Thoughts on a new pot?

Hi,
What type of pot would you put this in?
Ideas? pics?
Thanks!
Bryan

It's probably fine where it is until you get that top all straightened out. No point getting it in a bonsai pot until it is . . . "finished."

JimLewis wrote:It's probably fine where it is until you get that top all straightened out.  No point getting it in a bonsai pot until it is . . . "finished."

Thanks jim....ya the mushroom style isnt the most attractive......just happy to see the life back into this ficus after a few years of sluggish growth i let it get out of hand now.
Still tossing a few style ideas out there.....
Bryan

if you find a pot you like, go ahead and stick it in...
(as long as it is beneficial to the development of the tree)

agreed that the top needs sorting out, but that doesnt mean you cant get it into a nicer pot...
the pot doesnt have to be ugly until the tree is finished... just functional.
(and over the life/progression of the tree i'm sure it will go through numerous pot changes)


and after all, what percentage of bonsai are actually finished ?  
even the ones that win the gold star at the contest are not "finished".   

Thanks.!

As long as you are not decided on a front, stick it in a round pot. Now you can turn it and hunt for the preferred front, or as my teacher used to say: if you can't find a front find the back first.   

I agree with arihato, round pot would be best until you have a definite 'front'. I tend to keep most of my deciduous trees in round pots because more so than with pines, the front can be changed frequently.

Color? A wide pallet of color could work, From muted blues & grays, through to browns, and reds. I have a willow leaf ficus in a pot that is a multicolored pot which looks somewhat purple from a distance, the reddish streaks highlight the browns in the trunk of mine. Your trunk is more gray, a color that contrasts the gray would be ideal.

Your new leaves appear yellow in the photo, perhaps an artifact of photography, but if they are that yellow in person, you need to check on your fertilizing program for this tree. It could be as simple as insufficient nitrogen for the rapid speed it is growing at, or it could be something more serious. Worse case it may indicate a root problem, though the tree overall does seem healthy, so my first guess is it needs more fertilizer.

The tree looks like you will have many options for when you style it, nice save in terms of getting it to recover from weak growth. Would love to see this in the future.

Interesting project, thanks for posting.

arihato wrote:As long as you are not decided on a front, stick it in a round pot. Now you can turn it and hunt for the preferred front, or as my teacher used to say: if you can't find a front find the back first.   

Thanks!

I agree with everyone on the round pot, but I would keep it in that one for now and work on the design more. I'm curious about what's under all the foliage. Does the trunk have movement and taper?

KennedyMarx wrote:I agree with everyone on the round pot, but I would keep it in that one for now and work on the design more. I'm curious about what's under all the foliage. Does the trunk have movement and taper?

hmmmm......welll there is some movement and one branch which is alot bigger than the rest....maybe i should defoliate some and get some ideas from you all????
Still kinda new at the design bit.....

You could sell me on a glazed oval, because the overall impression I get is feminine. However, you could also sell me on an unglazed pot that accentuates the rough bark (a gray, oval 'fossil' pot).

It is hard to tell with all that foliage, but in VA it is probably too late to do what I did. I think you could thin it some, but keep it in this training pot until you have the tree sorted out. I tend to favor oval pots, and is this case it could be about 1/2 to 1/3 the depth of the training pot.