All - I am currently trying to care for a Ficus tree. I've posted here before how it clearly isn't bonsai (a well meant but misguided gift) so I'm practicing keeping it alive until I can acquire some more suitable trees.

I've noticed the occasional gnat or fruit fly around it. Google lead me here www.mellobonsai.com/care/Getting-Rid-of-Soil-Gnats.aspx

So I think this is the problem. Here is my main question though - I had thought I was letting the soil get suitably dry before watering. The surface gets fully dry to touch and appearance, and I usually scrap through a bit to see how dry it is underneath. Do I need some way to see farther down into the pot? Is my soil not draining properly? Once it gets dry I give it a good soaking.

Also, FWIW, the plant is currently inside until temperatures come back up where I am. I know, I know, not ideal, but we have snow on the ground and solid frost nightly.

Tell me what kind of pictures would be helpful and I will take some.

You'll understand that I'm not going to reply to your question.

Auk wrote:

You'll understand that I'm not going to reply to your question.

I don't understand, it looks as though you have replied

Yes that could be a problem and solution. Search the forum.

leatherback wrote:

Yes that could be a problem and solution. Search the forum.

I don't know why you guys have to be so difficult.

I found this from another post:

Water when the chop stick comes out of the soil clean is a standard I hear often. Or purchase a moisture meter until you know the requirements of your tree.

From this thread www.bonsaiempire.com/forum/basic-techniq...-bonsai-help?start=0 (I'm discarding the water meter discussion since 1) I don't have one and 2) users seemed, at best, skeptical of its effectiveness.

How "deep" does the chopstick (or wood pencil is more likely in my case) get inserted? To the base? Mid way? Just below the surface? Where do you check - near the roots? At the edge of the pot? Somewhere in between?

If my chopstick is returning dry between waterings but I'm still getting the gnat problem, is something wrong with my soil? Does my pot need more drainage?

I found this one (I think you wrote it leatherback):

Watering plants in the coarse substrate that you have here is a bit different from normal potting soil. It hardly spreads the water in the substrate. So in order to get the whole rootbal moist, you need to use a watering can with a spray nozzle thingy. All the surface needs to b watered.

I have my ficus (still) outside in the gardem (Except for one I defoliated). They get rained upon every few days. THey do no tmind a lot of watering. THey do dislike continuous water-soaked roots. Water more...

from this topic www.bonsaiempire.com/forum/watering-and-...ficus-watering#17046

I see advocating generous watering, but I'm not sure it applies so much to what I'm dealing with, since that was a plant that was getting water once every 2 weeks and needed catch up. Also, as far as I can tell I'm currently over-watering...

I found this one (also by you leatherback)

So if the soil surface dries out (You will quickly learn to tell: It changes color, adding a few drops to the surface will show you straight away) you water.

Emerging into a tub of water is one way. I prefer using a watering can. When watering, give so much that it drains from the bottom of the pot. That way you know the whole rootball has received water.

from this topic www.bonsaiempire.com/forum/help-me/7382-...nner-two-trees#15055

This seems most relevant, except for here, you suggest checking the surface and then watering thoroughly, which is what I have been doing. So now I'm pretty confused: Elsewhere it is suggested you need to check below the surface, but here you say that if the surface changes color, you know to water. This has been my exact method (I think I read it on another beginner bonsai site), but I have arrived at the problem of gnats which, according to my research on articles (no forum posts came up in my search) is caused by soil remaining too moist.

You guys are so quick to brush off legitimate questions with the "I want to grow aerial roots on my ikea plant that I water every 15 days like the tag says" ones. Just searching is great, but there is so much information out there and so much of it is contradictory (or, as has happened to me, I'm just too much of a novice to grasp the subtle differences). Trust me, I get it, this is a community of experts that wants to discuss the finer points of something they love and have devoted time to and instead its mostly people asking lazy questions and then getting defensive when you tell them something they don't want to hear.

I wrote the question above because my research left me short, and I was hoping that someone with experience would be willing to lend a few minutes to steer me in the correct direction. Search is only useful when there is useful information to find. Its odd, because in my line of work, I spend most of my time correcting the opposite approach. People constantly come to me and say "Well, I read this online, and it looks correct, so then I read the statute, and that confirmed my suspicion, so I posted it to a few forums and people told me to go for it. Where did I go wrong?" I then get to spend my time explaining that while what they read seems correct from a lay perspective, an expert would have been able to explain a term of art, or that the statute they happened to read references another one which is pre-emptive, or any number of things. It always ends with me saying, "Please, just ask me first, it would have been cheaper for you if you spent an hour getting things done right, now we are going to spend 30 hours trying to fix this."

Use a chop stick, check multiple places. Check the entire depth of soil.

Ficus typically are extremely tolerant to less than ideal care.

If you think its too moist, water less. The tree you have isnt super fickle.

I think people would be a lot easier on you if you do not have one person giving you an in depth description on why one ficus is a bonsai, and the other not, if you would not then question in another thread why something is not a bonsai. That kind of takes the will to help out of a lot of people.

As for gnats and care.. You have to read and try to understand:

- Bonsai soil is not rich in organics, typically
- Bonsai soil is very open and coarse
- Bonsai soil will drain immediately
- If you see the surface change color, the soil is starting to dry out; Depending on the location, that may mean you have a few hours to several days before it is too dry
- Bonsai soil can hardly be overwatered
- Getting rid of gnats is done by keping plants drier than normal. It is tricky. I have them in our plants at some point every winter, due to the very wet potting soild our regular jungle plants are in.

leatherback wrote:

I think people would be a lot easier on you if you do not have one person giving you an in depth description on why one ficus is a bonsai, and the other not, if you would not then question in another thread why something is not a bonsai. That kind of takes the will to help out of a lot of people.

As for gnats and care.. You have to read and try to understand:

- Bonsai soil is not rich in organics, typically
- Bonsai soil is very open and coarse
- Bonsai soil will drain immediately
- If you see the surface change color, the soil is starting to dry out; Depending on the location, that may mean you have a few hours to several days before it is too dry
- Bonsai soil can hardly be overwatered
- Getting rid of gnats is done by keping plants drier than normal. It is tricky. I have them in our plants at some point every winter, due to the very wet potting soild our regular jungle plants are in.

This is what I just fail to understand. I have no idea where the disconnect in communication is. This is such a helpful, knowledgeable answer. This is well above and beyond what would have sufficed! I don't see the necessity of the back and forth before we get here. Does this give me step by step directions on how to take care of my plant? No, but it gives plenty of guidance. I can now go research these things that you have listed out. Do I understand what "not rich in organics" has to do with anything? No, but you can bet I'll throw that into google and go from there.

I think people would be a lot easier on you if you do not have one person giving you an in depth description on why one ficus is a bonsai, and the other not, if you would not then question in another thread why something is not a bonsai. That kind of takes the will to help out of a lot of people.

I have no idea what this even means, but if I offended someone here, I do apologize, it wasn't my intention.

codeman_11901 wrote:

Use a chop stick, check multiple places. Check the entire depth of soil.

Ficus typically are extremely tolerant to less than ideal care.

If you think its too moist, water less. The tree you have isnt super fickle.

Thanks will do! Also, I have a feeling my plant is already getting less than ideal care, I'm trying not to make it worse. I've been keeping a notebook and it seems to go dry to the touch on about a 7-8 day cycle, but like I said, I've only been checking the surface and just under.

Also duly noted about chopsticks! I used a pencil today but will have chopsticks tomorrow

This is what I just fail to understand. I have no idea where the disconnect in communication is. This is such a helpful, knowledgeable answer. This is well above and beyond what would have sufficed! I don't see the necessity of the back and forth before we get here

it's because people who have been on this forum for years see the same questions coming back week after week and it tends to get annoying from time to time to see that majority of the people asking these questions don't even bother to use the "search" function to get the answers that have been given here a million times already..

people will gladly help with specific questions.. but most rudimentary things are easily to be found on the forums when using the search function or the species guide at the top of the page..

also, a lot of beginners have the impression of knowing what they are doing, while they are clearly clueless and refuse to take (constructive) comments..