reikimaster wrote:Hi I am a newbie to the care of Bonsai but I am a mature and well educated person and I would choose to have a different opinion to you regarding talking to plants. I know of several experiments that support the theory of talking to them and quite frankly see no harm if this is included in the general care of them. As a newbie I believe I have acted responsibly in coming to a web-site such as this so that I can care for my plant correctly. I had believed that this might just be a little more friendly and personal than reading books.
Opinions are fine to have, and everyone has theirs. I can only go by everything I've read, studied, experienced and experimented, and what I've seen. Talking to one's plants, from every last iota of reliable information I've gleaned, has 0 effect, period, in a truly scientific situation where the ONLY variable is plants spoken to and those not spoken to. If you have links to the studies you've referenced, I'd love to see them. No, there is no harm in talking to a plant, even if there is no benefit, unless said "husbandry" excludes other, more reliable, means of keeping plants healthy that work. IOW, trying to talk a plant into drinking more isn't ever going to prevent root rot.
reikimaster wrote:I can assure you that the name on the plant I was given states Ficus rectus and the tree is quite large and apart from these few leaves at the top of the plant being slightly tinted with brown, looks to be in excellent condition. I obviously want to keep it this way hence my asking for some advice from someone with more experience of looking after these beautiful plants.
I have no doubt that it is a Ficus retusa. I have no doubt that it is over a meter tall, or more than, even two meters. But I seriously doubt that this is a bonsai other than in the strictly literal "tree in a pot" sense. There is far more to bonsai than putting a tree into a pot.
reikimaster wrote:I am afraid that I find your post and your attitude rather unhelpful and would suggest - albeit politely - that maybe not speaking to ones plants might have positive benefits too for the plant.
I will take some photographs and download them so, if anyone is happy to have a look at them and advise me, I would be most grateful. Many thanks.
Well, I'm sorry you don't see this as helpful, but, the fact is, that a container tree and a bonsai of the same species have VERY different care requirements. If not properly identified as one or the other, help can not truly be given. And, given this is a bonsai forum, such help would be more guided toward helping you with a bonsai, not a container plant. As I said, a bonsai of such size and age is a rare commodity and would cost far more than I think a beginner would ever be willing to spend. Unless you've inherited the tree as part of a collection, it's probably just a container plant and should be treated as such.