A year ago I bought this bonsai tree from a store and it was aptly labeled "Bonsai Tree". Now that it's managed to survive a year at my hand, I'd like to take care of it properly and "Bonsai Tree" just isn't enough information.

At first I thought it might be a Hackberry but my leaves are a lot rounder and smoother. All the pictures of trees I find online are doing a lot better than mine, and that actually makes this one harder to identify haha because it looks like it took a thorough chopping before I rescued it I went through all the plant identification on this website and I just don't have a knack for this. The fact the tree has survived this long is a testament to my fiancee, not me.

If anyone knows what this little beastie is that would be a huge help. Thank you in advance!

Looks like a ficus gonseng, a potted plant, not a bonsai, that has been neglected for a year.

Hahah you certainly don't "beat round the bush"

Thanks a lot, that looks right according to google images! Now I should be able to figure out what it needs. Believe it or not it's doing better here than it was in that store! All the places near me have their plants indoors with no windows so they're usually a rescue mission.

Thanks again!

Sunlight, good soil mix, proper watering.

funkyblueeyes wrote: Hahah you certainly don't "beat round the bush"

Indeed I don't. You did something with the (little) information I gave you, confirmed the species and will figure out what it needs. I love this reaction.

spacewood wrote: Sunlight, good soil mix, proper watering.

Thanks! I've put it into a better pot with what is hopefully a better soil mix. Not a lot of good options nearby but we'll see if what I threw together is at least an improvement. This is going to sound silly but it never occurred to me that the soil the store sold it in would be so bad for it! That might explain the little mold problem we struggled with a few months ago....

what is the soil you used?

funkyblueeyes wrote: Thanks! I've put it into a better pot with what is hopefully a better soil mix. Not a lot of good options nearby but we'll see if what I threw together is at least an improvement. This is going to sound silly but it never occurred to me that the soil the store sold it in would be so bad for it! That might explain the little mold problem we struggled with a few months ago....

The soil a plant is in determines the watering regimine. If you have normal potting soil, you'll have to water less than the free draining soils used in bonsai, however it is often difficult to get the watering right with normal organic soil. If you were to use akadama, or mix with akadama, you might have to water 2 or 3 times a day, if it is very hot and sunny. This forum, in my memory, has been fairly civil with regards to discussions of soil types, I have seen and heard some pretty heated ones about this type or that type of soil elsewhere.