With its bust - shaped leaf and grayish bark , the golden gate ficus ( Ficus microcarpa ) is a beautiful tree for the art of bonsai . canonical fear of the golden gate ficus bonsai is relatively easy if you are persevering . Pruning and training , which are also crucial to bonsai health , may take practice .
Step 1
Place 1 part Amandine Aurore Lucie Dupin , 1 part peat moss and 1 part screened loam in a shallow bonsai container . put the golden gate ficus bonsai in the container , and ring it with soil .
Step 2
Place the golden gate ficus bonsai in a draft - detached window with southern exposure . Place it under a grow light for 10 to 12 hour per day if you do not have a sunny billet . Move your bonsai outdoors when the weather warms and no risk of hoarfrost exists .
Step 3
Touch the dirt ’s aerofoil with your palm to determine whether it needs water . Water the bonsai if the soil is dry , but not if it is damp . Wet the soil exhaustively using a watering can or sprayer until water accrue from the pot ’s drainage yap . Avoid wetting foliage as surplus piss on leaves can lead to disease .
Step 4
Step 5
Apply a soluble fertilizer with a 20 - 20 - 20 NPK proportion that contains minor component such as atomic number 26 , atomic number 30 and atomic number 25 . Dilute the fertilizer at a rate of 2 teaspoons per gallon and water the bonsai good . Repeat applications every one to two workweek until mid - summertime , then fertilize once every three weeks until October . break off inseminate in November , and do not resume until spring .
Step 6
Repot your golden gate ficus bonsai every two to three years in spring . take away the bonsai from its container , and trim some 1 inch from the rootball with horticulture shears . Remove any roots that are thicker than a pencil to refresh the etymon organization . Return the bonsai to its container .
Step 7
Shaping and Pruning
limit the desire shape for your golden gate bonsai . Choose the broom shape for a tree with a straight tree trunk and many thin branches jutting upward to form a dome . select a windswept shape with a trunk and branches that all point in the same centering to give the illusion of a tree on a breezy Clarence Day . Choose a weeping shape for an upright luggage compartment with some branches that project upward and others hanging from the main proboscis or side branches .
cut back your golden logic gate ficus bonsai before you shape it , in former fountain . Cut out any large branch that will not be fit to the shape you have chosen with bonsai cutters . Cut in a concave way so the tree can quickly mend .
To train your ficus bonsai and create a unique and innate form , you may apply telegram . Wrap copper or aluminum bonsai wire in a spiral around the arm or trunk while bending it in the direction or shape you trust . Leave the wire in place for one growing season , then remove it to avoid mark . Your golden gate ficus bonsai branches will be in the shape you desire .
Cut out or shorten modest branches with your bonsai cutting tool as necessary to clarify the figure . edit off leaves as necessary to enhance the face of the golden gate ficus bonsai .
