Ficus Oriental - A Good and Propper Watering

Today I learned that I've been watering my tree all wrong. Instead of adding water to the soil as you would a plant in the ground, the propper technique is apparently to submerge the planting in water. Look how much happier that soil is now that it is drenched. Unfortunately, this also means that I will be forced to patiently wait a long, long time for the soil to dry out and require additional watering.

I've been thinking a lot about the conditions that I leave my plant in lately. I'm confindent that it is getting enough sunlight without the light being too intense. However, I'm concerned about temperature and humidity. Considering no leaves have fallen and it's been a week and a half, the conditions can't be terrible, but I'd like to make them better. My house is kept at about 60 degrees F thoughout most of the day. This is the minimum temperature recommended for this tree. My house is also very dry and I'm concerned about the lack of general humidity.

My improvements for these problems are as follows. While 60 may be a bit cold, my plant is located on a bed by a baseboard heater. It doesn't get a direct draft from this heat source, but I think that it may help varry the temperature slightly higher than 60 degrees. For humidity, I've added a tray underneath the pot with some water in it. I am considering misting the leaves as well. My main goal is to keep the plant alive until Spring.

I need to do more research on how to shape my ficus. I know that I should repot it in the Spring so that is my current task in queue. Another objective is to figure out the propper season for pruning. There are several branches that require trimming as well as previous cuts that seem to require more attention (see the old branch nubs in the picture). With a little luck and some care, I hope to be adding an entry with some pre-cut and post-cut pictures.

Thanks for reading.

Ficus Oriental - The Beginning

I got my first Bonsai tree yesterday. My brother bought me an Oriental Fig that is approximately 18 inches tall. It was a fairly cheap tree which is probably a good thing considering my experience level.

I was told that this type of tree is relatively resilient and therefore a good beginner tree. Supposedly, it can take anywhere between 8 hours of direct sunlight, to 4 hours of limited exposure. I currently have it placed about 2 feet from my window which approximately points south. It should get several hours of light there from mid morning till sunset.

I picked my specific tree because it has a sturdy trunk with multiple low branchings. My current thinking is to create a dense canopy design by stretching the branches apart and encouraging growth. The root system is maintained below the trunk and forms a weaved spiralling pattern around the base of the tree. It also includes a unique handle feature where the root bends away from the soil for some time.

Pictures hopefully coming soon.