名媛直播

Hello, first time poster. I took in my Dad's bonsai after he passed away. I have had it for two and a half years now. I believe it is a Ficus 名媛直播 however if it is not, please let me know what type of bonsai it is. Recently the leaves started turning downward and yellow and eventually falling off. It does not have many left. It has one long branch coming off the main trunk that I want to prune, but am not sure where to prune it. I would like the make that cutting into a new plant also but again, not sure how. I believe it needs to be re-potted and the roots need to be pruned. I would really like this plant to survive and I am so scared of killing it. Please help!! I live in Alberta Canada so the weather is usually pretty cold. I think I might have it placed in a bad spot so I am thinking of moving it. It has been sort of dormant up until now. I water it about once a week.

THe pant seems to sit directly in a pot without drainage. Which means you have to be precies when watering. It would be better to have an inner pot which drains, sitting in the decorative pot. That way, if you give too much water, you can throw the drained water away. This will prevent the roots sitting in a layer of water. This is my guess as to why it is sulking.

As for trimming and repotting.. Do NOT trim before it is healthy. And if you re-pot, do it only to solve the water issue. Do not do a lot of work on the roots. RIght now, the plant is very weak and very small insults can now toss it over the edge.

If it were mine I would

- Check very closely for insects and mites. Any brown-green disc-like shapes 1-3mm diameter could indicate scale, common on Ficus (Yes it is). THey are prone to spider mite and thrips. All of these can give the same look to a plant
- Buy a plastic well-draining pot and some good quality potting soil. Pot slightly larger than the current
- As gentle as possible, take the plant out of the current pot. You might have to slide a knife along the inside of the pot to get it out
- Put some soil in the new pot, put the plant on top, fill the pot with soil. Do not squeeze the soil in.
- Water well, allowing water to drain. Backfill the pot with soil in the spaces that now have appeared.

Put the plant in a bright spot. Ideally in a place where it gets most of your currently weak sun. Keep is nice and warm.
You can pull a plastic bag over the plant. This will raise humidity and can aid in recovery. I do this to all my tropicals when they are suffering, and so far, so good..