ÃûæÂÖ±²¥

Hi there,
I just bought this ficus for pennys at a local supermarket because i liked the shape of the trunk and because i dont have a ficus yet.As you can see in this photo :

It needs cut back hard.
This photo :


Shows roughly the point i want to cut it back to, ive read a bit about ficus and i understand the best time to prune hard is spring , but is it advisible to cut back this hard or should i do it in stages ?

Ps: i keep forgetting to rotate the photos , im sorry.

Here is the photo with markings where i wanted to cut it.
Ps: could someone please tell me how to rotate these photos , i tried modifying the photo but it still stayes sideways on the post.

you bought a houseplant..

i fail to see a bonsai in there, sorry..

cut it back with 1 branch left on each trunk, wire that as new leader..repot it in a good draining soil and prepare the roots to create a better/wider rootbase.. let it completely grow out for a season..
next year make a branch selection and let the new leader grow, trim all the rest

rince and repeat for the next 5 - 10 years..

maybe in 10 years you'll have something that looks like a bonsai..

but:

the leafs are way too big for the size you have in mind..and from what i read, ficus are not easy when it comes to size reduction..


if you are serious about picking up bonsai; instead of wasting money on stuff like this, save up a bit longer and go to a real bonsai nursery and get a decent starter of an easy species such as Japanese maple, trident maple or juniper.

and the don't have to be expensive.. a local place here (Ginkgo bonsai center) is currently selling Deshoyo maple starters for 14€ and 30€ so there are always good things out there for new bonsai enthousiasts if you just take the time to look and be patient..
in 10 years these will look 500 times better than this ficus of yours will ever do..

Cronic is correct.

However, I, too, have a ficus that resembles nothing of a bonsai. While i understand that it will likely never pull off being a believable bonsai, it is excellent practice material. I can try things/techniques on it that I would be too afraid to do on a decent tree.

So, while I agree with cronic, I say spend some time with this tree getting to know the species and how they react to certain things.

I am doing the exact same currently.

ok, for practice.. but isn't it better to practice on decent "cheap" starter material that eventually will result into something rather than being a mere trainingplant for some time and a mayor loss of time in the end?

if you look at that ficus in 5 years, you'll have learned techinques, ok, but still you won't have anything to show for, and there will be a lot of techniques you practiced, but can't be performed on (let's say) an Acer or Beech..

a ficus is a tropical plant and will require other techniques than decidious trees or evergreens

Thanks for the reply
I know this is a houseplant and i know it will never make a show winning bonsai, what i aim to achieve from this plant is just experience . I know it will take at least 10 years to make this even close to a bonsai,but if in 10 years i can turn this into something decent maybe in 20 years i can turn some good material into something good or even great.
This isnt my only project at moment ive got about 15 trees that have just started their journey " destination bonsai", some ,like this one , that have hardly any potential to become good bonsai, and some a bit better but what they all will become is part of my training.
I know you think its a waste of money or even worse waste of time,
But i still dont feel comfortable on risking the life of a valuable tree ( i dont mean money value because thats not an issue). When i know in able to create something decent from something bad then i will try to create something great from something good.

well.. we all have our journey to make.. so i wish you good luck..

i started out thinking the same.. but as my understanding of the hobby, and my knowledge grew, i quickly decided for myself that in order to make more progression myself, i needed the correct material.. (within my budget)

so i chose shohin.. and bought a handful of decent starting material..

but as i said, we all have our journey within bonsai.. but we all take different roads..

Sounds like you have the right idea.

Cronic, I hope to have some trees with potential shortly because I dont want my efforts to be in vain. I would like a nice tree or two eventually.

what is the reason they post plants sideways? Is it some "X" generation thing I missed out on? or something? it irritates me so