New to Bonsai-where do I start with this found Morton Bay Fig?

[Gong12345]

Hi,

Greetings from Wollongong, NSW Australia.

Really glad I found this site.

I have been keen on bonsai for a while and found this old Morton Bay Fig at a local market.

Apparently about 30 years old.

It is very overgrown, long branches.
Here is a YouTube slideshow of it https://youtu.be/akXqcC7kP6c

I know it needs to be trimmed etc, but I cant find info/advice I am comfortable with in how and where do I start trimming this tree etc?

Could the good members of Aus Bonsai give me an idea of where I start?

cheers

[dansai]

Hi and Welcome to the forum.

A few quick notes. Put your location on your profile. It saves having to say every time where you are. Advice is different for different areas of Australia, let alone different countries/hemispheres.

Also, if you can upload pictures direct to your threads it will be easier for people to give advice. External links do get broken at times. Also static pictures are probably easier to give advice from than a video.

That said, Figs are a great tree to start with. You can be pretty hard on them, they are forgiving and respond well to Bonsai techniques. Now is a great time to do work on figs. They tend to respond well when temps are constantly warm. I have just done some drastic work on a bunch of mine where I have trunk chopped and repotted, removing plenty of roots.

With yours, as you mentioned, the branches are long without foliage near their bases. This is very typical of figs that are just let to grow. Branches keep extending and rarely will you get side branches. You have 2 main options from here;

1) Cut back the existing branches short so they produce 2 or 3 new branches. If you can see the place where leaves used to be attached, leave at least 3 of these. This is where new branches will grow from. It will be fine to remove all foliage at this time of year and you should expect to see new growth starting in a week or 2. Figs tend to produce new branches from just below the cut site so don't leave long bare branches hoping for back budding that you can cut back to later. Go short straight away.

2) Let the branches keep growing so they thicken more, then cut back hard when you are happy with their thickness. You can wire some movement into them now too. Remember you will be cutting back hard so you won't need to wire the whole branch, unless you want the practice. Try and place remaining leaves in different areas so they all get sun and don't shade each other out. If you go this route, there is no need to remove any leaves at this stage.

Also worth considering getting it into a slightly bigger "training" pot. I use plastic pots while developing trees as they tend to allow for better growth. A nice ceramic pot is for when you want to slow the tree down to develop finer growth. At the moment you need to build some structure.

[Gong12345]

Hi, Thanks for the advice.
I also updated my profile and worked out how to insert a picture!

I'll go ahead and trim the branches back to short as you suggested.
I am keen to reinvigorate the bare trunk with the 2 little stems.
Can you suggest any techniques to get it going?
cheers

IMG_6247.jpeg

[dansai]

If you cut everything back just leave those stems on the almost bare trunk alone. Hopefully that will give them a head start to develop some more.

When was it repotted? If you know that is

[Rory]

dansai advice is always spot on.

The only thing that concerns me is the health of this fig. Zooming in close with that good picture you uploaded, ....that doesn't look in great health. It may have slow drainage and isn't in a good mix. Just a hunch looking at that mix.

I'd take the whole thing out, get rid of ALL the old soil, and use a tool to get all the old soil off completely, and then get it into a larger pot with a fresh mix....and just leave it in full sun. The leaves will probably die off from full sun, as they don't look great and might have been left inside or in shade too long, or the roots aren't drying out well.

I wouldn't cut anything back until it gets back to better health

Have fun.

[Gong12345]

Thanks everyone for your replies.
I have left it in the sun and yes, the leaves (not all) are yellowing.
I'll take the advice and let it flourish a bit before any trimming etc.
cheers