Beginner Question-(Chinese Elm & Ficus)

[JibJab23]

Hi I'm new to bonsai I bought my first tree (chinese elm) about a month ago so far its been doing good however, I've noticed that the tree has these tiny little bugs on the soil. They were mainly around the moss thats on the soil so I removed that and I have yet to see anymore of the tiny bugs. But is there a way to get rid of these bugs for good if they come back again?




Also, since I had my first bonsai my Mom bought me a ficus "mallsai" tree and I was afraid to remove the rocks that were glued on the tree so I waited a while but noticed that the Ficus was in bad shape so I removed the moss and rocks that were glued on the soil but they their was this big rock that was glue on it and when I removed that one well it was just filler I guess because it had no soil underneath it. Since I had no bonsai soil to replace it with I had to do what I could and used potting soil. So I'm not sure how thats going to work out. But any advice would be very helpful. Thanks

[Gnome]

JibJab23,

Welcome to the site. As far as the Elm goes if the insects are gone then don't worry too much about them. Identifying them with so little information would be impossible anyway.

The Ficus should be OK in that soil until you re-pot the next time. Be very careful with the watering though. This type of soil will retain a lot more water than a good free draining mix. It would have been better to use proper soil, but I hesitate to recommend another re-pot soon. Read the sticky thread about soil and re-potting and begin to gather your components or find a source for ready-made soil.

Norm