Content
- Ficus benjamina as bonsai - care instructions with tips & tricks
- The ideal location for a ficus bonsai
- How to do it right?
- Fertilize Ficus benjamina as bonsai - when and how often?
- Tips for pruning - So Benjamini remains in bonsai format
- Artificial autumn produces petite leaves
- Professionally repot - It is important to pay attention to bonsai
- Tips
The Ficus Benjamini is the perfect beginner bonsai
Ficus benjamina as bonsai - care instructions with tips & tricks
With good-natured cut tolerance and modest demands, the birch fig qualifies as an ideal bonsai for the beginner. Did you captivate the fascinating, Asian garden art of the mini-trees? Then familiarize yourself with all relevant measures for the best care of a Benjamini as a bonsai.
Next articleThe ideal location for a ficus bonsai
For a harmonious growth in the period from May to September a place on the balcony is desirable. The location should be bright and warm, with protection from the blazing midday sun. When the temperatures near the critical 15 degree mark approach in the fall, you'll clean up the birch fig. In the light-flooded window seat at temperatures of 18 degrees Celsius your Mini-Benjamini outlasts the cold season.
How to do it right?
Whether in large format or as Bonsai, the Birkenfeige attaches great importance to a substrate that is moist with change. When the surface of the earth has dried tangibly, pour pervasively. Sprinkle the root disc with soft water until it drips out of the bottom opening. Until the next watering, the substrate should again dry, but never dry out. Please note that your Benjamini reacts to waterlogging and dryness with discarding leaves.
Fertilize Ficus benjamina as bonsai - when and how often?
In view of the low substrate volume, the nutrient requirement of a birch fig as bonsai proves to be higher than you would expect from a normal sized houseplant. From March to September, please administer a liquid bonsai fertilizer on a weekly basis. From October to February, fertilizer intervals are significantly extended to 4 to 6 weeks. Before and after spraying the substrate with soft water, effectively prevent root damage from the fertilizer salts.
Tips for pruning - So Benjamini remains in bonsai format
It is primarily the skilful pruning that helps you to wrinkle the dainty shape of a bonsai from your birch fig. The exemplary cut runs according to the motto of the targeted change between cutting and growing. The more continuously cut, the more filigree the growth. How to do it right:
When cutting your birch fig, make sure that there is no thick branch over a thinner branch at the end. Please wear gloves to protect yourself from the poisonous sap. By placing a small piece of kitchen fleece on each fresh cut, the sticky milk juice can not drip onto the leaves.
Under no circumstances should the pruning of a birch fig turn into a bonsai according to a firmly cemented timetable. The ancient masters of Asian gardening do not constantly torment a Benjamini with scissors and pincers. Instead, they leave the bonsai unmolested for a long time to enjoy its unique appearance every day.
Artificial autumn produces petite leaves
The secret of small leaves on a bonsai is based on the simulation of autumnal conditions. For this purpose, cut off the leaves during the growing season and leave the petiole on the shoot. After some time, the stems dry and fall off. From the buds underneath drive smaller leaves than before. The more you repeat the artificial autumn, the more graceful the foliage becomes. Prerequisite is a bright to sunny location and phases of regeneration of 6 to 12 months.
Professionally repot - It is important to pay attention to bonsai
If a bonsai has completely rooted its shell, it is high time to repot it. At Benjamini, this is usually required every 2 to 4 years. The new bonsai shell should be at least three quarters of its height in length. Loosen the root ball from the edge of the bowl with a sickle knife and lift out the bonsai. Use a root hook to loosen the soil ball to shake off the substrate. Proceed as follows:
Using a wooden stick, press down on the substrate and pour in soft water. In the following 4 to 6 weeks, the stressed bonsai is neither fertilized nor cut or wired.
Tips
To turn the birch fig into a three-dimensional bonsai sculpture, selected branches are wired in early spring. Special bonsai wire is wrapped around the flexible shoots at a 45-degree angle. Buds and leaves should not get under the wire. Within 4 to 6 weeks, you will direct a branch in the desired direction to then remove the wire again.