kittyvlekkie wrote:

i agree with leatherback but it might need a bit more phosphorous in it's fertilizer to help rootgrowth.

As long as the roots have not really settled & started to actively grow fertilizer does not do anything. It is better to wait with fertilizer until the tree has shown signs that the roots have taken hold.

leatherback wrote:

As long as the roots have not really settled & started to actively grow fertilizer does not do anything. It is better to wait with fertilizer until the tree has shown signs that the roots have taken hold.

100% agree with that. A plant will only absorb as much nutrients as he requires. Giving a plant too much fertiliser will only result in a build up of harmful salts in the soil. As a tree is hardly growing after its repot as a result of shock it does not require any fertiliser. The natural nutrients in the soil are enough to feed this tree until you see new growth appear.

In addition: According to Liebsig's law off the minimum, the amount of nutrients that a plant is able to absorb is not controlled by the total amount off resources, but by the scarcest resource. This means that giving a plant an overdoses of phosphorous or nitrogen won't do any good if the scarcest resource is for instance iron. This is why you should always give your trees a balanced fertiliser which is optimised for the plant its needs.

@kittyvlekkie: Hi kittyvlekkie, welcome to this forum. It's nice to see that you have found yourself a new hobby. I hope you will enjoy bonsai as much as I do and for as long as (or even longer than) I do. Bonsai is a very intriguing hobby because there is so much that you can, and have to learn in order to be able to do it right. You'll have to understand advanced aesthetics as well as in-depth knowledge of plants and gardening. Many of us have been practicing bonsai for years and they still don't know everything. As a matter of fact, I think I started with bonsai when I was just about your age too.

I see you are very eager to learn, which is good! Just bear in mind that you are just a beginner and there is a lot for you to learn. There is a long road ahead off you and you'll probably kill a few plants along the way (I know I did). So I strongly advice you to reed as much as you can and absorb as much as you can and keep asking questions. I'm sure we will be happy to answer all off them.

But please, stop giving advise to other people until you have a lot more experience! At a forum like this it's very hard to recognise a beginner from a pro. Writing 100 posts in one month does not yet make you a pro even when this forum tells you so. I think you wouldn't be so happy too if you where to follow someones advise and it turns out to be wrong.

yep yep yep and yep...a healthy ficus will store nutrients(energy) in the trunk and branches this is why they root so easily and is imperative when doing work like this
.as long as there are roots leaves will form and as long as there are leaves roots will form ,light is the big thing. light energizes the processies that transport the nutients up and the the sugars down the tree

I see you are very eager to learn, which is good! Just bear in mind that you are just a beginner and there is a lot for you to learn. There is a long road ahead off you and you'll probably kill a few plants along the way (I know I did). So I strongly advice you to reed as much as you can and absorb as much as you can and keep asking questions. I'm sure we will be happy to answer all off them

do not judge someone without knowing them(one of my 'rules'(i know more people use them.))

i know i am still a beginner and i am still learning and i am trying to learn from everything but about the elements plants need, i got it from a article LB showed us and confirmed this with my biology teacher, she said that most of our lives are ruled by chemic reactions(went through my mind before) and i kinda agree with her, she also said that certain elements were needed for good growth of trees and plants. but she did not say anything about what LB mentioned, that the tree doesn't really absorb that much when the roots haven't really settled. but i learned from it.

Many of us have been practicing bonsai for years and they still don't know everything.

I think you wouldn't be so happy too if you where to follow someones advise and it turns out to be wrong.

just a retorical and philosiphical question about this, if someone does not fully know everything about something, then how is his advice correct?

i understand i still have to learn a lot and i always try to respect the elder and wise.

Many of us have been practicing bonsai for years and they still don't know everything.

I think you wouldn't be so happy too if you where to follow someones advise and it turns out to be wrong.

just a retorical and philosiphical question about this, if someone does not fully know everything about something, then how is his advice correct?
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The advice is correct, because they will only give advice for the things they know. There are still things people with many experience don't know, but they don't give advice of these topics. So the advice they give, is often correct


PS: Please On-topic again.