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Here are some of the results of the survey to which the readers of 'The Bonsai Site' have contributed : This survey is now closed, but if you wish to contribute your views on our current survey, click here. If you want to see other past surveys, click here.
We received over 950 answers to this survey which ran between August and September, 2000. From these answers, the plant that was chosen as the most resistant to disease was the FICUS, which is extremely hardy, quite tolerant to pests, and easy to train.
Question :
Opinions :
Desmond Headland from Cleveland, US, says : Practicing bonsai for over 15 years. CRAPE MYRTLE. These are very suitable plants for bonsai in my opinion, and from experience have proven to be very disease resistant. I use genetically-modified myrtles which are almost fully disease free. Stephen from zone 4, Kiama, Australia, says : Practicing bonsai for over 15 years. FICUS (Moreton Bay Fig). Handles damp & dry conditions very well, not affected by rust or mildue, resistant to grubs & insects and seldom affected by aphids. Simon Stevens from zone 8, Newton, Derbyshire, UK, says : Practicing bonsai for over 10 years. JUNIPER. Well whenever I 'accidentally' over prune it and it suddenly obtains a disease, it just battles through and emerges victorious. Lauren says : Beginner at bonsai. UMBRELLA TREE. The person I bought it from says that when grown in a lava rock, it won't get diseases or bugs. The reason is, is because to water the lava-bonsai (as I like to call it) you throw the WHOLE plant into a tank of water for an hour once a week. This, he said rids the lava-bonsai of dust, bugs, and disease. Ruel Santos from Bacoor Cavite, Philippines, says : Practicing bonsai for over 5 years. TAGAYTAY CHERRY. Lives in the wild and have self resisting hormones against diseases. David Bailey from zone 4, Adelaide, Australia, says : Beginner at bonsai. EUROPEAN OLIVE. This plant, although an ideal bonsai subject in our climate is regarded as an introduced weed which has spread throughout the Adelaide Hills. It is precisely this hardiness which makes it disease resistant-they are very difficult to kill. Lane C. Graham from zone 3, Winnipeg, Canada, says : Practicing bonsai for over 10 years. CHINESE JUNIPER. Have several and they have never been diseased. Seb from zone 8/9, Oppede, France, says : Practicing bonsai for over 2 years. FICUS. I have had many problems and diseases with a lot of tree species and all the ficus species never caught a disease, they are very hardy to a lot of pests, I have never had a sick ficus. Norma Santiago from zone 10, Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, says : Beginner at bonsai. FICUS. Ficus are hardy plants and do not get infected with aphids or any other insects frequently. Joel Guerin from zone 6, Versailles, U.S. says : Practicing bonsai for over 15 years. EASTERN WHITE CEDAR. So vigorous. Grows in full sun, doesn't seem to be bothered by hottest weather. Rapid growth is a challenge, but constantly gives you new material to work with. Only requirement is to be kept watered. Doesn't like to get real dry. Great single and double trunk, and fabulous for groves. Chuck Phillips from zone 7, Van Buren, Arkansas, U.S. says : Practicing bonsai for over 2 years. FICUS. I have had numerous Ficus trees and haven't had any problems with them. They are easy to train and are very disease resistant.
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