How would i get my bonsai trunk thicker?

I have a bonsai ficus, it seems fairly young. I have seen a $300 bonsai ficus at a local garden center and the trunk was inpressive. It had roots coming down from different heights of the trunk, very beautiful. How would one go about increasing the diameter of the trunk and helping it to create these root systems that form out of the trunk?


Thank you.|||Trunks are grown. To quickly increase trunk girth you should allow the tree to grow unrestrained. Trimming will only slow the growth. Once you get the desired thickness you can remove overgrown branches and regrow finer, more delicate branches with newly sprouted growth closer to the trunk.





Here's a link to help you get started:


http://www.matsubonsai.com/blog/post/200…





Here's a great resource about ficus:


http://bonsaihunk.us/|||The trunk, or any branch for that matter will thicken in proportion to the foliage load. The top will grow only as much as the roots can support. Since you have nice branching, planting in the ground is not a good option because you would lose a lot of the fine detail to the rampant growth you can expect.


You could consider potting in a large container, or selecting some low branches as "sacrifice" branching that will be allowed to grow to increase the girth of the trunk, then be cut off later. It might be helpful to know what kind of material you've collected.


thanks|||Only time (age) will increase the trunk size.





The exposed roots are achieved when transplanting. At each transplant root ends are trimmed and when repotted more root is left uncovered by soil. Gradually over time you get the effect of the tree being elevated by its own roots.





Here are some Bonsai techniques: http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=bonsai+…|||Keep trimming it, fertilize it and make sure you water it.. Only time will grow it though. Trimming keeps the energy at the lower levels instead of out on the branches and leaves..