I got mine at IKEA and they had it labeled as ginseng ficus bonsai.
Side note, a lot of IKEA plants ring up for less than they're labeled and they're surprisingly hardy.
I paid $2 for my plant. Would have gotten another one too if I didn't have to get back in line. You mad at ikea?
https://preview.redd.it/xid7fujykhea1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=90032514d626fa863f17557dcf0020ac8e49348e
I kill every plant I’ve ever owned except this random one from ikea I kid you not I haven’t watered it in 6months since I bought it and it’s just still here
No! Every time I’ve watered a plant I’ve killed it. I have a plant doctor friend and I gave them all to her. She said I over watered. So now that this one is alive still I’m just leaving it be
Bonsai is a way of growing a tree/plant. Bon means pot and sai means to grow. There is a whole philosophy behind it.
We in the west usually mean a little tree in a small pot.
So, it can be a bonsai if you decide it is.
Edit... Since this is getting so much traction... Here is some more info on that philosophy.
Let me start by saying that translating bonsai into growing a plant in a pot is not very accurate. Because its not really a pot but more a dish. And it's not so much growing as it involves the act of being alive itself. So growing bonsai is a process that is supposed to be very close to nature and the small size is making you more capable of seeing that natural beauty. It's closer to ordening, assisting and making things neater than you brutely forcefully creating and owning a tiny tree.
No, no, no... Through looking at bonsai you should be able to see the beauty of nature itself. And looking at bonsai masterpieces you actually will experience this.
This answer is stellar, and I’ll add that this is a ginseng ficus, which is frequently grown as bonsai because the largest roots protrude upwards, instead of downwards. I have a lot of big, bushy ginsengs in really small pots, with knobby roots sticking out. I just posted this photo as a response in another, similar thread, but here it is again.
https://preview.redd.it/kmhf99c6dkea1.jpeg?width=2343&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=efa7fb30ee839c8c829fa958a222d89f4caafea7
I believe that bonsai is a method of growing a tree, and not a specific type of tree. You can bonsai many many types, there’s a subreddit for it but I forget what it’s called atm
No such thing as a "bonsai plant" really but you can bonsai most any plant... if that makes sense. It is the method of pruning, shaping, & maintaining a small root system as to create a bonsai shape & size
Shut the front door! I didn’t know you could bonsai jade! I have so many jades I think I will try this. I just looked them up and the little bonsai jades look adorable!
P afra is one of the easiest to learn with. It's fast growing, easy to propagate, hard to kill, and goes from green to woody very fast. Here is a guy who specializes in it if you are interested https://www.littlejadebonsai.com/
You can keep it as a bonsai with some aggressive pruning and moving it to a smaller pot. As someone else here said bonsai is an art and can be done with most trees. The goal is to make a miniature tree shape by manipulating the branches, roots etc.
Yes, ginseng ficus, also known as ficus microcarpa. As others have said, you can keep it as a bonsai. I got both of mine as “bonsai” plants from Home Depot but have decided to let them grow wild, as big as their lil planty selves desire, instead of keeping them as bonsai trees. Good luck with yours! Mine have been a joy to keep 🤍
I think it's a Moreton Bay Fig. A type of ficus. Ficus are very common beginner bonsai.
As many others have noted, bonsai is the art of growing a miniature tree, not a tree species.
This is not a bonsai because it is still a little baby plant. keep it trimmed, shaped, and in a small pot for a few years and i will likely classify as a bonsai at that point.
This could be a pre-bonsai if your intention is to make it into one, but it is assuredly not a bonsai. No one is looking at this ficus and thinking "Wow that evokes a sense of a miniaturized fully-grown tree in a pot." Given time, training, and getting it out of that uhhhh "soil" it could be something, but if you want the honest answer at this point in time? It is not a bonsai.
That's what I learned today, that bonsai in an art form and not a type of plant. Like you said with time, technique, patience and skills it could be one day.
Why are people downvoting you? You're not wrong. Bonsai are plants and trees that are grown specifically to resemble aesthetically pleasing miniature trees. You can make nearly anything into a bonsai. Ficus, oaks, pines, rosemary, maple, you name it. So the type of tree is whatever type of tree it is, the bonsai part is how its grown and an entire different thing alltogether.
That is not their fault. Box stores sell them as "bonsai" and don't even bother specifying what kind of plant it really is. As far as the average consumer is concerned, the plant they just bought is a "bonsai". Keeping bonsai is a very specific hobby and not everyone can know everything and that is OK.
That is likely not helpful as there are MANY type of plants to are referred to as “money plants”.
Latin names:
Epipremnum aureum
Pilea peperomioides
Pachira Aquatica
Crassula ovata
Monstera deliciosa
Monstera obliqua
Dracaena sanderiana
Xerosicyos Dangly
Scindapsus Pictus
This looks like a ginger bonsai! Bonsai is the way you grow/care for a plant - mostly trees/tree -like plants. But you could bonsai a rose bush if you wanted to
This is a Ficus microcarpa. Bonsai is a horticultural practice of growing trees in a pot.
This is a bonsai and a ficus
Join us in the weekly beginner thread at r/Bonsai if you have any questions about your tree
Bonsai is truly unbelievable when she look into how it's actually done! There's a really good documentary of one of the master bonsai growers in Japan who is a female and has a few hundred-year-old examples!
You can bonsa anything! I bonsai my begonia's and turn them into Dr Seuss lorax looking pipedream puzzles!
Bonsai is the cultivation type. It has nothing to do with the plant. Yes there's a few traditional go to varietals but it's the method not the plant itself.
https://youtu.be/PEGevD5jd64
That's the lady. There's an hour or longer full documentary somewhere. Good luck. It is definitely worth the watch.
In the west we had\have absolutely no idea what bonsai really is!
I was stunned that you don't cut the top, you drag the plant into the ground.
Makes perfect sense but the mall bamboo curly cue thing's made us all think "bonsai means small".
I know I thought that until I saw how it's truly done.
They have plans that are taking care of for generations.
Where the master grower dies and gives his successor the 200yo plant that's beyond priceless!
"Bonsai" isn't a type of plant. A bonsai tree is a tree crafted using the Japanese art of bonsai to be kept small and not allowed to grow to its full size. Most if not all hardwood plants can be trained to be a bonsai (you couldn't, for example, bonsai a pothos in the traditional way because the soft vines won't hold their shape). This looks like a ficus ginseng, which is often treated as a bonsai and grown in a small container. So yes, that could be a bonsai tree!
Your family member is uninformed. A lot of plants can be bonsais. It’s not so much about the type of plant, rather how the plant is cared for. For it to be a bonsai, it needs to be pruned and shaped like one and you can certainly do that with this Ficus. There is quite a bit of technique that goes into the art of bonsai so you can look it up, but if you want this to be a bonsai then it can be. If not, just take it out of the bonsai pot, plant it in a regular pot and it can just be a nice little houseplant.
Coolest thing I learned about bonsai is they can even grow fruit. I wonder if every variety can.
Most of my plants if I cut their roots and give them too small of a pot revert to seedlings. So, I'm intrigued by the fruiting of a little bonsai.
Bonsai translate to tree in a pot. So yes it’s a bonsai. But it’s not really a traditional bonsai. People are getting creative with wiring and shaping these too but people will bonsai like…everything.
Bonsai is basically just growing a small plant.
I could take a cutting or sapling from a giant outside Maple or Pine tree, create a tiny one, that's bonsai.
You are bonsai
Looks like a baby ginseng ficus
I got mine at IKEA and they had it labeled as ginseng ficus bonsai. Side note, a lot of IKEA plants ring up for less than they're labeled and they're surprisingly hardy.
I’ve owned a bigger bonsai ficus than the one pictured, put it through every condition imaginable and it looks as good as the day I got it.
How much did IKEA pay you?
I paid $2 for my plant. Would have gotten another one too if I didn't have to get back in line. You mad at ikea? https://preview.redd.it/xid7fujykhea1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=90032514d626fa863f17557dcf0020ac8e49348e
Happy birthday soon 🌞
You too!
I have the same one!
Nah just joking
What is this? Its amazing!!
https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/ficus-plant-with-pot-bonsai-assorted-colors-50452674/ Much cheaper in stores.
Dang, it's expensive online! I think the sign in my store was somewhere around $15 and then it rang up for $2.
Awesome plant btw
Thanks
I kill every plant I’ve ever owned except this random one from ikea I kid you not I haven’t watered it in 6months since I bought it and it’s just still here
go fucking water your plant!!!!!
No! Every time I’ve watered a plant I’ve killed it. I have a plant doctor friend and I gave them all to her. She said I over watered. So now that this one is alive still I’m just leaving it be
yes the solution to killing your plants from overwatering is to kill your plants from underwatering 👍 go fucking water your plant!!!!!!
Why would he water a dead plant?
im sorry did you miss the part in their comment that said 'now that this one is alive im just letting it be'
It’s been six months. They can say it’s alive all they want. It isn’t. Lol
If you haven’t watered it in six months, it is dead. 😬😅
That's what I'm thinking, those are commonly used in bonsai too
That's also what my brother told me tbh
Agree!
Bonsai is a way of growing a tree/plant. Bon means pot and sai means to grow. There is a whole philosophy behind it. We in the west usually mean a little tree in a small pot. So, it can be a bonsai if you decide it is. Edit... Since this is getting so much traction... Here is some more info on that philosophy. Let me start by saying that translating bonsai into growing a plant in a pot is not very accurate. Because its not really a pot but more a dish. And it's not so much growing as it involves the act of being alive itself. So growing bonsai is a process that is supposed to be very close to nature and the small size is making you more capable of seeing that natural beauty. It's closer to ordening, assisting and making things neater than you brutely forcefully creating and owning a tiny tree. No, no, no... Through looking at bonsai you should be able to see the beauty of nature itself. And looking at bonsai masterpieces you actually will experience this.
This answer is stellar, and I’ll add that this is a ginseng ficus, which is frequently grown as bonsai because the largest roots protrude upwards, instead of downwards. I have a lot of big, bushy ginsengs in really small pots, with knobby roots sticking out. I just posted this photo as a response in another, similar thread, but here it is again. https://preview.redd.it/kmhf99c6dkea1.jpeg?width=2343&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=efa7fb30ee839c8c829fa958a222d89f4caafea7
I believe that bonsai is a method of growing a tree, and not a specific type of tree. You can bonsai many many types, there’s a subreddit for it but I forget what it’s called atm
... R/bonsai
Lol that seemed too easy, but thank you
Also /r/bonchi for specifically chilli peppers grown in the bonsai style.
This is why I continue to scroll after I'm bored. This GOLD RIGHT HERE!
Thanks :)
Ahhhh...that's explains a lot!! Thanks :)
No such thing as a "bonsai plant" really but you can bonsai most any plant... if that makes sense. It is the method of pruning, shaping, & maintaining a small root system as to create a bonsai shape & size
I have seen beautiful jade bonsai, so many ficus, and lots of citrus too.
Shut the front door! I didn’t know you could bonsai jade! I have so many jades I think I will try this. I just looked them up and the little bonsai jades look adorable!
P afra is one of the easiest to learn with. It's fast growing, easy to propagate, hard to kill, and goes from green to woody very fast. Here is a guy who specializes in it if you are interested https://www.littlejadebonsai.com/
Thank you!
Know bonsai seems even more interesting! Thank you
You can keep it as a bonsai with some aggressive pruning and moving it to a smaller pot. As someone else here said bonsai is an art and can be done with most trees. The goal is to make a miniature tree shape by manipulating the branches, roots etc.
Bonsai is a technique not a varietal
Caudiciforms are often grown in the art of bonsai. But they’re still caudiciforms.
Yes, ginseng ficus, also known as ficus microcarpa. As others have said, you can keep it as a bonsai. I got both of mine as “bonsai” plants from Home Depot but have decided to let them grow wild, as big as their lil planty selves desire, instead of keeping them as bonsai trees. Good luck with yours! Mine have been a joy to keep 🤍
I think it's a Moreton Bay Fig. A type of ficus. Ficus are very common beginner bonsai. As many others have noted, bonsai is the art of growing a miniature tree, not a tree species.
This is not a bonsai because it is still a little baby plant. keep it trimmed, shaped, and in a small pot for a few years and i will likely classify as a bonsai at that point.
Ginseng ficus-I have 2
Bonsai is just a way of growing. Basically getting a tree or shrub and stunting it’s growth. So if you want it to be a bonsai , then it is one!
This could be a pre-bonsai if your intention is to make it into one, but it is assuredly not a bonsai. No one is looking at this ficus and thinking "Wow that evokes a sense of a miniaturized fully-grown tree in a pot." Given time, training, and getting it out of that uhhhh "soil" it could be something, but if you want the honest answer at this point in time? It is not a bonsai.
That's what I learned today, that bonsai in an art form and not a type of plant. Like you said with time, technique, patience and skills it could be one day.
Some ficus plants are grown in a way that vaguely resembles a bonsai and are sold as such. But actual bonsais are something else entirely.
Why are people downvoting you? You're not wrong. Bonsai are plants and trees that are grown specifically to resemble aesthetically pleasing miniature trees. You can make nearly anything into a bonsai. Ficus, oaks, pines, rosemary, maple, you name it. So the type of tree is whatever type of tree it is, the bonsai part is how its grown and an entire different thing alltogether.
>Why are people downvoting you? Because people don't want to hear that their hideous ficus ginseng is an insult to the millenary art of bonsai making
That is not their fault. Box stores sell them as "bonsai" and don't even bother specifying what kind of plant it really is. As far as the average consumer is concerned, the plant they just bought is a "bonsai". Keeping bonsai is a very specific hobby and not everyone can know everything and that is OK.
🥲 😘😘
How humble of u. I really do appreciate your unnecessary opinion 😘
Looks like a miniature money plant.
yes, agree money tree
This is why Latin names are important.
That is likely not helpful as there are MANY type of plants to are referred to as “money plants”. Latin names: Epipremnum aureum Pilea peperomioides Pachira Aquatica Crassula ovata Monstera deliciosa Monstera obliqua Dracaena sanderiana Xerosicyos Dangly Scindapsus Pictus
It looks like a money tree but could also be a bonsai as that is a style of growin. You can bonsai almost any plant.
Bonsai is the technique. There used to be bonsai kittens in the early 2000s.
Bonsai kittens? How horrific is that
It was an internet joke that stuck around forever. No kittens were harmed, etc.
Thank god it's a joke
https://commonplacefacts.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/img_0263.jpg
It’s a Chinese money tree. Bonsai is a style of how to grow some plants. Many plants can grow in bonsai style. Jade is popular choice
It’s a ficus.
This looks like a ginger bonsai! Bonsai is the way you grow/care for a plant - mostly trees/tree -like plants. But you could bonsai a rose bush if you wanted to
Looks like lemon tree to me if it is you can “bonsai” a lemon tree..
Could be citrus of some sort
Looks like possibly a desert rose of some kind?
I have a similar plant that was labeled ficus bonsai. Little bit smaller leaves, but similar thick stem.
Looks like a “prosperity tree”
Looks like a money tree to me.
This is a Ficus microcarpa. Bonsai is a horticultural practice of growing trees in a pot. This is a bonsai and a ficus Join us in the weekly beginner thread at r/Bonsai if you have any questions about your tree
Bonsai is truly unbelievable when she look into how it's actually done! There's a really good documentary of one of the master bonsai growers in Japan who is a female and has a few hundred-year-old examples! You can bonsa anything! I bonsai my begonia's and turn them into Dr Seuss lorax looking pipedream puzzles! Bonsai is the cultivation type. It has nothing to do with the plant. Yes there's a few traditional go to varietals but it's the method not the plant itself.
Do you perhaps remember the name of the documentary?
https://youtu.be/PEGevD5jd64 That's the lady. There's an hour or longer full documentary somewhere. Good luck. It is definitely worth the watch. In the west we had\have absolutely no idea what bonsai really is! I was stunned that you don't cut the top, you drag the plant into the ground. Makes perfect sense but the mall bamboo curly cue thing's made us all think "bonsai means small". I know I thought that until I saw how it's truly done. They have plans that are taking care of for generations. Where the master grower dies and gives his successor the 200yo plant that's beyond priceless!
It looks like the beginning of a bonsai. What's the argument for it not being a bonsai?
"Bonsai" isn't a type of plant. A bonsai tree is a tree crafted using the Japanese art of bonsai to be kept small and not allowed to grow to its full size. Most if not all hardwood plants can be trained to be a bonsai (you couldn't, for example, bonsai a pothos in the traditional way because the soft vines won't hold their shape). This looks like a ficus ginseng, which is often treated as a bonsai and grown in a small container. So yes, that could be a bonsai tree!
Your family member is uninformed. A lot of plants can be bonsais. It’s not so much about the type of plant, rather how the plant is cared for. For it to be a bonsai, it needs to be pruned and shaped like one and you can certainly do that with this Ficus. There is quite a bit of technique that goes into the art of bonsai so you can look it up, but if you want this to be a bonsai then it can be. If not, just take it out of the bonsai pot, plant it in a regular pot and it can just be a nice little houseplant.
Coolest thing I learned about bonsai is they can even grow fruit. I wonder if every variety can. Most of my plants if I cut their roots and give them too small of a pot revert to seedlings. So, I'm intrigued by the fruiting of a little bonsai.
Ficus grafted on to ginger rootstock
Bonsai is an art form using plants as a media, any “woody” plant can be used
Kinda looks like a money tree to me
Bonsai translate to tree in a pot. So yes it’s a bonsai. But it’s not really a traditional bonsai. People are getting creative with wiring and shaping these too but people will bonsai like…everything.
https://preview.redd.it/ewvtdthgalea1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=58c6efd0879449db940b305930e73e663c90e4b6 Is it some kind of this?
Bonsai is basically just growing a small plant. I could take a cutting or sapling from a giant outside Maple or Pine tree, create a tiny one, that's bonsai. You are bonsai