Hi spock22a: I've read all the posts, including yours.   Yes, the comments are straight forward and direct, including yours.  And that's okay.   I can see you have an emotional attachment to your Ficus, and now you are ready to take the next step and learn more about bonsai.   As you discover and learn more about your own tree, you will develop your skills, and also begin to critique the work of others as well.  But, that is a privledge that comes with experience. Learning and sharing, that's the beauty of a forum. And, I can tell from your eagerness to learn, that passion will follow soon.

Now about your tree.   The pics you provided show a thick and well developed trunk.  At this point, the trunk is the best thing about the tree, and is where I would focus my attention.   I believe your tree has the potential to be styled, trained and developed into a nice Shohin bonsai.   It has an interesting shaped trunk -  almost grotesque.   And that can be good!   Many prize winning bonsai began as "ugly ducklings".   Remember the duck and the swan stroy?   Anyway, here are a couple of links for your reference.   The first is an image of what your tree might look like down the road.    And, the other is a good source on the topic of Ficus bonsai with pics to aspire to. Good luck. Rudy

2.bp.blogspot.com/_jI07RPVEgbI/SFkQwN8KX...g/s400/NSC_5852v.jpg

www.bonsaimary.com/ficus-bonsai-trees.html

I completely disagree with the notion that a ginseng ficus from home depot can not be made into a bonsai. My first tree was form home depot and is still alive and thriving. It is noting like what it use to look like. Here are some pictures of my first one and a tree a garbed 2 seasons ago to toy around with. My first tree the big one sat in a window for 8 years before I even did anything with it, but 2 years ago I diverted some time from my other trees to give it some glory. LOL

First I would look online at some mature ginseng ficus bonsai, then you will have a good idea what direction you are going.
Second stop trying to defoliate it and create smaller leafs, that is done after shape has been achieved and the last thing you do. Let this thing grow wild after you get a good leader you like.
Third repot it with a lot better substrate (clay pellets and peat moss 75% clay 25% peat) so it can grow a lot faster and you can fertilize heavily. All this tree needs is lots of water, fertilizer and sun to get big. This tree grows year round. If you can provide those things it will grow out of control and with some training be something in a couple years.

Both these trees are far from done, but are shaping up nicely.

hm.. Well.. What can I say.

I think your pictures are good reason to stick with the argument that ficus Ginseng is not good starter material. Basically, ALL the plant is, is roots with leaves, and require many years of ongrwogin before you have a plant that you can consider styling (The stage where you are now, took 8 years, and you agree that they are far from done).

There is much better material to be had than these ginseng plants.

But if you have one, then why not use it? You need years of work for any tree, or at least that's what I've been told and have read in multiple places. So why not take on a challenge? My problem with your posts was that they were always s negative and discouraging, which wasn't what I needed..... It's frustrating to come for an answer to a specific question, and to receive replies that aren't relevant to what you want to know.... Some of us don't have the ability to get to clubs or regular face to face interactions with others involved with bonsai. The nearest club to me is two hours (possibly a few more) away, which isn't an option for me. Books and internet resources are my only options, and it is frustrating to be driven away from the more interactive of the two options.

Side note.... As someone else dealing with mental health issues then you should understand that everyone has their own triggers, and their own pressure points. Every mental health case is unique, and you shouldn't judge my mental health based off of your own.

Defoliating has actually done wonders for this tree. It's encouraged more leaves and growth, especially new stems. I have a sense for where I want this tree to go, but had wanted other people's opinions as to where to go with it.

Your repotting suggestions aren't an option for me. From my experience peat moss tends to smell as it breaks down. I have really severe asthma and am living in a small dorm room. That's actually a problem I'm currently having, as my fertilizer supplier ran out of liquid stuff and had to give me organic material (contributing factor to an asthma attach which sent me to the ER ). Until I can have a separate room in which to keep my trees regular potting soil with liquid fertilizer is the best I can give it. Light isn't an issue, as I am finally in a single and can just let my plants have dawn to dusk light without worrying that my roommates will close the blinds.

Those trees look beautiful. Do you have any photos for what they looked like before wiring and pruning? I'd love to get a sense for what you had to do to get those trees to look like that.

Hello Rudy. It's not the emotional attachment to the fiscus. I expected constructive criticism. I just felt as though I was being attacked without having questions answered, or having anything constructive given to me. I know that I'm no where near the point where I can critique other's work, and I haven't tried to as I am still a beginner. I hate feeling afraid to go to an information website for something I love. Books can only get you so far.

The trunk is one of the things I really like about this tree. Although I'm confused as to how this tree could be shaped into a Shohin bonsai. From my understanding Shohin are smaller than the average bonsai. Apart from the fact that I don't think I'm skilled enough yet to try this (want to make sure I can properly fertilize a regular sized bonsai before going any smaller), this tree is about a foot tall. That seems too tall to be shaped to a Shohin without some major trimming, and losing all three of this tree's main branches. I would think that the roots themselves would be too large to turn into a Shohin, although it may be that the books I've read have used particularly small examples of what Shohins are like.