about Carissa, which in the pictures I have seen seems to have much rounder leaves... But I only know Carissa from photos, so I'm no expert...