Some interesting articles you’ve written there; hope to see more of them in the future. In fact I have a couple of quick questions, from one (inexperienced) ficus grower to another (more experienced) one, if you don’t mind me asking.

With regards to the Miracle-Gro compost: which one did you use, exactly? I went looking for some myself as my ficus is in a really poor state at the moment and found all sorts of different varieties!

As for your previous post, about your unfortunate natal plum: there’s a chance that your experience might yet be able to save my ficus’ life. It’s leaves are really dry at the moment, though they are still green (I don’t imagine that they’re any use to the poor tree, in the state they’re in). It’s happened since I went away for a fortnight and my housemate forgot to water it for me, so I assumed at first that it had simply dried out. I’ve watered and fed it, but one week later it’s not showing any improvement. Scratching away some bark, it’s still green (and therefore alive…?) underneath. I’m tempted to re-pot with fresh compost, but worry that disturbing it will just finish it off. It would be a shame to lose it, as I’ve finally got around to wiring it. My question is thus: have you had happen to any of your ficus, and were you able to save them? I wondered whether defoliating it of all its dead leaves (i.e. ALL of its leaves!) before it dies altogether would encourage it to grow some new ones.

Finally, I’d be interested to hear more about letting it dry out completely before watering it. It’s not an idea I’ve come across before.

I sincerely hope that you have a pearl of wisdom or two to pass on, but either way, all the best to you and your bonsai!