Ficus over the years

Hi all,
I acquired this Ficus in the late 90, by that time it was difficult fo me to find a suitable pot for it I planted in an ugly brown Chinese pot (it was better than in a training pot) then I found a better glaze green Corean pot, the tree become bigger and now it is in a glaze blue Japanese one. This tree was displayed at the 5th World Bonsai Convention in Washington DC in 2005 and several times at the Potomac Bonsai Association shows in the National Arboretum. The secondary and tertiary is branching is not as good as I want them to be because I have to bring it indoor every year from late October thru May of the following year (I don't have a greenhouse) and it only can thrive 5 to 6 months a year.
Hope you enjoy it.
Xuan

You have done a nice job shaping the secondary branches. You mentioned that you keep the tree indoors for over 6 months of the year without a greenhouse. That is substantial stress for 15yrs. unless you have sufficient light/heat indoors. From the photos it looks like tree has been getting overhead light and very little to the first 2 primary branches off main trunk. Those 2 branches are weakening. I would suggest getting a 1000 watt metal halide light and placing tree slightly to the side of light(which enables it to be placed closer to light w/o burning lower trunk leaves. Even though you take tree outdoors in April and Sept., I think the nightime low temps. in those 2 months slows growth. You could check out Jerry Meislik websit; www.bonsaihunk.us who is expert on Ficus grown indoors. Dustin Mann

Thanks Dustin for your suggestions, I have Jerry's book.
You are absolutely right about the branches weakening, I will provide the side of the tree more light, I am mot worried about the top since I have the light hung over it.

Xuan

You have done a very good job taking care of this ficus!!! i really like the shape and the arail sp. roots you have made..you must be working a lot with this one especially in virginia!! good tree good shape,i like it a lot....take care john

Very good Ficus tree, esspecially with 6 months indoor.
Thanks for your post.

Good evening uncle Xuan,

How did you end up in the Virginia? Too cold there for most Vietnamese .

I can certainly appreciate the effort in keeping this tree healthy. I am in Victoria, Australia, the summer heat can be punishing on trident maple, Japanese maple and white pine. It hard to keep the trees green in these conditions.

Looking at this, I cannot help thinking that you might be from the north of Vietnam originally? It resonates images of ficus that were in the traditional villages' gates....

All best for the New Year

Best regards.

daiviet_nguyen wrote:Good evening uncle Xuan,

How did you end up in the Virginia? Too cold there for most Vietnamese .

I can certainly appreciate the effort in keeping this tree healthy. I am in Victoria, Australia, the summer heat can be punishing on trident maple, Japanese maple and white pine. It hard to keep the trees green in these conditions.

Looking at this, I cannot help thinking that you might be from the north of Vietnam originally? It resonates images of ficus that were in the traditional villages' gates....

All best for the New Year

Best regards.

Hi DaiViet
Why did I end up here? I like it here in Northern Virginia, the weather isn't too harsh in Winter the area is beautiful, had good job and now retired I want to stick with my children and grand children watching them (the grand kids) grow up enjoy caring for my bonsai and my gaden, by the way the weather here is very good for most of bonsai trees except for the tropicals ones but still I can keep mine alive and beside the Ficus I have couple of other varieties too.
I was born in Saigon and spent most of the first part of my life in Saigon and vicinity.
Best wishes to you for the new year. Hope to see you some day.