I have a baby willow leaf fig ficus salisafolia and i was wondering if you can over water it or drown it.

thanks, Ben

G`day Ben welcome to South forum. Mate you can definitely over water your Bonsai , I think over watering would be the biggest killer of Bonsai. A good test if you are unsure if it needs to be watered, is to scratch a little of the soil away. If it is still moist you don`t need to water.

A couple of other points that are closely linked to this that you should consider, are having a good free draining potting mix and in most cases the bonsai should be in full sun.

cheers Rod....

Hi Ben,

Further to what Rod has said below, here are some other pointers which I've found REALLY useful for me. I'm very new to BOnsai as well (7-8 months) so I completely understand where you're at.

- As Rod said, get a really good free draining soil - I use a 50/50 mix of pre made bonsai soil and diatomite. With such a free draining soil i've found it practically impossible to overwater my plants.

- Know your trees. For example Junipers like to be a little on the dry side and like a wet-dry cycle. Whereas a tree like a swamp cypress (which live in muddy water) can be practically kept soaked constantly. Once you understand each tree's requirements, you can regulate it's watering accordingly. I have a fig, but not the same variety as yours and I've found it to be fairly tolerant of my watering habbits, which in the beginning, were all over the place!

- Do the finger test at Rod suggested, but I go a little deeper in the soil, as sometimes the surface can be dry but beneath still quite moist.

- Watch the weather - The hoter and dryer the temp, the more you'll need to water, however still conduct the "scratch test". The same rule applies as the seasons change - winter vs summer.

- How much folliage is on your trees - If you've recently done a HARD prune or defoliated your trees, they won't be sucking up as much water as there were previously, as with no solar panels, they can't photosynthesise. So again, less folliage = less water.

I hope that's helpful. I'm also happy to be corrected if anyone feels i've given inaccurate info

thanks heaps.
i acctully did give it a very hard prunning about 5 mins ago
thanks again
Ben

Yes, my dead shimpaku is testament to that.

As for figs, mine are all in free draining mix, so they will drink 4-5 times a day if i feel inclined.