Ficus styling advice for an amateur

[JPG]

Hi all

I'm looking for some advice for a ficus (benjamina??) that I bought at Bunnings recently. I potted it up as shown below. I was thinking a broom style would look good. I've wired up a few of the lower branches. There is one long branch thats needs to be trimmed back, but should I take some off the top too...I was thinking about taking off the top 1/3rd?

By the way, I'm a total amateur...this is my first go at my own plant from scratch (I've had a couple of other bonsai that I've bought).

Thanks in advance

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Ficus_Aug2012_02_small.jpg

[Bougy Fan]

Yes it's a benji. The trunk is a bit thin for a broom - maybe more a formal upright. If you are satisfied with the trunk diameter leave it in the bonsai pot, otherwise remove it and put it in a grow box or ground if you want the trunk fatter. Watch the wire on figs in the growing season - in a little as 4 weeks the wire can cut in quite badly

[kcpoole]

Formal upright Fig? dunno if that will work but if you wanna try then go for it.

For me I woud cut back hard to develop taper and movement. The pot look quite large so you should get good growth in the next year anyway

Ken

[chrisatrocky]

These little benjis don't look much, so you need to dress them up a bit. do something different . They are also known as weeping fig so why not try that. I did one in this style yesterday. I'll post a pic soon.
here's the idea.

Ficus_Aug2012_02_small.jpg

chris

[Guy]

not sure how warm it is in perth but I reckon I'd leave it alone for at least another month

[JPG]

I like the suggestion Chrisatrocky and thanks for the pic...really helps.

I wasn't planning on doing anything at least a month, as I thought I'd wait til Spring. Also, with two young kids I don't get a lot of time.

Thanks for the advice all

[chrisatrocky]

Here's a pic of the one I did this week.

weeping Benji2.JPG

Such a thin trunk you need to take the focus away from it, the 'Root-over-rock' style and the weeping branches do this.
The best thing to do, is start with better material, let this kind of stock plant grow and develop. However, I do understand that as a beginner you need to start with inexpensive and expendable material. Keep in mind though, to develop such material will take some time and you may find, not be worth it in the end.

chris

[k2bonsai]

Personally i would get it out if the bonsai pot and into a large nursery pot and just let it grow to thicken that trunk over a few years (planting at an angle if possible). Then in a few years when you have a lower trunk clos to the size you want, chop it and grow out yhe new leader, again for a few years until the right size. Then chop again and you slowely buod up a nice taper and informal tree.

If you don't have the parience for this from this tree then i suggest buying better stock to play with while this one grows. Ficus do grow rather fast however in the rightconditions and soil mix so dependant on the siZe of fonished tree you want, you could prob chop in 2 years....

[toohey]

I wouldn't take it out of the pot yet as it is a bit cool and the pot looks large enough to train it and thicken it up.

If the trunk is still flexible you might try putting some movement in it with thicker and carefully placed wire. Otherwise it will need a chop and a new leader trained to give it movement.

Make sure you check the wire before too long as the tree will grow when it starts to heat up.

I would give it a feed now with Charlie Carp ready for spring. Thankfully, not too many frosts in Perth.
Good Luck

[JPG]

It's been almost 18 months and I've had basically no time to play with this ficus, but yesterday I defoliated and wired it up. Any thoughts/comments are welcome. How long does it usually take for the leaves to start coming back? I wasn't quite sure what to do with the small branch in the middle that points straight up...I thought about removing it but was worried it would leave a bit of a hole in the middle? I figured I'd see what it looks like later on, as I can always take the branch off at a later date.

Ficus_Jan2014.jpg

[JPG]

I thought I'd update this post. I didn't really like the way this one was heading....so off with it's head! I decided to completely change direction and I think it's looking a lot better now. The pot is about 15cm long.

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