Bonsai

[dxbtiger]

Anyone here into it?

I bought one today, chap in the shop was very helpful but i'm a complete novice!

Would imagine there are a few fora about them, which is the best to use?

[Babu 01]

Been keeping them for a few years now with varying degrees of success.

I find the outdoor trees way easier to handle than indoor ones. Humidity and watering seem to be the key, with each species needing differing levels of each. Once you have that cracked repotting, pruning & wiring are all quite simple in comparison.

Haven't found much in the way of forums and was about to suggest the UK Bonsai society before I noticed you're in UAE. Best thing to do would be to ask the guy who sold it to you if there are any groups you could attend.

Books and/or websites will give you generic theoretical stuff but it's best to speak to people with experience of growing in your area's climate.

[dxbtiger]

Babu 01 said:

Been keeping them for a few years now with varying degrees of success.

I find the outdoor trees way easier to handle than indoor ones. Humidity and watering seem to be the key, with each species needing differing levels of each. Once you have that cracked repotting, pruning & wiring are all quite simple in comparison.

Haven't found much in the way of forums and was about to suggest the UK Bonsai society before I noticed you're in UAE. Best thing to do would be to ask the guy who sold it to you if there are any groups you could attend.

Books and/or websites will give you generic theoretical stuff but it's best to speak to people with experience of growing in your area's climate.

Thanks.

He said to keeping it indoors all year round is fine, can go outside in the winter if needs be but the chest of drawers it is on now seems a perfect place, light room but no direct sunlight will hit it.

He recommended watering it sparingly twice a week, misting the leaves at the same time. As we are in an air conditioned environment the air is dry inside. Got some NPK ferts from him which he said to use every 25 days to a month.

Need to find out some info on pruning, shaping etc, never done any gardening before at all, just fancied one of these!

edit - He said it was a microcarpa

[Babu 01]

Seems well suited to the environment then:

http://www.bonsai4me.com/SpeciesGuide/Ficus.html

http://www.bonsai-bci.com/species/ficus.html

Something I used to do with the indoor trees was put a piece of wooden chopstick into the soil, near a corner of the pot. Pull it out every day to check how damp it is and you've got some idea of whether or not you need to water.

I assume he told you how to water it? When the tree needs it pour from a can with a rose rather than a spout until water comes through the drain holes, generally speaking.

Also you might want to put a tray full of gravel underneath the tree and keep that moist instead of misting.

[dxbtiger]

Babu 01 said:

Seems well suited to the environment then:

http://www.bonsai4me.com/SpeciesGuide/Ficus.html

http://www.bonsai-bci.com/species/ficus.html

Something I used to do with the indoor trees was put a piece of wooden chopstick into the soil, near a corner of the pot. Pull it out every day to check how damp it is and you've got some idea of whether or not you need to water.

I assume he told you how to water it? When the tree needs it pour from a can with a rose rather than a spout until water comes through the drain holes, generally speaking.

Also you might want to put a tray full of gravel underneath the tree and keep that moist instead of misting.

Great links, thanks.

As you say the conditions seem good on the face of it.

Did join a forum last night who have said that it would be much better off outside, contradictions already!

I guess it is a lot of trial and error with every environment being different.

It's a hardy species according to your link so thats a plus point.

[Babu 01]

This is the problem. I don't know what temperatures are like overnight where you are so wouldn't tell you whether to keep it inside or outside but a lot of people will. What I do know is that you should only make the move from indoor to outdoor when you really must and that it should stay in or out for a few days at the very least each time.

Also, don't stick to any kind of watering timetable religiously. Twice a week is a good guess but you need to decide when to do it rather than stick to that. The chopstick thing I mentioned is a good way of gauging the soil condition. From what I've picked up from others Ficus do well when allowed to dry out before being watered rather than being continually damp.

[Simpo Two]

Make sure you get the pronounciation right. I ended up with a Mitsubishi Zero and a bandana.

Babu 01 said:

This is the problem. I don't know what temperatures are like overnight where you are so wouldn't tell you whether to keep it inside or outside but a lot of people will. What I do know is that you should only make the move from indoor to outdoor when you really must and that it should stay in or out for a few days at the very least each time.

Also, don't stick to any kind of watering timetable religiously. Twice a week is a good guess but you need to decide when to do it rather than stick to that. The chopstick thing I mentioned is a good way of gauging the soil condition. From what I've picked up from others Ficus do well when allowed to dry out before being watered rather than being continually damp.

From my experience with normal houseplants, they seem to prefer being properly watered first (not left standing in water!) and allowed to dry almost fully, then properly watered again. I judge this by lifting the pot - but of course this doesn't work if you used heavy ceramic containers. Also note that the soil can be dry on top and damp underneath, and also the reverse if watered 'little and often'.

Edited by Simpo Two on Saturday 29th January 10:32

[Zad]

Yep it definitely looks like a Ficus mirocarpa. Watering is the big problem with any bonsai but especially small ones, so a moist gravel tray underneath the pot is very useful. I wouldn't attempt to grow it outside, the conditions simply vary too much. With bonsai aimed at the consumer, such as these, the keyword is consistency. Bright but not direct sunlight and room temperatures that don't vary a lot, so try and keep it away from any cold/hot draughts.

All my bonsai are outdoors ones now, but I'm pretty good at growing orchids indoors, and they like similar consistency. I water them only with rainwater (might be difficult for you, try portable aircon condensate) with a low concentration of feed in every feed. They seem to like this more than high bursts (and I inevitably forget to feed anyway).

[dxbtiger]

Zad said:

Yep it definitely looks like a Ficus mirocarpa. Watering is the big problem with any bonsai but especially small ones, so a moist gravel tray underneath the pot is very useful. I wouldn't attempt to grow it outside, the conditions simply vary too much. With bonsai aimed at the consumer, such as these, the keyword is consistency. Bright but not direct sunlight and room temperatures that don't vary a lot, so try and keep it away from any cold/hot draughts.

All my bonsai are outdoors ones now, but I'm pretty good at growing orchids indoors, and they like similar consistency. I water them only with rainwater (might be difficult for you, try portable aircon condensate) with a low concentration of feed in every feed. They seem to like this more than high bursts (and I inevitably forget to feed anyway).

I'll just use mineral water, the local stuff is so cheap it's free!

The guys on the Forum I joined cannot seem to get their head round how oppressively hot it is here a lot of the year.

They have look at average temps and humidity for each month of the year and seem to think it is fine, with the exception of Jan and Febm being a desert it does get bloody cold at night as well as warm in the day.

Going to take a mix of advice here, there and the guy in the shop, to be fair he is the one with the most experience growing here. He was very clear that a few hours outside at most in winter was the most he would be comfortable with.

Thanks for all replies so far

[Flintstone]

All good info up there, maybe buy yourself a couple of books if you intend getting into pruning, wiring and repotting (you'll need to do the latter annually with a young tree anyway) and more trees. Sadly being where you are prevents you having some deciduous species but maybe some species of pine might be available.

If you get stuck PM me.

Flintstone.
Ex-Membership Secretary & Treasurer, British Bonsai Association

[freecar]

dxbtiger said:

I'll just use mineral water, the local stuff is so cheap it's free!

I wouldn't, the minerals may well build up in the soil to toxic levels. You want very pure water with very little dissolved solids in it, mineral water is not.

[dxbtiger]

Flintstone said:

All good info up there, maybe buy yourself a couple of books if you intend getting into pruning, wiring and repotting (you'll need to do the latter annually with a young tree anyway) and more trees. Sadly being where you are prevents you having some deciduous species but maybe some species of pine might be available.

If you get stuck PM me.

Flintstone.
Ex-Membership Secretary & Treasurer, British Bonsai Association

Brilliant, thanks!

freecar said:

I wouldn't, the minerals may well build up in the soil to toxic levels. You want very pure water with very little dissolved solids in it, mineral water is not.

Ok, good to know, rain water is not an option.... Hmmmmm....

[xx99xx]

Wondering if we could turn this in to a 'show us your bonsai' type of thread?

I've tried for years but fail with something or other.

I've currently got a few maples and a baobab in an natural style which I'd like to bonsai up. I've had some monkey pods which just die possibly due to climate. I have training wire and all that stuff, have viewed YouTube etc but just wondering if any of you get involved with this extremely slow hobby?

[Simpo Two]

xx99xx said:

Wondering if we could turn this in to a 'show us your bonsai' type of thread?

I don't know but 13 years 8 months could be a record!

[xx99xx]

Simpo Two said:

xx99xx said:

Wondering if we could turn this in to a 'show us your bonsai' type of thread?

I don't know but 13 years 8 months could be a record!

If only everyone did a search before starting new threads!

Edit: if only I had scrolled down a bit further in my search, I'd have found an actual 'show us your bonsai' thread (however with only 1 post):

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Edited by xx99xx on Sunday 22 September 09:00

Edited by xx99xx on Sunday 22 September 09:01