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Hi there,
I'm having trouble with my ginseng ficus again. A few months ago it was a spider mite infestation (yellow leaves) but now it's brown leaves that are dropping.

At this point it's got almost very few leaves left and I feel like it's a watering problem but I don't know if it's over or underwatering....

I water it about twice a week and mist the foliage daily, so I suspect it's probably overwatering. How can I tell the difference?

Thanks,
Rafael

Ficus usually gets yellow leaves when its not watered enough.

Ficus will also lose the leaves if: lack of sunlight/too much sunlight, location or temperature change or overwatering.

What do you think the problem is then? You know your tree best.

Do not mist your tree. Do not water if the soil is wet. Put it in your brightest room.
Good luck.

What do you think the problem is then? You know your tree best.

Actually, I don't. This is my first bonsai, I've had it for about 6 months and the best I can do is research and observe. This currently suggests overwatering to me, but I was hoping that the more experienced folks here could help out, hence the post.

Thanks,
R

From the way it looks, the soil is pretty wet. have a look at the little stones on the surface of the soil, if they are glued on or not. if they are glued on remove them... they will interfere with watering. remove the weeds anyway. Does the pot have drainage holes? how have you been watering?
Ficus is very sensative to change, did you move the tree, or has the weather/sunlight changed recently?
The tree could also be root-bound.. you could, very, very carefully try and take the tree out of the pot. check underneath to see if the tree first to see if it is wired to the pot... then cut the wire and slowly and carefully remove (maybe even just enough to see the roots) the tree from the pot. If the roots go all the way around and are tightly wound that is more than likely you problem. I would then get a slightly larger pot, and fill in the soil around the edges so that it has some space to grow. you could, if the roots are really compacted, loosen them up somewhat, but only if you don't tear them. the tree is stressed already.

Hi,
Here is what the roots look like. It's not as "bound" as pictures I looked up, so I'm not sure if this needs repotting. However, it does look like the bottom root mass has grown past / around the plastic mesh which I can see hidden where the wires come out.

Should I be trimming these, if I"m repotting?

As an aside, there are a lot of new buds on the branches, but I also noticed that a new, tiny leaf had turned brown and fallen off.

Thanks,
R

well.. you have taken the thing from its container. Might as well bite the bullet. Part of the damage is done.

Looking at the picture I cannot help but wonder why your substrate is so horribly dry though. Is this normal?

I didn't have to remove / break any roots to get it out. It just came right out with no effort at all, after I'd cut the wire. What do you mean by "part of the damage is done" here?
It seemed like a good idea to check for this according to what tubaboy suggested; and pulling it out just a bit didn't give me any further clues so I lifted it out fully to see what was on the bottom.

I watered a few days ago, and I was going to water tomorrow. The water runs out of the bottom pretty quickly though, so I'm wondering if it doesn't retain very well.

...as you can tell I'm very new at this, so please bear with me...

Thanks,
R

I've had to water my ficus retusa up to twice or three times a day, in the summer... when the soil feels dry is the general rule, ficus like to be a little more damp than others... generally speaking... not damp all the time... or wet all the time... It does look like it could be repotted... If you wanted to be more conservative, you could get a larger pot, that is maybe a third larger, and as I suggested before loosen up the roots a bit, and fill it in with soil... The type of soil mix you use will depend on where you plan to keep it in the summer... you could also trim the roots back, and do a normal repot... I would only do this, if the tree seems healthy, and/or if the leaf drop is being caused by compacted roots, i.e. they have no place to grow.
have a look at these:
www.bonsaiempire.com/tree-species/ficus

It's possible I've gone from overwatering to underwatering, yes. I'm not really sure what to look for here, since I've received conflicting information (mist / don't mist for example).

I live in a part of the city that is often heavily foggy (San Francisco by the ocean), so I'm not sure whether to put it outside or keep it inside this summer. I just got some Tinyroots All-Purpose Blend that I was going to use, but I'm happy to hear other soil suggestions for this type of plant.

In the meantime, I'll keep a closer eye on watering and see if the buds turn into leaves. How long do new leaves take to appear from buds on a healthy ficus, generally speaking?

R

If it's over 15 C. Get it outside.