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Hello everyone, I've just joined the forum.
To introduce myself, I'm a soon to be PHD student which is looking at bonsai as a way to blow off some steam. Also, I always liked the aesthetics of these "mini trees".
I've tried growing bonsai in the past, but I wasn't mature enough to understand I'd have to actually study the subject in order to succeed.
I've gone to a local nursery and acquired two specimens: a red maple tree (acer palmatum I believe) and a ficus microcarpa ginseng. Here are some pictures (the website wouldn't let me send them as an attachment, they are too big):







I know or have heard about most of the concepts: wiring, pruning, repotting, etc. but I'm struggling with knowing when to do what, so I thought I'd ask.

Starting with the red maple: when I look at it I can see it either having a side-ways trunk (han-kengai?) or a curved trunk (moyogi?).

My question is, though, what should I do first to make it into a bonsai?
- Should I wire the trunk right now or maybe after the leaves have fallen, in the winter?
- How do you bend the trunk without breaking it? When I try to bend it slightly with my hands I feel like If I push a bit harder it will snap.
- Should I repot it into a bigger pot or straight away to a bonsai pot?
- Should I just let it grow for another year or so? If yes, then how would I be able to stylize the trunk after, since it would be thicker and harder to bend?
- What of the above should I do, in what order, and when?

As for the ginseng, I'm thinking right now it is a bit small and I should just let it grow another year. I'm open to opinions though.
Any way my question for this one is simple. In the nursery I saw that all the ginseng were grafted by cutting the trunk of the parent stock in half and then inserting a cutting. What are the advantages of this process? Why not just plant the cutting itself?

I'm also waiting on some seeds to try and germinate my own specimens, but that's a whole other topic of research.

Thanks for the help!

Without picture it is really hard to say anything , but....
-Ficus ginseng is not suited to be trainer as bonsai - it is just one type of ficus grafted on the roots of another
- trees need to be outside or they die
- horticulture first , all the bonsai things follow. That means: just keep them alive and healthy for at least a year first.
- use that year to study.: all techniques to turn a tree into a bonsai have to be done on specific moments in specific seasons

Hello lucR, I have posted photos. Just click on the links. The ones that are ibb.co...

Sry, I don’t follow Random links
Just post the pictures here directly in the forum

I understand, I'll try to resize them, give me 10 minutes.

Here are the photos.

So, as I said: forget the ginseng,
It’s just a houseplant and will never be anything else.
The maple needs to be outside or it will die. Keep it alive , look at it, study, look at maple bonsai , learn to do what when.
You are basically asking for a complete “ how to bonsai” which will take me about a year to type the basics...

I mean, you haven't really answered any of the "concrete" questions I made regarding whether I should repot/wire and when, or the reason for grafting the ficus, but still, thank you for your advice.

meruje wrote: I mean, you haven't really answered any of the "concrete" questions I made regarding whether I should repot/wire and when, or the reason for grafting the ficus, but still, thank you for your advice.

Yes I have but it’s not what you want to hear. As an answer to what to do when I said place it outside and keep it alive for a year. Healthy plant first, all the rest after.

Thank you, since you said you didn't look at the photos I thought you were just giving me a general answer. I was under the impression that this plants had to be trained earlier, but I completely understand your reasoning. I'll put it in my balcony (that's closest I can get to the outside in a condo).
So anyway, when you say " it is just one type of ficus grafted on the roots of another", I understand that is what grafting is, but why do they do it?
I read that sometimes one type grows better roots while the other grows better/bigger foliage. Is that the reason here?