potbelly fig gift

[Rhiannon]

Hey all, thought I'd chip in here rather than starting a new thread to ask. I went to a bonsai nursery on the weekend to stock up on pots and stuff in case my cuttings take off so I'm prepared when the time comes and blah blah. I was thinking about buying a juniper, but then couldn't go past this adorable banyan fig:

Bonsai 017_.jpg

I decided I should repot straight away as it was almost bursting in the tiny pot it was in. It took me ages to decide on the front, each side seemed to have an immense amount of character, but this is how it looked when I repotted it:

Bonsai 022_.jpg

Herein lies problem #1. I knew nothing about this species before potting and didn't realise the roots/trunk extended so far - it's too tall for the pot. The top roots are protruding. Is this a problem for this little guy? I'm worried about repotting into a deeper pot now that I've already disturbed it once.

And for question #2, is there anything species-specific I should know about these guys? I've been reading up on figs in general, so know the basics. ie. bring them inside if the weather is going to be consistently below 15 degrees, etc. But I can't find anything that extends beyond the Ficus genera in specificity.

[Luke]

should be fine in that pot!... they are tough as nails up here!! doubt you will have any problems down in VIC either..(just keep it away from major cold.. like u said).....hey its a unique lil planting/ornament arrangement you have made... looks good! with a canopy overhead would look amazing...
cheers
luke

[Glenda]

I've been told about a book by Leong at Bonsai South Nursey (http://www.bonsaisouth.com ) that is by all accounts the bees knees on ficus, Rhiannon. I am trying to get a copy too.

Glenda

[Jamie]

anyone who wants to get into ficus or has a lot of them should get leongs book, it is worth every dollar, ontop of that jerry meislik's book on ficus as well is supposed to be brilliant, i havent got it yet, but if it is as good as leongs then there wont be any drama and you will have all you need to know about ficus species!

rhiannon, as much as your little banyan fig is nice, i would be doing the same thing i recommended to liquid luke (or his dad) do a ground layer to fix that root sysyem, but thats my opinion, if you are happy with it how it is go for it

the one i had was similar to yours in shape. looked like it had legs. this is it now.

ground layer.jpg

fig root mass.jpg

fig wire.jpg

these guys are fast growers, and i am sure as you go on with your bonsai journey you will see why i did it to mine..

jamie

[Rhiannon]

I kind of like the "legs" look. But I'm presuming later down the track when the trunk thickens I may not like it as much any more? Or is there another reason why you say so, Jamie?

Thanks to you both. I'll look into getting that book, but we'll have to see as $$ is something I'm short on. Which is probably why this new hobby is a bad one, but oh well.

[Jamie]

its was just a personal thing for me with the "leg" look, it just didnt leem right to me, but like i said it was a personal choice. and i couldnt get rid of the tree as it had sentimental value, so i knew i had to do something with it, hence the ground layer, it worked a treat and it will give a great nebari, i will get a recent picture of it asap for you to show how it is going, it has gone through 2 part defoliations since then, which will help with the leaf size and ramification which is more of what i am after than leaf size.


jamie

[Greth]

I know the $$ problem, but there are ways to do it cheap, hard to get around the cost of pots but put them on your birthday list for your friends/family.

[Jamie]

I know the $$ problem, but there are ways to do it cheap, hard to get around the cost of pots but put them on your birthday list for your friends/family.

do it cheap- collect trees! cant get much cheaper than twenty bucks for fuel a good day out with some driving and collecting a couple of great trees!
as for the pots there isnt much you can do about that unless you become a potter, find a cheap source of clay and start making them yourself


jamie

[Rhiannon]

@ Jamie: Ah, I see. I was googling pictures of banyan fig bonsai a few days ago and I found some with some amazing looking nebari, it made me want to give the ground layering a go. I might try it with another one, though. I picked this lil guy cause I loved the way the 3rd root (I still don't know if it's a trunk or root, but I'll go with root) curled around the larger one. I found it graceful. But there were plenty there that had broken roots and didn't look as pretty, which I could always have a go at ground layering. They weren't the cheapest of plants in the nursery, though, unfortunately.


@ Greth: I've been into this hobby less than a month and I already have people asking if I want bonsai stuff for my birthday. So now I'm trying to decide between telling people to get me bonsai stuff, or a Wii (I'm a mad Zelda fan who hasn't played Twilight Princess, so this is a major dilemma for me!). At the moment I'm just trying to slowly acquire pots and things little by little, and borrowing tools until I can afford my own (or until my birthday in April haha). I figure I'm in no great rush as I have no plants in immediate need of styling etc, I'm just trying to grow some up and keep them alive until I can be creative - the longer I spend reading up on info/techniques here (and on bonsai4me.com), the more equipped with knowledge I'll be when the time comes!


Thus far I'm only going as far as cuttings as I don't have the guts to dig up any wild ones!

[Greth]

Yeah, after 3 years I still have no great need of pots. I picked up a couple by buying cheap discounted bonsai at a nursery, the plants were not worth much, but at the price it was a cheap way to buy pots!
Hubby and children bought me a couple of larger ones for Christmas last year, they will do fine to shape the roots, and one day when I win the lottery I will head down to the bonsai nursery and get myself something which suits the trees better. Woolies are producing salads in plastic containers which are a nice shallow square shape and would probably be fine with a few holes punched and a coat of paint so the roots dont get light, shh did I say that? Would work Ok as trainer containers, I think. I can almost hear the thunder of disapproval which will rain down upon my head for suggesting such a thing.

[Jamie]

being a fig you can practically develop the tree in a pot, it will still add girth to the trunk and grow quite strong, thats one reason why i love them, obviously if grown out for a few years they can get a lot bigger and stronger, but will still develop quite well in a pot, mine have been going crazy for the past few months especially now i have a feeding regime that they seem to like!


jamie

[Greth]

And just in case you think that isnt economical enough, I didnt actually buy the salads, they were leftover from work Christmas barbecue.

[Rhiannon]

Haha, I love it!

I read somewhere with figs that basically if you want them to grow, feed them, if you want them to stay smaller don't feed them at all. They sound like they'll tolerate anything. Apart from the cold, I mean.

[Jamie]

another cheap alternative is to go see the nurseries and they may have some old seedling trays that they use for tubestock carrying, you might be able to score some of them, otherwise if you go to the two dollar shops i have found colanders, food covers etc. anything with holes in it basically just like pond baskets that were really cheap and they work a treat too


jamie

ps. as rhiannon posted just before i did figs are hardy as bar the cold, you could practically leave them without food at all and they will still go, but this is not what we want. i have never ever killed a fig, and thats saying something, i have practically managed to kill at least one of every other species i have tried

cheers

[Greth]

You are more likely to want bonsai pots than a Wii in 5 years time, and you could always rent a Wii, our video shop does it.