So what month is this? Lol - I'm just poking you in the ribs like a friend would before he weighs in. ;-) I just helped Kris on another thread, so I hope she sees yours and is listening in here, too. Small trees are a high% of dynamic mass (100%?). The % of dynamic mass determines in part the tree's ability to resist stress & strain. Another way to put it that's easy to put into perspective is young plants have a greater will to live and will tolerate more indignities than older plants. That you have a good light set-up sort of extends your window of opportunity. While it's still probably not the best option, I think you could repot now. If Kris is listening in, and what I said seems to possibly bear on what I said in the other thread, feel free to reopen the conversation and we'll look at your options again. Where to begin to produce a bonsai from a young plant ................. that requires more than one book. Bonsai is a 4-dimensional art form, with "life' being the 4th dimension. The purpose varies by person, but I suppose I'd settle on personal satisfaction as its true purpose. The goal is different than purpose. The goal is to, through the use of a wide and ever expanding variety of techniques, to manipulate a tree (or plant) into something we might find that has been living in nature for a very long time. IOW - we want to build an old-looking tree that looks natural. I think we grow into the goal as we progress in the art. I don't think it's unrealistic to assume that the beginner's goals vary significantly from the goals of the more experienced growers. If you were experienced, we'd understand already that you need to let the plant grow unencumbered until the trunk is thick enough to look natural supporting a tree of the ht you have envisioned. There are 'rules' in bonsai that help you learn how to break them. ;-) Some of the rules involve proportions. For example, a perfect bonsai will have a trunk base thickness about 1/6 of the o/a ht of the tree above the soil line. That would mean if you want a 12" high bonsai, you should wait until you have a 2" thick trunk and then start building it. This is unrealistic for beginners for a number of reasons. Beginners just want to get a tree into a bonsai pot and enjoy admiring and taking care of it a. I applaud any who make the effort to build a relationship with their plants, and bonsai can be particularly rewarding in that regard. You'll have as much fun & satisfaction from your new commitments as I from mine. How about if we take a look at it before we plot a course that gets you to what you have envisioned for the plant in the shortest time while still safeguarding the trees vitality. Remember always that when you're working with bonsai, you're on tree time, which can be much more enjoyable (and considerably different) than people time while you're immersed in it. If you don't already know what I mean, I hope some day you get to find out; but while you're on tree time, you'll find that patience is part of the equation. You'll work & wait, work on the tree, then wait for it to recover so you can take the next step that brings it along on the journey to the destination you've selected for it. Al

Al (Tapla,) who is the creator of gritty mix frequents the container (& houseplant) forum. You've probably heard from him by now in the container forum?

Hi y'all, I hope your plants are doing well this winter! I wanted to check in to make sure I'm taking care of my ficus properly now that I've moved it indoors. I used to water it 2-3 times a week outdoors with a full gallon of water + DynaGro FoliagePro 9-3-6 liquid fertilizer. It responded very well to this treatment and new leaves grew to replace the initial shed it underwent when I repotted. San Antonio started getting into the 30s and 40s so I brought it inside during November. Now that it's indoors in front of this second-story west facing window, I've started watering it once every week and a half (or once I watered it after two weeks). I also use about a half gallon of water. I am still fertilizing it. I have it raised in a clay tray on top of some marbles so it doesn't stand in water. Plus I have a plastic tray underneath the clay one to hold excess water. It's probably been getting more sunshine than it used to when it was outdoors, because it used to be on a shaded patio and now it gets lots of sunshine from this window. Now for my questions! Many leaves have been yellowing and dropping in the past couple of weeks. Do you all think this is just a normal response to a somewhat finicky plant like a ficus benjamina being moved to a new environment? Or am I perhaps watering it too much? Or did I not water it enough (like that time I accidentally didn't water it for two weeks)? Pics!

Photos would help. Also, this is the edible fig section. You'll have better luck in the house plants section. Do a search for fiddle leaf figs (Ficus Lyrata) on the forums. There are about 73927492 threads and your questions could possible be answered.