What Should A Beginner In Bonsai Get First?
It is kind of funny to me that when I mention the word bonsai to some people, the first thing they ask is if I mean the little tree that Mr. Miyagi had in the movie ‘Karate Kid.’ Yes indeed, Miyagi was fond of his bonsai tree, even teaching the art to Daniel-son. Well, I’m not here to talk about Karate Kid today, but rather what you should do if you are thinking about taking up a bonsai hobby.
The main thing you should know first is that some bonsai trees are better for novices and some are suited for experts. If you are starting out, consider a tree that is more tolerant of your mistakes. And there will be mistakes. I understand this narrows down the selection some, but it’s very smart to take on only what you can handle.
Today, I will specifically talk about the ficus bonsai because it is especially well suited to beginners because of the reasons I stated previously. Although ficus only grow in humid or temperate areas, which most of the United States is not, they can still thrive indoors no matter where you give them a home. It’s no task to find one, but just be sure that whoever you buy it from has raised it well.
Ficus bonsai really attracted me because they are known to do very well for beginners who are still figuring things out. As an example, they are more forgiving when you are trying to come up with set watering times; they won’t dry out and die immediately.
It’s easy to let the roots sit in too much water, but if you do this they will rot. Thankfully, ficus won’t just wither away after a few watering errors. They will allow you to get into your groove. You’ll love this about ficus after you realize that it’s more difficult than you thought to care for it.
Neither should you fear unnecessarily if you have made a mistake as you were cutting some growth off. If you are giving it what it needs in the way of water and sunlight, your tree should grow back pretty fast and cover your mistake. The mistakes will come often in those early months, so be glad it grows back.
Finally, a ficus won’t die if you choose to put it in a spot that doesn’t get the kind of light it should. Obviously you should try as hard as you can to put it in the right spot, but it should learn to live with what you give it. My recommendation is to give it the light it wants, but it’s not a life changer if you can’t.
I personally think any person that buys a ficus bonsai will quickly turn into to a lover and an advocate of them. Just make sure to give it its share of h2o, lots of good sunlight, and don’t it over grow, and it will thank you with good growth.