Description
Ginseng Ficus are a great entry level bonsai style to begin with the Japanese art form of growing trees as miniatures. The ideal bonsai companion, ficuses are very easy to shape. We present shaped bonsai plants for those who want to appreciate the beauty of bonsai at home!
Please Note: All bonsais are unique and each shaped plant is different. Your plant is likely to look different from the one in the picture, though this is one of the many plants we have.
Basic Care Guide
Light: Semi-shade with 2-3 hours direct sunlight
Water: Daily
Feed: General purpose fertilizer every 15 days
Pruning: Regular pruning is necessary to retain the tree’s shape. Prune back to 2 leaves after 6-8 leaves have grown. Leaf pruning can be used to reduce leaf size, as some ficus Bonsai species normally grow large leaves. If a considerable thickening of the trunk is desired, the ficus can be left to grow freely for one or two years. The strong cuts that are necessary afterwards don't affect the ficus' health and new shoots will grow from old wood. Larger wounds should be covered with cut paste.
Wiring: Wiring of thin to medium-strong ficus branches is easy as they are very flexible. The wires should be checked regularly though, as they cut into the bark very quickly. Strong branches should be shaped with guy-wires because those can be left on the tree for a much longer period.
Special training techniques: Ficus has the ability to fuse plant parts which touch each other with some pressure. So branches, roots or trunks can fuse together and form appealing structures. You can use this feature for example to tie a lot of young plants together and let them fuse to build one strong single trunk. Fig trees also react very well to approach-grafting of branches and roots and to other grafting techniques. If the growing conditions are ideal, even aerial roots taken from one part of the tree can be grafted in a different position. For faster closing of large wounds young plants, shoots or aerial roots can be grafted across the wound. The grower can work on fig trees with nearly unlimited creativity, which increases the appeal of ficus as a Bonsai plant considerably.
Repotting: Repot the tree during spring every other year, using a basic soil mixture. Ficus tolerates root-pruning very well
Common Name
Ginseng Bonsai
Native Region
South and South East and East Asia
Botanical Name
Ficus Microcarpa, Ficus retusa, Ficus nitida
Family
Moraceae (Mulberry family)