Growing Ficus Benjamina Bonsai is a lot simpler task than you think. Even if you do not have any prior knowledge or experience can do it just about fine.
As it can adapt to the environment real quick, that makes it ideal for beginners.
If you are a beginner and trying to figure out exactly what you need to do and how exactly to do that, don’t worry. We’ve got you covered.
Here are 7 easy steps to grow Ficus Benjamina Bonsai as a beginner.
1. Propagation of Ficus Benjamina
You can either use seeds or stems to propagate the ficus. As growing from seed takes longer time and care, growing from a stem cutting is much more effective and a preferable way for beginners.
Choose a healthy mother plant. Cut a 4-5 inches long stem from that. After that, you need to plant it in the pot.
2. Planting Ficus Benjamina
To plant the stem you just cut from the plant, you need two things. A training pot and a potting medium. For the training pot, you can go with any general terracotta pot on the market (If you want any recommendations, here is our article on terracotta pots).
And for the potting medium, use vermicompost, river sand, and crushed bricks. Mix them equally, meaning a 1:1:1 ratio. And fill the
Now plant the stem into the soil. And water it.
3. Watering Ficus Benjamina
You need to water it regularly. As this species need more sunlight, it will get dry more often naturally. So you need to carefully keep an eye on that. And not to mention, don’t overwater it either. For it will do harm to your bonsai.
Touch the soil to know if it is dry or not, if it gets dry, water it. You need to keep the soil moist, as it is ideal for Ficus Benjamina.
How often do you water a ficus bonsai?
You need to water your bonsai daily on a regular basis. And you need to do it multiple times. Because of 4-5 hours of sunlight, it will get dry soon enough. And you can’t just dump all the water it needs for a day at once, right?
4. Pruning Ficus Benjamina
Ficus Benjamina grows fast, so you need to prune it regularly. This will help you to maintain the shape and size like the way you want it to be. Once the Ficus gets longer, and it gets around 5-6 leaves, you can start pruning. You will see new branches start growing from the main trunk. Carefully prune them, it will encourage the bonsai to grow new shoots.
5. Fertilizing Ficus Benjamina
The tree will need nutrients. In other words, fertilizer. So give it a proper and balanced mix of fertilizer. You should feed your Ficus well-balanced fertilizer every week. That will help it grow quickly. During winter you should give it fertilizer less frequently. Meaning you should use fertilizer 2-3 times a month.
6. Repotting Ficus Benjamina
When should you re-pot your Ficus? You should re-pot when the main trunk gets about 1 inch thick. You should transfer from the training pot to the original pot. After that, you should re-pot it once a year. This will help the Ficus have healthy growth.
And also remove about one-fourth of the surface roots when you are repotting it. That will commence the growth of your bonsai.
The potting medium should be the same as we told you earlier. Vermicompost, river sand, and crushed bricks all in a ratio of 1:1:1.
7. Placement of your Ficus Benjamina
This tree needs enough sunlight for its growth. 3-4 hours of indirect or direct sunlight would be enough for a day. As it needs a great amount of moisture, placing it in the kitchen might be a great idea.
Just make sure, you don’t keep it in a cold place in the house where sunlight does not reach at all.
Growing A Ficus Benjamina Bonsai Outdoors
Ficus Benjamina needs adequate sunlight regularly. So you have to keep it somewhere where it will get sunlight. And growing it outside can be a fine option. As long as you water it and don’t let it dry. And also you should take extra care of it if you are going to keep it outside. Though as a bonsai it needs a lot more care than other kinds of plants.
The Indoor Ficus Benjamina
Bonsai is perfect to grow indoor. Because you will need a lot of time and scope to look after it. However, Ficus Bensamina needs plenty of sunlight. Even partial sunlight will do the job. So place it where you can have sunlight inside your home, be it beside the window or the balcony.
Styles of Ficus Benjamina
Ficus Benjamina can be trained and shepherd into different styles. It is excellent for these styles-
- Formal upright style, also known as Chokkan
- Informal upright style, also known as Moyogi
- Broom style, also known as Hokidachi
- Cascade style, also known as Kengai
- Semi-cascade style, also known as Han-kengai
- Clasped-to-rock, also known as Seki-joju
- Rock-over-root style, also known as Ishisuki
Conclusion
From propagation to repotting and placing your Ficus in the right place, we have discussed every basic thing that you need to grow Ficus Benjamina Bonsai. I hope, it will help you. If you need more information about it, feel free to let me know in the comment section down below. We will be happy to help you all.