Site Updates, BSGNY news and more

This past month has been a crazy time for me, and though I've been continuing with bonsai activities, there hasn't been the time or impetous to get the information up in this format. Life should slow down again for me- though it'll be speeding up for the rest of you as Christmas season grabs hold and shakes the crazies out.

Golden Bonsai website is down- thanks for your e-mails guys- due to technical issues. We'll be getting that sorted out as soon as possible!

Tonight is the monthly BSGNY meeting held at Farmingdale Campus at the Horticultural greenhouse. We will be doing a ficus workshop, so grab your tools and a pot and come on down. Free for members with a reasonable fee for non-member guests. You'll get to go home with a nice little tropical that you can work on over the winter while the rest of your trees take the deep sleep, and more knowledge on the species in general. Drop me a line here if you need directions or info, I'll be checking here and my e-mail all day.

Want a little info on ficus before coming down? Normally I'd link you, but with the site down I'll post it here directly.

Ficus Information and Care:
Ficus are amoung the most popular species for indoor bonsai. With over 800 different species of this tropical evergreen shrub, there are over a dozen species and nearly one hundred varieties that are suited to bonsai.

Also commonly known as Figs, these trees are not frost hardy, and should be brought inside when day or night temperatures drop below 60F (15C). Living outdoors in the summer months will benefit them greatly, but bring them in when the weather starts to turn colder. Though they will not die from temperatures below 60, it will lead to a deterioration of health, and is simply best avoided.

The Fig's popularity as indoor bonsai stem from their tolerance of normal indoor conditions in many homes: Low light and low humidity. This is not to say that they do not require better light and humidity to flourish inside. Supplying your ficus with a humidity tray and/or a grow light if you do not have good natural lighting will help the tree flourish during the colder part of the year.

Many figs tolerate hard pruning quite well, and though you can prune any time of year with these tropicals, in spring or during periods of strong growth are your best option. Figs will bleed a white, milky sap when pruned.

Though they are evergreen and tropical, ficus will go through a period of dormancy when brought inside. They will not lose their leaves, but new growth will slow or stop all together, especially due to the amount of light they will be getting in winter. Do not fertilize during this period unless strong growth is being exhibited. As they are always in leaf, fertilize with a heavy nitrogen mix, 10-10-10, 10-5-5, etc.

That's just the blurb from the website, and unfortunately, there is only so much space for information on the sidebar of each section for me to write in! That might be changing in the future with full species info in a whole reference section, though it would be a while in the making. For more information on Ficus, a great website is Jerry Meislik, aka, "The Bonsai Hunk" and one of the best sources of information on these trees that I know.

http://www.bonsaihunk.us/index.html

The holiday party for BSGNY is also coming up! Officer elections will be held, as well as a auction for some of the trees worked on over the last year! The works of some of our speakers such as Guy Guidry, Arthur Skolnik, David Benavente and Marco Invernizzi will all be up on the block, as well as anything else the members would like to donate. All proceeds go toward the club. The party will be held at the usual place (Farmingdale Horticultural Center on the school property), on December 14th. Feel free to contact for more information.