Ginseng Ficus Bonsai is perfect for beginners. Find out how to grow, prune, and keep it healthy with simple care steps and styling ideas.
Ginseng ficus is a popular plant for bonsai because of its unique roots that rise above the soil, forming a thick, rounded trunk that gets thinner as it reaches the branches and top. This tropical plant comes from Southeast Asia and belongs to the mulberry family. It grows best in slightly acidic to neutral soil, with high humidity and plenty of sunlight from a nearby window.
The sap from this plant is poisonous to people and can cause skin irritation or allergies if touched. Be sure to wash your hands after handling it. Ginseng ficus is also toxic to dogs and cats.
Propagating Ginseng Ficus Bonsai
Ginseng ficus, also known as ficus retusa, is easy to grow from cuttings, and the best time to do it is right after pruning. Here’s how:
Choose a healthy stem and cut a 6-inch piece using scissors or pruning shears. Plant the cutting in a pot filled with potting soil and water it well. Cover the pot with a clear plastic bag to trap moisture, like a mini greenhouse. Water lightly every few days to keep the soil moist.
In a few weeks, the cutting should grow roots.
Requirements for Growing Ginseng Ficus Bonsai
Light
Your bonsai needs six to eight hours of light each day. Indoors, a windowsill is a great spot. If you don’t have enough natural light, you can use grow lights to help your ginseng ficus grow. In the summer, if you move your bonsai outside, put it somewhere with lots of sunlight, but protect it from strong afternoon sun. This plant won’t grow well in shade.
Soil
Ginseng ficus trees grow best in soil made of 60% small rocks and 40% organic material. You can buy ready-made soil or mix your own using pine bark, lava rock, and a soil type called akadama, which holds water and breaks down slowly over time.
Water
Water your ginseng ficus well whenever the top of the soil feels a little dry. You can mist the plant every day, but don’t water it so much that it starts dripping, as this can cause fungus problems. If the plant is in a hot place, you’ll need to water it more often.
When the leaves get dusty, gently wipe them with a damp paper towel. You can also use a spray bottle to mist the leaves.
Temperature and Humidity
Ginseng ficus is an indoor bonsai and can’t handle frost. You can put it outside when the temperature stays above 60°F, but make sure it gets sunlight and doesn’t dry out. It can handle low humidity because its leaves have a waxy coating, but it grows best in a humid place.
Fertilizer
Bonsai trees grow in a small amount of soil, so they need extra nutrients now and then. You can use any all-purpose liquid fertilizer from your local garden center. Just mix it with water, using only half the recommended strength, and apply it once a month.
Pruning
Pruning is an important part of keeping a bonsai—it’s what sets it apart from just being a regular plant.
If you want a thicker trunk, you can skip pruning for a year or more. When you’re ready to trim the leaves, a good rule is to cut back to two leaves after six to eight have grown.
If you’ve let the trunk grow thicker, new shoots will still grow from the older wood. Just make sure to treat any large cuts with cut paste to prevent disease. Always use sharp, clean tools when working with your plant.
Repotting
You should repot your bonsai when its roots have filled the pot. This gives the tree fresh soil and helps the roots stay compact.
For a ginseng ficus, repotting is only needed every two years, usually in the summer. To do this, take the tree and soil out of the pot and gently trim the outer and lower parts of the roots. Don’t cut too much. Then, place the tree back into the same pot or a new one using bonsai soil mix.
Pests & Plant Diseases
Taking good care of your ginseng ficus bonsai with the right light and water will help keep it healthy and better protected from bugs and diseases. Still, it can sometimes get pests like spider mites, scale, mealybugs, and aphids. You can treat these by spraying the plant with neem oil or a mix of water and liquid dish soap.
If you water the plant too much, it can get root rot, which is a fungal disease. If you notice white or black spots on the leaves, cut those leaves off and use a fungicide to treat the plant.
Using Ginseng Ficus as a Bonsai
If you’re new to the ancient Japanese art of bonsai, the ginseng ficus is a great plant to start with. It looks beautiful and is easier to care for than many other types of bonsai.
Bonsai artists love the raised roots of these unique little trees, which add a special look. In the wild, these roots grow well in humid places. They grow down from the branches until they reach the soil, where they become thick and strong, almost like extra trunks. This helps create popular bonsai styles like the pillar shape or the root-over-rock style, known as deshojo.
Training a Bonsai
To shape your plant, you can use anodized aluminum or soft copper wire. It’s easy to wire the thin and medium branches of a ficus because they’re flexible and bend easily. Just make sure the wire doesn’t dig into the bark—adjust it if needed.
For thicker branches, you’ll need to use guy wires, which have to stay on the tree for a longer time. Ficus trees are special because they can join their branches, roots, or even grow together with other ficus plants.
