60 year old Moreton Bay Fig "Bonsai" Help
Posted: December 29th, 2024, 4:39 pm
Hi, my name is Scott and this is my first post to the forum.
My knowledge of Bonsai is quite limited. In the late 1980s, as a teenager, I took a 5-day course at a Bonsai nursery where I learned the basics like traditional branch structure and plant care. I have a couple of old books from that time, but I haven't cared for any Bonsai in 30 years.
I’ve always had a soft spot for the hobby and appreciated it from afar over the years. My interest in Bonsai led me to a greater interest in Japanese Culture / Language which in turn led me to studying and working there, getting married, having kids before all returning to Australia.
Now, to the plant in question. In the early 1960s, my grandmother found a Moreton Bay fig growing in the stump of a dead tree in her yard. She put it in a Bonsai pot and essentially did nothing to it for 40 years beyond watering and repotting once. About 20 years ago, my mother took it to a Bonsai nursery to get it "fixed". I'm not sure what the nursery did to it as I wasn't in Australia at the time beyond severely pruning it (both top and root) and repotting it.
Over the next 20 years none of the branches were trained and they just grew very leggy with leaves constantly falling off and regrowing. My grandmother passed and the plant went to my mum where about 6-8 weeks ago she just cut off all branches and let resprout naturally as seen in photos. She has since passed the plant onto me.
Any advice would be very much appreciated, I am best just trying to focus the plant to grow a few main branches and train from there (have bonsai wire and wire cutting tools). Is it too late to apply Japanese bonsai cutting paste / putty to branches cut 6-8 weeks ago? Youngest son just returned from Japan two days ago so brought supplies. Assume no point applying to very old cuts? Repot? I would like to fix that big cut root that sticks out of pot. Any help would be great. Thanks.
My knowledge of Bonsai is quite limited. In the late 1980s, as a teenager, I took a 5-day course at a Bonsai nursery where I learned the basics like traditional branch structure and plant care. I have a couple of old books from that time, but I haven't cared for any Bonsai in 30 years.
I’ve always had a soft spot for the hobby and appreciated it from afar over the years. My interest in Bonsai led me to a greater interest in Japanese Culture / Language which in turn led me to studying and working there, getting married, having kids before all returning to Australia.
Now, to the plant in question. In the early 1960s, my grandmother found a Moreton Bay fig growing in the stump of a dead tree in her yard. She put it in a Bonsai pot and essentially did nothing to it for 40 years beyond watering and repotting once. About 20 years ago, my mother took it to a Bonsai nursery to get it "fixed". I'm not sure what the nursery did to it as I wasn't in Australia at the time beyond severely pruning it (both top and root) and repotting it.
Over the next 20 years none of the branches were trained and they just grew very leggy with leaves constantly falling off and regrowing. My grandmother passed and the plant went to my mum where about 6-8 weeks ago she just cut off all branches and let resprout naturally as seen in photos. She has since passed the plant onto me.
Any advice would be very much appreciated, I am best just trying to focus the plant to grow a few main branches and train from there (have bonsai wire and wire cutting tools). Is it too late to apply Japanese bonsai cutting paste / putty to branches cut 6-8 weeks ago? Youngest son just returned from Japan two days ago so brought supplies. Assume no point applying to very old cuts? Repot? I would like to fix that big cut root that sticks out of pot. Any help would be great. Thanks.
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