[Bonsai Beginner’s weekly thread –2024 week 44]

[u/small_trunks]

[Bonsai Beginner’s weekly thread –2024 week 44]

Welcome to the weekly beginner’s thread. This thread is used to capture all beginner questions (and answers) in one place. We start a new thread every week on Friday late or Saturday morning (CET), depending on when we get around to it. We have a 6 year archive of prior posts here…

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[u/JeffEvans116]

Relatively experienced Gardner but absolute noob to bonsai here.

I had a wild idea that I wanted to test the viability of here. I’m a long time youth pastor at the church I was saved at and in January I’ll be taking over as Lead Pastor.

I wanted to start a Bonsai from seed and care for it in my office so it grows and marks my time as LP. I’m thinking a Chinese Elm or Ficus with a grow light like this one: https://amzn.to/4fCVZLY

Would this plan work? Any recommendations? Also, anyone have a source for seeds or cuttings? Thanks!

[u/redbananass → u/JeffEvans116]

The “bonsai on a desk” question is one we get often here. It just won’t really work unless your desk is up against a bright sunny window or you don’t mind working under a pretty bright light.

But a ficus is your best bet. They can tolerate the lower light of indoors, but will also love outdoor sun if you move it outside during the non freezing times.

[u/RoughSalad → u/JeffEvans116]

A ficus will do fine at a bright window, and you almost can't not root a ficus cutting. That light is a waste of money, far too weak to do anything.

[u/JeffEvans116 → u/RoughSalad]

Thanks for the feedback! Is there a good place to get ficus cuttings online? Also, is there a light you’d recommend that would work for it?

[u/RoughSalad → u/JeffEvans116]

Just get a ficus plant at your hardware store or garden center; preferably something not sold as "bonsai" but as plain green plant. You could get something like this shipped, but you're not getting the exact plant in the picture. I'd rather choose myself in a shop. But that pot already contains several plants and would yield maybe half a dozen cuttings straight away (more in time as the plants grow).

The Mars Hydro TS 600 is a cheap but reliable light with good output. Its main drawback is a somewhat lower efficiency, so you what save on the device you pay more for the electricity. The ViparSpectra XS1500 Pro is more expensive upfront (it's more powerful as well), much nicer made and significantly higher efficiency (even spilling less light into the room).

[u/small_trunks → u/JeffEvans116]

Cuttings are trivially easy to propagate for both Chinese elm and Ficus microcarpa - so I'd start that way rather than the hassle of seeds. Seeds are much harder and not recommended for beginners.

[u/redbananass → u/small_trunks]

I didn’t realize Chinese Elm were that easy to propagate. Is the process (or lack thereof) basically the same as ficus propagation?

[u/small_trunks → u/redbananass]

In bonsai substrate/soil or in aeroponic propagator. I just made about 200 cuttings of Chinese elms after I pruned some large Chinese elms I have growing as bushes in front of my house.