I recieved this beautiful plant as a gift a few weeks ago. It is called a Ginseng Ficus Bonsai. This tree has no relations to actual ginseng, but the root-like appearance is similar.
This is my first bonsai ever!!!
Bonsai require special care, although I had no idea what kind of care they needed. I happened to own a bonsai pot already, which I kept around because the wide, shallow shape made a nice home for plant cuttings.
Next, I knew bonsai trees do better in a certain soil mixture, which might have been too boutique for the local stores around here.
I went online and found a nice mix meant for bonsai plants.
The company is called Eastern Leaf. They have an impressive website and sell bonsai plants, soil, and accessories. The shipment arrived really quick! Definitely within a week.
The soil mix includes clay, peat moss, and pumice stone. Bonsai like a well-draining mixture. Some mixtures get very fancy with fired-up clay from Japan, but as a first-time bonsai owner, the premium stuff seemed too above my level.
The most important thing is that the mix has a good balance of organic and inorganic matter.
Most bonsai pots have large drainage holes as seen here. I suppose it’s too get rid of as much water as possible. So you definitely need a mesh cover to go over the holes.
The Eastern Leaf website conveniently provided an option to add mesh during checkout for a couple of extra bucks. I appreciated the add-on.
The mesh came in a large sheet that I cut down to fit inside the pot. Easy peasy. It covered the drainage holes nicely.
By the way, the mesh is plastic and not metal, so there is no worry about rusting.
Next, I covered it with a thin layer of soil using my couture plastic spoon.
Pro tip: the plastic spoon is really nice for scooping soil into small pots. I had this spoon in my plant toolkit for a while now.
The bonsai came in a very tiny container. From what I’ve seen, bonsai need short roots and compact containers for the plant to remain a small size. Much like goldfish.
Otherwise, bonsai plants can and will get big. In fact, one of the first videos that pops up when you search for Ginseng Ficus Bonsai is of a huge potted tree!
I had to pause my work for a sudden cat inspection. Squid examined the bonsai tree and workspace.
Everything was up to code.
When taking the bonsai out of the container, I noticed these tiny green sprouts in the soil. They were the same as the sprouts on the tree.
I removed them for the sake of aesthetics, but it was promising to see new growth. Perhaps it’s the sign of a healthy tree.
I was nervous cutting the bonsai roots and watched a lot of how-to videos. In the end, I snipped off the parts that made the plant too tall to fit in the pot. So it wasn’t too much.
In the videos I watched, people really cut these roots down, snip, snip, snip, but I wasn’t sure how much would be okay.
It seemed like the right amount. Just enough to sit in the pot evenly.
I filled the pot up with soil, leaving the trunk exposed for style.
Here is the front and back of the bonsai. Not bad! I hope the bonsai likes its new home. I gave it some water from the sink and rinsed the leaves, too.
In the future, I would like tiny clippers to prune the leaves, because my regular garden clippers seemed large and imprecise when working with the plant.
They say you can trim off two or three leaves for every six new leaves that grow. The leaves should stay on indefinitely and not drop off for this type of plant, unless there is something wrong.
Something interesting I noticed, this tree has scars from past cuttings, which is visible near the center trunk. It makes me think that the shop or supplier used this plant to propagate more bonsai in the past.
Well, the bonsai can retire and live an easy life by the window now, drinking water and soaking in sunshine. A happy new friend for our plant family.
I was told this bonsai is an easy variety to care for and perfect for beginners. I’m excited to see how this plant grows.
If you are curious at all, I encourage you to buy a bonsai of your own. After getting the right supplies and repotting, the care seems very easy. Best of luck!