My first Ficus

[mcgee]

Hey everyone. Im new to bonsai and picked up this ficus obliqua for 13 bucks. Just wanted to practice the whole "keeping it alive" skill and didnt want to spend heaps. I love the look of the figs and the aerial roots. Any tips on what i can do with this baby? Or just let it grow? Not sure if its prime bonsai material as its so young and branch placement etc but as i said im going cheap until ive got the green thumb.

[shibui]

You've picked a great species to start with. Most ficus will forgive you for forgetting to water occasionally. They are difficult to starve to death and when you cut them they produce many new buds from all over.

As your aim is to learn to keep it alive I'd say just feed it lots and make it grow as much as possible this year. I just heap on the chook poo pellets - about 2 cm deep all over the surface and add some more every month or so. Figs love to be fed.

When you are ready the main trunk will need pruning so you can use one of the side branches as a new leader. Then you'll have a shorter, thicker trunk to start developing a bonsai but if you want to develop a thicker trunk I'd leave it as is for this year. the more there is the quicker the trunk will thicken.

If you aim to grow a largish sized bonsai you could consider slipping it into a larger pot so it will grow even more but if you'd like a nice neat smaller bonsai I'd keep it in that pot for now.

[Bougy Fan]

I think it is a Green Island fig - not an obliqua. It even looks like the ovate leaf variety They are a bit slower growing that other figs but I love them and they are well suited to the humidity here in brissy

[mcgee]

There much different in looks and growth rate? Chick i bought it off seemed to think it was obliqua haha oh well.. not to fussed really with this one. Thanks for the info.
Im liking the small leaved variety. Might attempt a cutting or something of another type in the near future and see how that goes

[Naimul]

ficus cuttings are probably the easiest species to strike. i've had the most success with cuttings where the branches chosen have hardened (ie not green and soft). i just pop them into the ground and forget about them, then a month or two later, they start pushing out new growth (though this was only during the spring/summer season).