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Posted by: generousT on 2009-09-04, 23:45:12
Growing any bonsai takes time. You start with a small ficus plant in a pot 4 to 6 inches in diameter. Keep it there for 2 or 3 months to make sure that it is healthy. Don't fertilize it, but make sure that it has adequate water and light. Then start watching it for 30 minutes a day. Just do that for another month. Transplant it to a smaller pot or the container of your choice. It must be large enough to contain the root mass which will be left when, during the transplantation, you trim away about 50% of the smallest roots. After that move, trim away 3 of the smallest branches which you have been watching during your month long observation. Don't trim away more than 3 of those branches a week for no more than 4 weeks. Continue to observe the tree. Make sure that it has enough water and light. A small amount of water twice a day, not a lot all at once. For about 3 to 6 months, keep up the watering and the light and the observation. Observe the tree for a total of 6 months without doing anything. Then trim off the new growth at the tips of the branches which you have left on the plant. Gently remove the tree from its container. Prune off 30% of the small roots. Return it to its container. Wait another 3 months. By then you should know your bonsai well enough to do for it what it needs. Good luck, grasshopper. |
