Ficus Religiosa (Bo Tree) Soil Question
Answered by: Inge Poot
Question from: Tom Vencil
Posted on: December 07, 2007

I just bought a Ficus religiosa, or bo tree on line. Eventually I want to start bonsai training, but in the meantime I want to re-pot it and let it grow more. (Currently it’s about 17" tall and about 1" wide) My question is what kind of soil should I use? I realize it needs to be fast draining, but what elements of soil do I need to be looking for? If it’s pretty much gravel or agrulite, then how do I tell when it’s dry and when to water? If you could just give me a basic care list I’d greatly appreciate it.

Ficus religiosa needs well-draining fertile soil. I would suggest an ordinary tropical plant soil. The plant is not fussy about soil pH. Just about anything CAN be grown hydroponically in gravel or agrulite, but a tropical soil is much easier since you can tell when it needs watering by the colour change of the soil surface from dark brown to light brown as the peat moss in the mix dries out. In very porous mixes such as gravel, you may have to water with very dilute complete fertilizer about once a day.

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