[ID] Please :')

[breany]

Hello. Absolute rooky newbie here. I have inherited the below Bonsai which I'm told my father-in-law bought as it was the age of his daughter (my wife, born 1975). The poor thing hasn't been touched in a few decades and I'm wondering firstly, what is it, secondly, could it be 49 years old, thirdly, do I have any hope of using it as my entry project into the world of Bonsai or is it too far gone? I'm guessing it's a pretty hardy species after the neglect it has received. Many thanks for any help. The plant is located on the Central Coast, NSW. Cheers

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[Keels]

Nice tree mate, with some awesome history. I believe that could be a Ficus rubiginosa....other Ficus experts will jump in and confirm that I'm sure.

Regardless, figs are great trees for beginners and there is alot of information on this forum about going figs. The question you have to ask yourself is what do you want to actually do with this tree? Start developing ramification? Increase trunk size? Or just repot into a bonsai pot to enjoy now? Many things to consider I you can imagine with bonsai. Good luck

[TimIAm]

It's either a F rubiginosa or a F obliqua, but the main differences are a slightly smaller maximum leaf size in obliqua or smaller syconia (fruit/flower). Problem is when a tree is grown in a pot, unless you have a large tree you likely won't get fruit and the leaf size will be reduced.

For anyone interested in the literature: Dixon, Dale J.; Jackes, Betsy R.; Bielig, L. M. (2001). "Figuring Out the Figs: the Ficus obliqua-Ficus rubiginosa Complex (Moraceae: Urostigma sect. Malvanthera)". Australian Systematic Botany. 14 (1): 133–54. doi:10.1071/SB99029.

Age is hard to be precise. Some people can make a 5 year old tree look 50 years old and some 30 year old trees can look like 3 years.

The tree looks reasonable enough that it could be brought up to look decent with some care. It's got some nice taper and age that would lend itself to a good looking bonsai with some work.

However, it looks like a repot is long overdue. The leaves are very sparse and it looks like it needs a drink. Problem with getting a recommendation for soil on here is that it isn't localized advice. If you want to repot yourself, maybe you can ask on here for any of the Central Coast members have advice on a good soil mix. If you don't feel confident to repot yourself then I suggest you take your tree to Bonsai World at Jilliby https://www.facebook.com/people/Bonsai- ... 149652667/ the folks there will definitely give you some good advice and help you to purchase some quality soil. Important that you discuss with them what your watering schedule will be when discussing the soil you use.

Alternatively, I think this weekend is the Central Coast Bonsai Open show at Mingara at Tumbi Umbi https://www.ausbonsai.com.au/forum/view ... en#p303708 . They put on an awesome show and there will be plenty of people there who will be happy to give you some friendly advice if you ask.

[shibui]

Agree that the tree is a ficus. Ficus are notoriously difficult to identify accurately but that doesn't matter much because most species are treated similar. Given that its from NSW chances are pretty high that it is Ficus rubiginosa but that's all I'm prepared to commit to with the info available.

You're right that these are tough customers. Most other species would be well and truly dead by now but this one still has potential.
It does need some care and attention. I would not be repotting a ficus at this time of year but as Tim pointed out much of bonsai relies on where you are. It may still be warm enough up there to cope with a repot now. Repotting at the earliest opportunity is a great idea. Down here I'd just nurse it along through winter then do a thorough repot in late spring but you should take local advice on timing. If your experienced locals say do it now then that's good enough for me. It will need a thorough repot. Probably remove all the old soil and a fair proportion of roots (depending what you find down there) Ficus respond very well to root pruning, even radical root reduction but it will probably be a good idea to get some guidance and reassurance through your first repotting. Tim's given a couple of good options for help.

It does need water. Given it is likely to be very root bound that may require a good soak every week or so depending on the weather. A light sprinkle may keep it alive but won't be enough to recover health. The aim is to well and truly wet the potting mix then allow the potting mix to get almost dry before watering again. Water frequency depends on the size of pot, current weather, type of potting mix, how root bound it is, species and a few other factors so there's no way to recommend water frequency for any particular plant.

It will also need nutrients. All plants require nutrients to help them grow. In the open soil there's plenty available and more always coming from decaying plants, animals, etc. In a pot there's a very limited store of nutrients which are quickly used up or washed away when watering so regular fertiliser is critical to healthy growth. Your ficus won't care what fertiliser it gets because all ferts have the nutrients it requires. I would suggest starting with a quick acting liquid fertiliser to give it an immediate boost. Powerfeed, Thrive, Charlie carp, fish emulsion, anything you have on hand or can get hold of will be OK. Many of us feed at 2 -3 week intervals to counteract the regular watering. You could also follow up with some solid or organic fertiliser as well - dynamic lifter, neutrog pellets, etc. Ficus are gross feeders so it is very hard to over fertilise a ficus.

Ficus are frost tender but that's probably not an issue on the central coast. The tree will probably do far better outside rather than indoors, provided it doesn't get too cold.

It does have a few elongated stems but it would be better to let it recover health and strength before doing any pruning.

As for age, this tree could easily be the 49 years claimed. It's very hard to judge because growth slows with neglect and speeds up with better conditions. I'd certainly go with the stated age.

Good luck with getting this one back to full health and vigour. If there's a tree that can come back from this state it's a ficus!

[breany]

Thanks everyone for a very thorough rundown of what I need to do. You guys are awesome! Sounds like there is plenty of hope. It's currently pouring down on the Central coast so I have left the Ficus outside for a nice earned drink. I will also try and pop along to the Central Coast Bonsai Open show this weekend as it's only just down the road. Many thanks and take care everyone. Cheers

[TimIAm]

Distribution of F obliqua is all along the east coast, so being in NSW doesn't guarantee you have a F rubiginosa https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https:// ... ni/2913901

It doesn't matter much though because the two of them are pretty much identical in care.

[shibui]

Agreed Tim.
You'll note that I only said chances are higher it's rubiginosa and that's just because rubiginosa seems to be much more widely used for bonsai here in Australia.
Could still be several species and chances are we'll never know because I believe that many ficus can only be identified from differences in the fruits.