First off, I believe it needs repotting because some of the leaves are browning on the ends and the roots are taking up the entire pot and beginning to wind around themselves (It's still in the plastic pot I brought it home from the nursery in last spring, oops). What size of pot should I transfer it to? Also, I've read some on here about soil mixes for bonsais, but I still am not sure what kind of soil would best fit this type of tree and my region. What soil recommendations do you guys have? And how should I go about trimming the roots?
As I thought about repotting it, I began to think about its style, and realized that I really don't like how it looks. Who decided it should just have one random branch sticking out to the side?
Anyways, I began looking at some ficus photos to find a shape that I would like to give it, and realized that it's probably too late to try and get a cool bend in the trunk (please let me know if I'm mistaken!) So I found a lovely shape with a thick, straight trunk, and a fulll, rounded canopy with very small leaves in a very shallow, round pot. I'll post a photo below (I don't think the photo is a ficus, but I feel like I could get my tree into a similar style with some proper TLC and a lot of patience).So I'm wondering what it would take to get my bonsai into that shape, if possible? Specifically, how could I trim up the roots so that it can go from this 3 inch deep pot to something more like 1 inch deep and several inches wide without causing it to go into shock or die? Or will I need to pot it up/plant outside for awhile to allow it to age and develop that nice thick trunk and branches?
Then my secondary questions are how could I coax the tree into producing smaller, more plentiful leaves closer to the center to produce the thick canopy? And how/when would you recommend I trim the canopy into the round shape?
Thanks so much, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
