My Vietnam Style Ginseng Ficus microcarpa, Part 2, The Bonsai Zone, Dec 2021

[@-ChrisD]

I deeply appreciate the fact that you are so willing to share your knowledge with everyone at every step of the way. Thank you, Nigel!

[@BlueJayBonsai]

Had to watch the part I missed. I had no idea you could carve up the roots like that. You learn something new every day! Thanks Nigel 🙏

[@TheBonsaiZone]

Thanks Jay, you gotta keep em separated!

[@BlueJayBonsai]

@@TheBonsaiZone 😂

[@growclipbonsaiforseniors1951]

It pays to have a good sharpened tool to help the job in hand go easier. Fascinating root carving. Great explanations as to why also. Fascinating. Simply Fascinating.

[@mattaustralian6584]

Nigel the root surgeon. Interesting process.

[@josephwatts2341]

Great show of blade skills! Bravo!🍻🍻

[@TheBonsaiZone]

Thanks Joseph!!!

[@lukasmihara]

Great surgery, Dr. Saunders!

[@PlantCraftDIY]

Beautiful root 😍😍😍

[@janisgriffith2919]

Brilliant timing! I just finished part 1. Excellent as usual.

[@TheBonsaiZone]

Thanks Janis!

[@VinnyChirayil]

Nigel, the best solution would be to air layer this and rebuild the roots. Thats what the Japanese & Indonesians would do. A short stint in a large pot would thicken the roots, then cut them back and move it to a bonsai pot. I have a playlist on my channel called Surface Roots / Trunk Taper, which you might find useful. Indonesians are masters at this.

[@timb.9224]

Very cool !

[@TheBonsaiZone]

Thanks Tim!

[@brendakirk7250]

That’s gotta be one of my favorites of yours. Gives me goosebumps looking at it.

[@zackau9807]

You're scalpel sounded like a tree frog 🐸 I loved you're scalpel safety warning too, lol

[@giriag8374]

So Nice😊🌳. Great work..

[@Yurup]

Going to be interesting to see how this will work out!

[@mralabbad7]

It already looks better!

[@TheBonsaiZone]

Thanks Mralabbad!!!

[@attraction7]

Your trees always look so healthy regardless of the season. I've just started using your fertilizing system of just a pinch of fertilizer in every watering. But are you adding that pinch during the winter non-growing season also?

[@TheBonsaiZone]

Yes, when the tree needs water, I water and fertilize, the only ones that don't get fertilizer are the ones that are dormant in the cold basement.

[@t3dwards13]

Great idea using the scalpel! It turned out great!

[@sebastianrodriguez1228]

How long should one keep the moss over the roots? Until you see small roots growing into it? Or just until the next pruning? Thx 🙏🏼

[@chesh1rek1tten]

I just was gifted a ginseng ficus. My neighbor moved out and the new place doesn't have room for most of her plants.. so now I'm looking into how to style it because it's just 2 gigantic roots and 2 tiny twigs

[@TheBonsaiZone]

It's hard and a bit risky cutting back the roots like I did, but the tree bounced back well!

[@OddBonsai]

So all in all it took around a day and a half to finish working just on this little tree. Hope the fine roots will appear as expected. Did you already decide the next tree on the list? Please do the yucca forest. 😁

[@TheBonsaiZone]

That will be coming soon, I already started the Hibiscus video! Yucca next then! I did both part 1 and 2 of this video the same day, so it was a dawn to dust operation!

[@OddBonsai]

@@TheBonsaiZone Thanks Nigel, I appreciate it! Will be great seeing the hibiscus too, don't remember seeing it in a while.

[@Ajiizleee]

@@TheBonsaiZone Hey Nigel on the subject of hibiscus.... I have a ton of them and wondering if pruning once/year around the fall when they finish flowering is a good care/styling strategy?

[@TheBonsaiZone]

@@Ajiizleee I think so, as it gets more refined, you may want to do a little more pruning than once a year. You do have to let the shoots grow to get the flowers!

[@Ajiizleee]

@@TheBonsaiZone lovely thanks for reply. Only had 2 years so not refined yet

[@dabblingwithbonsai]

Groovy! 😊 I gotta try this on my ginseng ficus.. Ive tried to gepw roots on it with just the sphagnum moss, without results. Or then i just cut the ginseng roots back in spring and hope better roots will develop.. 😶

[@marysoldeeley2218]

Pet stores in reptile section, Craft stores also carry Sphagnum moss :) Hopefully the roots grow over nice for you! That did look better with more grooves.

[@empret7704]

Isn't those aerial roots enough to keep the tree alive when you remove those thick roots 🤔

[@TheBonsaiZone]

The thick roots form the base of the tree, if they were removed, it would change the style!

[@empret7704]

@@TheBonsaiZone Oh okay, thanks

[@CoNkOrE]

I wrapped a ginseng ficus in moss last summer and left for 2 weeks and the entire tree rotted into a mishy mess and died.... I just got two new ones on clearance at the hardware store so i hope these have a better lifespan!

[@Rblock777]

I would take those bulbous roots off completely and wait for new ones. And before putting the moss on top of those cuts I would wait a little for them to develop some callus

[@ashleybonner5423]

There are many places sphagnum moss can be obtained as it is fairly multipurpose! I got my main set of moss for my plants from B&Q in my city, but I have another bag that I used for my reptiles and that I still use for my tarantulas that I ordered from the tarantula site I get mine from, I sprinkle the stuff on their substrate. Sometimes they line their webbed burrows with them!

[@joannetanner7282]

Do you find that Ficus need a slightly different soil? What do you use? Also, I notice you don’t use any paste on the wounds. I do see with this procedure you are promoting root growth but wondered with regular branch trimming

[@Crootcovitz]

Out of curiosity, can you also carve and split branches like that?

[@Tybold63]

I wonder, will the inner part of the roots rot away and give more space between the parts that you kept? If so I think it be great in future.

[@mattbrennan647]

Won’t those root wounds just eventually roll over and heal? I like the sphagnum moss idea but think air layering might be the best way to achieve your goals. Thanks, keep growing .

[@growclipbonsaiforseniors1951]

If you have a Home Depot by you, they sell un-milled sphagnum moss. Great video.

[@ndang3920]

Can you use a Dremel tool to carve the roots?

[@TheBonsaiZone]

Yes!

[@ccmso12]

Hey Nigel (Bonsai Science here on my regular account) When doing the root carving splicing are you only going down through the cambium layer - much like to the depth used for air layers?

[@TheBonsaiZone]

Yes, I find this separates the roots enough to have them swell up and look like individual roots. Eventually they will fuse back together again. If you want a more permanent separation, you can carve between the roots even deeper and wider!

Likee

[@thenaturecreater8906]

You should had put some rooting hormon on it under the spaghnum moss.

[@TheBonsaiZone]

Thanks!!

[@emmitstewart1921]

You can buy live sphagnum moss online here in the Us, and it should be available in Canada as well, since it composes the top layer in the bogs where they harvest peat. People who grow carnivorous plants sometimes use it in place of soil since those are bog plants. If you have any bogs near Toronto, the owners might allow you to collect it there. The same rules of collecting any live plant would apply. Get the owner's permission and respect the habitat. Don't go into a bog alone. You might need someone to pull you out.

[@JPierson217]

I really want to purchase a pot like the one you're using. Where can I get it at? If I remember you 3d printed it. Where did you find the files? Thanks! I love the videos

[@SuperKrats]

I have often seen you hard prune your Ficus trees, even so hard, that all you're left with is just a piece of wood, couldn't you make a video of the aftercare of a ficus, becourse i have a Ficus Benjamina Variegated, that i'm too scared to make a hellmary cut on, even tho it needs it to get shortend for the future development :-D

[@Punki001]

The colored moss stains the tree. I tried it. you can clean the tree afterwards but i wouldn't recommend it.

[@growclipbonsaiforseniors1951]

Paging Dr. Saunders! Paging Dr. Saunders! Wanted in surgery. Roots in need of your surgical skills.

[@stuartrose7628]

would it harm the tree if you were to split those generous roots with a wood chisel?

[@TheBonsaiZone]

If it were done carefully, but this is a very small tree!!

[@brucedeacon28]

👍🍎

[@matthewkizziahcuzia...gott9632]

Just noticing that as you are talking about keeping your fingers away from the blade of the scalpel, you keep grabbing plant material off the end of the scalpel. I know you know what you're doing but...

[@QuadDerrick]

if you only could hear the tree's talk nigel. this morning the dialog went like this. Ficus Microcarpa : Hey guys today Nigel said he is getting a new tool to groom my roots wth, i cant wait for him to come groome me Larix Larch : micro fruit, listen to us, we are old wise trees, not all new things are good things little ficus. do like us, play dead in winter. Ficus Microcarpa : Nah im a cool tree, im a professional, i can grow all year around and Nigel would never do anything painfull to me so,, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH NIGEL THATS NOT GROOMING IL CARVE GROOVES INTO YOUR LEGS NEXT LIFE YOU BAST*RD

[@Jlui83]

Any update?

[@TheBonsaiZone]

Not yet, but I'm dying to see the results!!

[@Jlui83]

@@TheBonsaiZone I’m not a fan of the ginseng focus look but this one is great inspiration. Might need to find me one with a smaller less obnoxious looking root stock

[@LetsDoBonsai]

Foist

[@ashleybonner5423]

Ahh you beat me to it, Scott! I can't use the time zone difference as an excuse this time lol! Hope you're well!

[@TheBonsaiZone]

Lets Do Foist, Scott strikes again!!

[@matteomarasco8655]

surgeon Saunders

[@nurhasantalukdar6937]

what if you remove those bulbous roots one by one. finer roots may grow from cut points.

[@waterlover]

That was some wrenching to watch.. nails in chalk board…😖😵‍💫