Your bonsai care guide for dwarf jade and ficus
Click on a link below or scroll down for a guide on how to care for your tree!
Light
YOUR TREE loves sunlight.
Jade, ficus, and schefflera all prefer the outdoors in warm weather. When possible, keep your tree outdoors whenever temperatures are safely above 55°F. Give it several hours of direct sunlight each day, but acclimate it gradually over several days if it has been indoors or in lower light.
When moving your tree into stronger sunlight, increase exposure gradually over several days to avoid leaf burn.
Your tree will SURVIVE in a sunny window year round. But to THRIVE, it should live outdoors when the weather is warm. More light generally means stronger growth, tighter internodes, and better bonsai development.
Water
Don’t water on a schedule.
Check the soil first. When the soil feels dry an inch below the surface, water thoroughly until water flows freely from the drainage holes.
Then allow the soil to dry before watering again.
With dwarf jade, schefflera, and ficus, overwatering is a much bigger concern than letting it get slightly dry. Soggy soil is a NO NO.
When in doubt, wait. A slightly thirsty tree is much easier to recover than one that has been kept constantly wet.
Soil
Use a free draining bonsai mix.
Avoid a moisture-rententive nursery or potting-soil-mix. Only use a high quality, bonsai-specific, coarse soil like you were given at our workshop.
Dwarf jade, schefflera and ficus are both much more tolerant of drying than of sitting wet.
THE Pot
Drainage is important.
DRAINAGE!! Always use a pot with excellent drainage.
Bigger is not always better: The pot should be appropriately sized for the tree and its development goals, rather than oversized.
Temperature
Warm weather is excellent.
Protect it from frost/freezing temperatures. Rule of thumb: 55 degrees below, your plant should be inside!
During the growing season, it can spend some time indoors without issue, but its normal home should be outdoors when conditions permit. Bring it in to show off at that party, but get it back out into the sunshine within a few days.
Pruning
Your TREE loves
to be pruned.
Let new shoots extend, then prune back to develop ramification and maintain the desired silhouette.
For major structural cuts, allow the tree time to recover and push new growth.
Fertilizer
use a balanced fertilizer.
During active growth, use a balanced fertilizer at a moderate strength on a regular basis. Bonsai-specific fertilizers are readily available online.
Reduce / stop fertilization when growth slows substantially.
pests
Sometimes pests can infect your tree. the most common culprit:
Mealybugs
Inspect branch junctions and undersides of leaves regularly.
Isolated mealybugs can be removed manually with alcohol on a cotton swab, but avoid repeatedly saturating healthy tissue with alcohol.
Sprays that will treat the entire tree are available at a garden centers and online.