NEW Bonsai Mom

Good morning and Happy New Year!

I am a NEW bonsai mom. I've always admire looking at bonsai trees but was not brave enough to get one and take care of it. My dear friend gifted me a Ficus for Christmas. As a newbie, i have quiet a few (or lots) of questions.

- When do i repot it?
- Since it looks like its still a "baby" does it need wire for anchor?
- When do you start wiring/shaping the tree?
- any tips/tricks anyone want to share?

Thanks in advance and Happy New YEar!

Without seeing a picture it is not easy to say much. I doubt it will need re potting, and it should have been wired into the pot. There should be no need to wire at all, they are better just pruning for styling. Far more important is to learn how to water and also placement is crucial. Do not place near a heat source. keep in good light, preferably a west or south facing window. If you look at the species guide on this site you will find more.

Thank you and sorry about that. I thought i attached a photo , so here it is.

It is an ordinary house plant, very young, probably 2 or 3 years old, so need a lot of growing. That pot looks too big for it, but as I said before I would not re pot possibly for 2 years until it has grown a lot more.

Yes, still a young plant. I would not prune much now as it slow down thickening so much. I would rather uppot it to a slightly bigger pot once it is full with roots. I would repeat until trunk is about half the size of the final vision. About then I would look for a possible new leader and cut it back hard. Repeating the process, slightly bigger pot when needed until base is 75% of the final vision. Repeat hard cut back to a new and final leader and start again to regrow and uppot. Also at this stage look for branches for the final design and remove the other ones. Once the tree has developed secondary branches it is time to root prune and put it in a slightly oversized bonsai pot. When third bification is well established I would put it in its final bonsai pot.

But this is just how I would do it. There are many other ways. My approach is to develop as fast as possible not focusing on looking good all the time until I get there. Nigel Saunders from the youtube channel bonsai zone has developed crazy good looking trees with much more frequent hard pruning and in bonsai pots. The best specimen is close to 30 years now. I prefere if it happens faster.

OH, yes. Outdoors in summer speeds things up as well.

Good luck

Hi Christie,

Congrats and welcome to the hobby.

Right now, your primary concern is keeping it alive. And although this might sound funny, sadly, often people who do not have any experience growing plants in pots, face challenges there already. Do you have experience growing plants? Other houseplants?

Initially, just grow this is any other houseplant. It can easily stay in this pot for the time being. IF you are in the northern hemisphere, now it is winter. Which means lower temperatures, less light. Depending on local climate, it may be quite cold. Your plant is a ficus, which is a tropical species which thrives on the combination of lots of light, heat and water. But, in absense of heat and light, water should be reduced and the plant is n a more or less dormant state till spring.

In spring, consider planting in a nicer pot. Meanwhil, ready up a little on growing bonsai. Get a bit of understanding how they are grown.

Thank you!

Hi Thank you @leatherback!

Yes i do have other indoor plants and grow a few veggies in the summer .

Thanks for the tips! Very much appreciated!

Don't forget to have fun!

Hi Kristi
It could be that your ficus is infested with scale insects, but I'm not sure !?
I marked the possible spots, please check.
Another sign was sticky transparent gel on the underlying leaves.