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BONSAI HELP NEEDED 🧤

lisey2013lisey2013 Posts: 32
in Plants
Hi everyone 

I'm just looking for some bonsai advice.  My friend has a bonsai tree thats looking worse for wear the past year . She's had it for a few years and doesn't know what type of tree it is. The past year the leaves have virtually all fallen off and some of the branches are dry and brittle. The pot it's in is ceramic and doesn't have drainage so I think it's not been over watered due to fear of the water being built up. I have attached some photos. There are a few more leaves starting to grow but it's sad to see it this way...how can we get it nice and bushy again or is it a case of the impossible lol 

Thanks for any advice

Posts

  • hogweedhogweed Posts: 4,053
    First thing I would do is tip it out of the pot and repot it into a pot with drainage holes and special bonsai compost. Check for any rotted roots and remove. Make sure it is not sitting in a draught or on a too hot windowsill. I think a steady temperature in a well lit windowsill would be fine. Water once after repotting and then mist it regularly. 
    It does look rather sad. It looks as though lots of branches have been chopped off it and it really just looks as though it is a tree kept in a small pot rather than a trained bonsai specimen!
    'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    might I suggest it's a plant which is , erm, how to put this politely? not really suited to being given the bonsai treatment? 
    I think I've got more chance of winning the 100m at the next Olympics than that particular specimen has of  winning any beauty contests?
    Devon.
  • lisey2013lisey2013 Posts: 32
    Thank you Hostafan for taking the time to write what you did. My friend has gone through a couple of years of terrible ordeals and has had to deal with so much that her priority wasn't looking after this as she was helping her partner try to recover from an serious illness.   I was posting this to try and help and get some kind advice to try and help her if I could as her partner bought her this many years ago and I was trying to bring a smile to her face if I could try and rescue it somehow.  I have 2 bonsais that ive had for many years but im out of my depth with this whixh was why i posted.She loved this so much as it had meaning but she had to prioritise caring for her partner above this at the time.  It was a gesture on my part to take it away to try and recover it and come here to try and get some advice. It's sentimental value to her and that's what I'm trying to keep for her that was all. 
  • lisey2013lisey2013 Posts: 32
    hogweed said:
    First thing I would do is tip it out of the pot and repot it into a pot with drainage holes and special bonsai compost. Check for any rotted roots and remove. Make sure it is not sitting in a draught or on a too hot windowsill. I think a steady temperature in a well lit windowsill would be fine. Water once after repotting and then mist it regularly. 
    It does look rather sad. It looks as though lots of branches have been chopped off it and it really just looks as though it is a tree kept in a small pot rather than a trained bonsai specimen!
    Thank you Hogweed. Yes it's looking terrible and now how it was years ago.  Sadly my friend has tried to cope with caring for her seriously ill partner the past couple years and this has sadly become in the back of her mind whixh I understand. Her partner bought it for her years ago so has sentimental meaning for her and I so want to bring a smile  to her face I said I would take it for a while and try to help it but I'm out of my depth. I have 2 lovely bonsai I have had for years but this is totally out there for me lol.  I just wanted to bring a smile back to her face but I don't think I'll be able to. I asked her if she had cut the few twigs I saw broken and she said they had snapped off few months ago.  I will try repotting and hope for the best but like you I feel it may be impossible.  She took such pride of this for years but her partner got sick and then she lost a family.member so this wasn't her priority but me being me thought I'd try and give it some tic. Thank you so much for taking the time to try and help I do appreciate it so much 🤗
  • madpenguinmadpenguin Posts: 2,543
    Your bonsai is a Ficus and is very common with bonsai enthusiasts.

    Here is one like yours (not mine!).
    It does need a prune on top but first I would get it out of that pot and into one with some drainage.
    There are some nice green shoots so I don't think all is lost just yet.
    If you Google ficus bonsai care you will find more info.
    “Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
  • madpenguinmadpenguin Posts: 2,543
    Hostafan1 said:
    might I suggest it's a plant which is , erm, how to put this politely? not really suited to being given the bonsai treatment? 
    I think I've got more chance of winning the 100m at the next Olympics than that particular specimen has of  winning any beauty contests?

    It is actually one of the more popular specimens for bonsai.
    I have just come back from our monthly Bonsai Society meeting and if you can get an Oak tree in a pot a Ficus is a doddle!!!
    “Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    edited February 2019
    @lisey2013, You said in your original posting " or is it a case of the impossible lol "
    I was merely suggesting that I think you know the answer. 
    Devon.
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576

     Non-bonsai ficus are very prone to leaf shedding and shoots dying back when neglected, so I guess bonsai ones are the same.  You have new green shoots showing quite low down on some of the branches so all is not lost.  I would gently scratch the bark on each of the bare cut-back branches/snags and if any are brown underneath, prune back to the main trunk or stem.  If there's green and latex seeps out then the branch is alive and could grow back. 

    After you've pruned off the dead snags, I think you should check out the internet for tips on bonsai pruning and see what they have to say about pruning to get a nice bonsai shape.  The branches that have new shoots coming could be pruned back to just above a new shoot if that's what you need to do to regain a good shape.  It will take time but I think you can save it.

    I actually have some young ficus cuttings that I was wondering what to do with, so I might just have a go at a bonsai or two - thanks for the inspiration :)

    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
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