Some regions are different i guess or depending on the individual, cuz in south east Asia Ficus Benjamina can be sold for a handsome price , its a favorite here in asia
ive root pruned some of my ficus more then others. it really makes the trunk flare when you root prune more often. thanks mike. i like taking apart "house trees" and making bonsai too lol.
Very nice bonsais! I recently got a pot with three tiny and thin Ficus Benjamina plants. They are around 20 cm tall and thin like the thinnest ones in your forest bonsai. They were discounted and seemed sick with weird spots on the leaves. I replanted them and removed the sick leaves. One of the plants died but two seem to be recovering, getting new fresh leaves. I am thinking of making them into bonsais, since I live in Japan. But I am a complete novice, having no idea about bonsai making whatsoever. Your video gave me a lot of inspiration. I hope they can survive and become as beautiful as yours.
Well thank you! I appreciate you saying that, and I've gotten some really good material before out of sick looking plants on the clearance shelf. I think sometimes those stores just put them on clearance when they aren't sure what to do with them. Our gain!
I like your trees! I've been going for some quite miniature styles, taking some drastic cuttings from my two little nursery stock trees and pushing to root them. Glad we had some plumbers tape on hand 👍 I've been using a cabinet as a greenhouse + produce bags for a few weeks, the difference it makes it fantastic, I can't wait to get my winter grow setup set up. Now, a lot of folks braid these, I'm surprise you have no samples that are braided. I've been tempted to twist together some branches from cuttings to make a thick and interesting branch or trunk as the (miniature, like 6" currently, goal of 10" height with a Tree of Life vibe) tree grows.
Interesting idea with the cabinet greenhouse! I might try something like that as I was thinking I needed a few smaller spaces in addition to my grow tent. I do have one that is/was braided! It's my original ficus fusion. At this point it's pretty much fused together so you can hardly even tell anymore that it was a braid. But, I think it actually fuses faster if the trucks are all straight and taped together.
@@BonsaiBoise Ah you're right! hah sorry i don't know how I forgot that one :) i hope not to lose braiding detail as they fuse but I suppose it's inevitable. as long as the trunk and branches thicken, the braid is doing what it needs to do 😊
Dear Mike, have you ever defoliated a maple bonsai in mid july or early august and not have it bud back out very fast? If so what did you do to get it to leaf back out? A month ago I defoliated a sugar maple but it it only has one little green bud that is either struggleing to come out or it’s really slow at coming back out. What I do to get it to leaf back out and will it survive until spring with no leaves?
I have done that but it's been awhile. I doubt there's much you can do to get it to leaf out again this year if it doesn't want to. I did it on a silver maple years ago and it survived and is doing fine now.
I Really Like Ficus Trees they Are Optimum Speaces For Beginners Like me 😊, not Like Conifers Or Desiduas Trees those you have to be So Carefull to Touch them Exept in Their Correct Time & Season. So Thanks For Sharing Mate. 🙌
@ It can be done to Benjamina. You can do it early spring and midsummer. Defoliate by cutting the leaves off at the base of the leaf leaving the petiole attached to the stem. That will protect the buds in the axils. Then, prune for architecture. Leave the end buds on branches you want to grow longer, and trim all other branches back to make a tight canopy of your choice.
Some regions are different i guess or depending on the individual, cuz in south east Asia Ficus Benjamina can be sold for a handsome price , its a favorite here in asia
Bonsai is all about the journey. I’m enjoying my ficus Benjamina. They are fun to work with. Your trees are looking great!
Thanks Wes!
ive root pruned some of my ficus more then others. it really makes the trunk flare when you root prune more often. thanks mike. i like taking apart "house trees" and making bonsai too lol.
It's fun right? People always think I'm crazy for taking some old ugly plant and wanting to bonsai it. The. They see it later and can't believe it
Congrats on your patience. You have an immense amount of it and your bonsai’s look amazing!
Thank you, I appreciate that!
Very nice bonsais! I recently got a pot with three tiny and thin Ficus Benjamina plants. They are around 20 cm tall and thin like the thinnest ones in your forest bonsai. They were discounted and seemed sick with weird spots on the leaves. I replanted them and removed the sick leaves. One of the plants died but two seem to be recovering, getting new fresh leaves. I am thinking of making them into bonsais, since I live in Japan. But I am a complete novice, having no idea about bonsai making whatsoever. Your video gave me a lot of inspiration. I hope they can survive and become as beautiful as yours.
Well thank you! I appreciate you saying that, and I've gotten some really good material before out of sick looking plants on the clearance shelf. I think sometimes those stores just put them on clearance when they aren't sure what to do with them. Our gain!
I like your trees! I've been going for some quite miniature styles, taking some drastic cuttings from my two little nursery stock trees and pushing to root them. Glad we had some plumbers tape on hand 👍 I've been using a cabinet as a greenhouse + produce bags for a few weeks, the difference it makes it fantastic, I can't wait to get my winter grow setup set up.
Now, a lot of folks braid these, I'm surprise you have no samples that are braided. I've been tempted to twist together some branches from cuttings to make a thick and interesting branch or trunk as the (miniature, like 6" currently, goal of 10" height with a Tree of Life vibe) tree grows.
Interesting idea with the cabinet greenhouse! I might try something like that as I was thinking I needed a few smaller spaces in addition to my grow tent.
I do have one that is/was braided! It's my original ficus fusion. At this point it's pretty much fused together so you can hardly even tell anymore that it was a braid. But, I think it actually fuses faster if the trucks are all straight and taped together.
@@BonsaiBoise Ah you're right! hah sorry i don't know how I forgot that one :)
i hope not to lose braiding detail as they fuse but I suppose it's inevitable. as long as the trunk and branches thicken, the braid is doing what it needs to do 😊
Really nice, always fun to experiment. I'd recommend trunk chopping one that you don't really like to try and make a short and fat mame/shohin
Yeah I've got my eye on a couple good candidates for something like that
Great varieties, all with one species. I’m diggin it, brother
Thanks! I'll probably do another look at some mixed ficus variety too since I'm starting to accumulate a lot of those
I’d be interested to see your focus forest pruning.
Cute one on blue pot
Thanks
Nice bro,
Nice trees!
Thank you!
Dear Mike, have you ever defoliated a maple bonsai in mid july or early august and not have it bud back out very fast? If so what did you do to get it to leaf back out? A month ago I defoliated a sugar maple but it it only has one little green bud that is either struggleing to come out or it’s really slow at coming back out. What I do to get it to leaf back out and will it survive until spring with no leaves?
I have done that but it's been awhile. I doubt there's much you can do to get it to leaf out again this year if it doesn't want to. I did it on a silver maple years ago and it survived and is doing fine now.
Love them
I Really Like Ficus Trees they Are Optimum Speaces For Beginners Like me 😊, not Like Conifers Or Desiduas Trees those you have to be So Carefull to Touch them Exept in Their Correct Time & Season.
So Thanks For Sharing Mate. 🙌
Thank you! I've grown to love working with ficus. They're so easy to propagate that I now have wayyy too many
Haha @@BonsaiBoise
Cool video, man.
Thanks brother
Defoliate your trees twice a year to reduce the leaves size.
@@sheriefkamal787 unfortunately that can't be done on ficus benjaminas. Other trees, yes that can work.
@ It can be done to Benjamina. You can do it early spring and midsummer. Defoliate by cutting the leaves off at the base of the leaf leaving the petiole attached to the stem. That will protect the buds in the axils. Then, prune for architecture. Leave the end buds on branches you want to grow longer, and trim all other branches back to make a tight canopy of your choice.