Hey everyone. Firstly, a big thank you to everyone on Bonsai Empire. I have been reading this website for at least the last year and you have helped answer every question that I had.

A little bit of background about my bonsai journey. I am a complete novice and my horticultural endeavors up to Feb 2014 were limited to bean sprouts in wet paper towels. That being said, I had never grown or planted anything before. I live in an apartment complex and my upstairs neighbour, who is a long time bonsai enthusiast, was moving away to Cape Town and could not transport all his trees without risking damage to them so he sold most of his stock and had 7 young trees left which he kindly left in my care. I gladly accepted his gift as I knew that bonsai are very personal and precious things and I saw this as an opportunity to try something that is new to me.

I soon began to learn that this is more a cultural artform than horticulture. And the mystique and tradition of bonsai is a fascination to me. I since grown my collection to 11 trees, 3 grown from seed, and 1 from a cutting, and all my gifted trees are thriving, thanks in a large part to the advice from Bonsai Empire.

On to reason for this post. Another neighbour is moving away in about 6 weeks. She has for the last 25 years, kept a Ficus in a 50cm deep x 40cm wide cylindrical pot. It was never trained or intended to be bonsai. It has grown to 142cm tall, with a trunk diameter of 9.5cm, and is completely pot bound. It was re-potted about 6 years ago and shoved into a far corner of the building's garden, under the shade of many larger trees so the branches are more like twigs and leaves are sparse and yellowing. As far as we know, it was never fertilized.

She has given this tree to me! Joy! But now I need to save this 25 year old tree and maybe, just maybe, train it into a beautiful bonsai.
We are at the end of Autumn in South Africa and I live on the East Coast. Our climate here is subtropical with Winter temperatures rarely below 15 degrees, even at night and humidity around 60%. I fear that interfering with this tree is far, far out of the scope of my bonsai expertise. (By this is I mean the lack thereof.)

• Please help with any advice on how I could save this tree from dying during the next 3 winter months.
• Should I re-pot now and hope for best?
• Should I just fertilize and not re-pot?
• Should I not do anything and just wait for Spring? (September in S.A)
• Is it even possible to train a 25 year old tree?

Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks again Guys.
A.J

geekfreedom wrote:

Please help with any advice on how I could save this tree from dying during the next 3 winter months.

If it has survived 6 years in a pot, it will probably survive the next three months as well.
Older trees often don't grow that fast (though I've not seen a picture so can't really see the state of the tree).

Should I re-pot now and hope for best?

I would first let the tree get accustomed to its new environment.

Should I just fertilize and not re-pot?

Probably. Probably not too much. Can we see a picture?

Should I not do anything and just wait for Spring? (September in S.A)

Sounds like a plan.

Is it even possible to train a 25 year old tree?

Hell yeah. That's what we're always looking for: good old material.
But it depends. Can we get a picture?

geekfreedom wrote:

Please help with any advice on how I could save this tree from dying during the next 3 winter months.

Hi there A.J.,

Well, this is a post I posted months earlier, but it suits your current concerns just fine, so I´m reposting it... Sorry guys if you read it for a second time

"Ficus are a tropical/subtropical species that grow continuously all along the year, yes their growth is diminished in winter, but still they do not stop growing. Ficus cannot withstand long periods of temperatures dropping below 15 celsius degrees, if so, its health would commence to decay. Also they need elevated levels of light and while they also require rather high levels of humidity to develop aerial roots they generally endure just fine a scarce watering regime in winter. However they are very fond of regular sprinkling of their foliage. So, a good rule of thumb would be to water it when the soil gets a little dry but it is not bone dry just yet and to keep it in a room or a window sill facing preferably east or south. But, anyways to prevent that the tree's health might eventually decay it is still mandatory that during the months or seasons where temperatures remain above 15C degrees the tree remain outdoors receiving plenty of fresh air and loads of direct sunlight. So, no... It is not an "indoor" species, but a species that can't survive low temperatures and it needs living in warm environment during winter months"

Oh well yes, also:

www.bonsaiempire.com/tree-species/ficus
www.bonsai4me.com/SpeciesGuide/Ficus.html

Knock yourself out

Alain

Hey guys. I hope everyone's having a great Monday. Blues on this day shall not be accepted.

Thanks for the feedback Auk and Alain. I am formulating a plan as of this writing.
Please see the attached pics that I took yesterday afternoon.

I do need to change the pot though. (Not actually re-pot).
This neighbour of mine needs her terracotta pot returned so I will have to find a suitable new pot.
I just thought that maybe while I am changing the pot, I might as well do some maintenance. Or is that another bad idea from my brain?

Thanks again and please have a great week.
A.J

Just take the plant out of the current container, and into a pot a size larger. When spring hits the plant should be better already, with a bit more foliage. When you have lush growth all-over, you can think about working the roots and/or drastic reductions. If you do it before, it will impact the health of the tree to such an extend it might not survive, unless you know what you are doing.

Thanks leatherback. I am going to do just that for now.
From reading the info on Alain's post, I think it will help if I started watering during this week and then change the pot during the weekend.

Also, the tree in under shade as seen in the pics I uploaded earlier and the soil is seems bone dry just underneath the surface.
Slight watering might help loosen the soil when changing the pot and avoid damaging the roots too much.
I am also going to move the tree to a spot that allows it full sunshine, which is about 7 hours a day around this time of year in my neck of the woods.

Cheers and have a great week!
A.J

Hm.. I think I would take it out sooner as you will have swollen roots once you water it

Hi leatherback.
I checked the soil again about 2 hours ago and everything is very tightly clumped together and very dry even though we had a bit of a drizzle last night.
There are a lot of fibrous roots as well as some very thick woody roots. It's the fibrous roots that worry me.
I guess I need to strike a balance between slightly moist roots and room to slide the tree out of the pot hey?

Another problem that I found on close inspection today. The reason for the dead and dying leaves on the canopy is due to an insect infestation of some kind. The leaves that have yellowed on the top of the tree have also folded closed. Upon me opening one of the folded leaves, I found about 10 - 15 tiny black insects in a fine white web. The folded leaves are yellow but not dry.
Any ideas about what these insects might be and how dangerous are they to the tree?
Will normal garden pesticide be enough to kill them off without harming the tree? Or is there something specific I should be using?

Thanks for all the help so far and for feeding my obsession. I wish I could just retire and quit studies and just train bonsai all day long.

Hm.. normally that should work fine yes.
Dificult to tell what to do. Can't you get a new pot tomorrow to put it in? Then you could pull it out today, put it in a buket of water, and tomorrow evening put it in a new container

A normal insecticide should do just fine. If they're really stubborn you can always try something heavier or more specialised. DDT should get you rid of every insect around ya.