First Bonsai - Gerneral Advice please

[Lowlyf]

G'day all,

I recently acquired my first bonsai. Its a juniper and its only about 10cm in height. Im just wonder what i should do with it at this early stage (if anything at all). I have attached pictures

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Also i bought a little ficus from the markets, its only cost me $1 and i thought i could put it in a pot and see if i could bonsai it in the future. please comment as i have attached a picture.

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And then there is this much big ficus that i have obtained through a friend (pictures attached) Please let me know if any of these have potential to be bonsai plants. and if so how you would go about pruning/ potting (regarding seasons etc.)

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Thanks

[Gerard]

Hi Lowlyf,
The juniper is always good for a first time, it will take ages to develop into a good bonsai but it is nice as a beginner to have something in a pot.
The figs are much faster to develop, bigger pots will allow all of these trees to develop faster and I can see that the larger fig is likely to be chopped back very soon (go for it) it will make great learning material.
I am sure you will soon produce some nice trees
You have already produced a wonderful avatar

[Lowlyf]

ahh your a geelong fan ay? Good man
Thanks for the advice

[Mitchell]

You have some good starter material there, much the same as what I first purchased when setting out and still purchase today.

The juniper to develop into a good tree would need to go in a larger grow pot or it will remain much the same size for many years. In saying that though, I personally would leave it in the current pot and just fiddle with it. Practice wiring it up and putting some more movement in it. In a year you'll smile at it and compare it to your grow box stock and wonder why you never planted it out, but that is our art of perpetual learning, we need to start somewhere though. Consider other options and planting angles, cascade perhaps or informal upright, the possibilities are endless.

The fig is similar to many I have, at this height it has gone a lil' past what we generally like to start movement at. It should still be supple enough to bend some movement into it, think "S" patterns. You could just snip it down low and it will re-shoot, but I would suggest once again, grabbing some wire and putting some movement into the existing stem for more practice, careful not to damage it though.

The ficus probably has many possibilities, look at reducing its height whilst also trying to envisage lines for the trunk/s to take, pics of it from other angles might present some more options.

[Lowlyf]

Thanks Mitchell, I really understand what your saying for the most part.

1 thing tho with the fig, your talking about the skinny one yes? If i simply chop the long trunk and wire it, is that what you mean that it will grow back? Its pretty lanky and im not sure if thats what u mean?

Thanks

[Jamie]

gday mate

the juni like gerard said is good to have something in a pot to care for while other trees are in training. the $1 fig could be put in the ground or at least a grow box and allowed to grow freely, you can wire movement into it, if you do exagerate the movement as when it thickens the movement will become more subtle.

now this bigger fig, looks like a baby ben, its the same as the monster i have for sale, just not as developed, it looks like there are two trees there unless the trunks have fused. if that is the case you might need to chop below that, look at taking a layer from it just for practice, you have plenty of time with them so dont stress.

chopping back figs to a bare trunk you should get a plethora of new shoots coming from it, workable shoots. the only figs you dont want to chop back are exotica, they will refuse to back bud, i know that from experience too as i got one and wasnt sure if it was exotic, the stump 6 months later still didnt have any shoots, it is still alive and i have started a thread graft on it to train a new leader, hopefully it works, my free/heel graft attempts didnt take, 6 attempts in total.

hope that helps a bit champ

[Lowlyf]

Hey Jamie, Thanks for the advice.

With the grow box for the ficus, IF i put it into a reasonably sized pot, with potting fix and slow release fertilizer, will that suffice? And if so should i do it now (winter?). Also will the juni grow any bigger than what it is now? Its pretty tiny, i would definitly like it bigger in the future. Or should i just leave it for and care for it and possibly prune it.

With the big fig, what do u mean by layering it?

Thanks mate,

P.s Sorry for the stupid questions, But i'll get there

[Jamie]

gday mate

a fig will thicken in an over sized pot, not like in the ground or a grow box but it will thicken over time. what i mean by layering on the bigger fig is basically just for practice but you can see what i mean at this link

http://bonsai4me.com/AdvTech/ATLayering.html

i would only do that for the practice on that tree though, normally layering is used to get a better nebari, or a nice section of trunk thats in the middle/top/low area of the tree.

as for the juni if you want it bigger you need to get it out of that pot and put it in the ground or a grow box and let it grow, try and get a sacrifice branch on it which will help thicken the trunk underneath that branch. so really its a matter of time, if you want bigger material you either have to grow it, or buy it, when you go to a nursery the price is more so the time spent on getting the trees to the stage they are at

[Lowlyf]

Ohhh so Layering is creating new roots then chop below those roots and plant the new (top half) of the tree. Thats cool!

Do you have any info on a grow box. E.g What stuff to put in it to make it healthy?

[Jamie]

a grow box can be made from timber, but more often than not a styrofoam box from the fruit and veg store is the easiest. get yourself some diatomite and away ya go

punch holes in the bottom of the styro box too

i just feed them like all my other trees.

[Greth]

Layering is very cool, and actually not too hard, certainly faster for propagation than taking cuttings.
My grow boxes are industrial crates, I sand them and treat them with Linseed oil so they look a little better. I use a good quality potting mix, some Dynamic Lifter or similar, and make sure they are well watered, occasional liquid fertilizer as well. I dont worry about grit or bonsai mix at this stage, as with ground growing it is mostly a matter of getting the tree up to size.
It is important that they are shallow, so the roots are not tempted to grow so deep it will be difficult later to get the tree into a bonsai pot.