Greetings,

So, a few years ago a potted up a small fig plant with the intention of replanting it at my new place...but never got around to it. It has been sitting on the stoop, in bad conditions, neglected, ever since.

And now this is what it looks like (see attached).

Is there something/anything I can/should do?

I only started looking in to bonsai a few days ago (I've got a couple of books on the way though), so Im not really sure if there is anything obvious to do...or not do as the case may be. Perhaps this is just a crappy little plant thats not worth any time after all.

Some/any preliminary advice will be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Matt

at this point let the thing grow. do a lot of studying and reading. maybe buy yourself some more mature trees you might be able to work on later.something a little more beginner friendly, but use this time to learn about bonsai. you have some years before you can do anything

Klaptron,

Welcome!
Where are you located?
Yours is a sapling, but I've seen some great Ficus carica bonsai here in Brazil.
It takes time, leaves are difficult too reduce in size, and the fruits will always be bigger than the proportion of the tree.
My suggestion is, IF you go for it, let it grow in a colander for some years before doing any bonsai work on it, and aim for a big bonsai, so the leaves get more proportional.
Meanwhile, get some more advanced (older, thicker) material to train.

Crent89, I was finishing writing when you posted! So, we gave the OP the same suggestions.

No worries.

I never really planned on making this a bonsai, but just with my limited (and I mean limited) knowledge I thought it looked okay. Guess not haha.

As I said I've got some books on the way. I'll read them properly before I decide how I want to properly delve into bonsai.

For now, I'll just leave this one as is.

Thanks

Oh and FYI, I'm in Melbourne, Australia.