Ficus Religiosa - How Easy to go from Plant to Bonsai? (Pics)

[MisterMcFeely]

Seeing as my first post was about some failures, I thought to try and ask you all about the feasibility of doing something before I actually set out to do it.

My family is Buddhist, and there is a special reverence for the Bodhi Tree, which is, in fact, a Ficus Religiosa. I haven't, however, seen much of anything regarding using this tree in a bonsai context - that is, except for one *magnificently beautiful* picture I found and which can be seen HERE

So, I went ahead and bough THIS baby tree, in the hopes that I can somehow do what it takes to get it to get even a quarter of the way to being the beautiful bonsai discussed above. Am I nuts? Or is this doable? I recognize that I may not get it looking like a 200-year old banyan in the first picture, but will trying to turn this into a bonsai be a wasted effort or something that can reasonably be done?

Thanks guys!

 

[Ang3lfir3]

always start bonsai with trees that have great trunks already.... luckily for you, you are looking at a ficus.... guess what that means!! .... get yourself about a hundred more of these cuttings/seedlings and put them together (i hope you live in a relatively tropical climate [fill out location in ur profile..helps us help you] )

you can create very interesting bonsai from ficus whips when twisted and grafted together and with their fast growth rate (especially in tropical climates) you can create something amazing in under a decade ....

or .... start with a great trunk and go from there ...

 

[edprocoat]

Ang3flr's advice about fusing whips is very doable with any Ficus. You can start by taking cuttings from your plant, a picture of it would allow ones here to see what you are talking about, these cuttings can be grown in a pot together and will fuse very quickly, in a matter of months. It will take quite a bit longer to get trunk thickness in individual trunks, but look at it this way, seven quarter inch cuttings when grown together is a trunk 1 and 3/4's an inch wide. I find a great place to grow tropicals in the home, as I believe I remember you stating that you are in a New Jersey apartment or condo, is in the bathroom. The reason being its easy to keep them well lit there and provide high levels of humidity, just a hot shower alone will steam up the room and they are usually well lit and have bright walls and reflective mirrors to keep the plant well lit. The advantage of growing the trunks real close besides the trunks fusing is that the foliage above will crowd together holding humidity around the plant longer prompting aerial roots to form. All you need to do is plant them close and keep them moist and stand back they will quickly form a banyan like tree, when certain branches sprout taller than others cut them off and plant these near the base and these will in time fuse with the existing base making the whole larger again. I would wager that with even a smallish Ficus you could pull off a convincing banyan tree image in less than 5 years, quite possibly in three. For an example I posted a thread here called Fallen Ficus in the tropical forum section, I have taken 7 larger branches from the Ficus and planted the in a small pot about 4 x 4 inches and they have already fused at the roots and can be lifted as one group, this would take several years for almost any other variety of tree. I have a Scheffelera that I posted a thread about here that was created by me from cuttings like Ang3flr suggested for your Ficus R. the cuttings rooted and fused in just over 8 months and all the straight "aerial" roots are actually cuttings.

By the way I have read about the Ficus Religiosa and that its considered as sacred in certain religions yet I have never seen one for sale and assumed the reason was because of its religious reverence, where did you find this tree for sale or was it a cutting from one your family possessed?

ed

 

[Projekt Robi]

ed they are some up for grabs on ebay

 

[jk_lewis]

How successful you are on any of this will depend to a great extent on where you live. If it is in semi tropical or tropical location, it will be easy. If more northern, temperate region, it will get more and more difficult as you move north.

 

[MisterMcFeely]

Thanks a bunch for all the advice guys! I am indeed in New Jersey as Edprocoat was pretty observant to remember. So, I think that I may have more tough of a time than normal in getting this tree to work.

To answer your question of procurement, Ed, I actually bought the tree off of eBay. As legend has it, the tree revered as the Bo Tree in India (and in Sri Lanka where a cutting was brought over several centuries ago) isn't, in fact, "the" Bo Tree under which the Buddha attained enlightment. That tree was apparently burned down a couple hundred years after his death by some local Queen out of jealousy of her then-deceased husband's affection for the tree. So I'm not sure if there is any propagation of the original tree. Nonetheless, there are cuttings that have been propagated from the tree revered in India that have been grown all over the world. I was pretty shocked myself to find that this tree was so unobtainable, and expected to see many more beautiful bonsai specimens all over the net. I did manage to find a few more on Google, but not many. I would have imagined that the Japanese (being Buddhists) and Chinese (also Buddhists and with their Penjing aesthetic) would have been all over the idea of recreating a min "scene" of the Bo Tree with a temple next to it as a reflecting of the real-life one.

What you say about fusing the whips is an interesting idea. As an alternative, do you think it makes sense to just chop of all the branches when I get it to force the tree to side-branch and thicken the trunk? And then after doing that a few times, then plant into a bonsa pot? Or is that not a smart thing to do?

Ed, if you want a cutting from the plant, I'm happy to send you one of course! I'd be curious to see how you do with it, and to see how much better you fare than I do!

Ang3flr's advice about fusing whips is very doable with any Ficus. You can start by taking cuttings from your plant, a picture of it would allow ones here to see what you are talking about, these cuttings can be grown in a pot together and will fuse very quickly, in a matter of months. It will take quite a bit longer to get trunk thickness in individual trunks, but look at it this way, seven quarter inch cuttings when grown together is a trunk 1 and 3/4's an inch wide. I find a great place to grow tropicals in the home, as I believe I remember you stating that you are in a New Jersey apartment or condo, is in the bathroom. The reason being its easy to keep them well lit there and provide high levels of humidity, just a hot shower alone will steam up the room and they are usually well lit and have bright walls and reflective mirrors to keep the plant well lit. The advantage of growing the trunks real close besides the trunks fusing is that the foliage above will crowd together holding humidity around the plant longer prompting aerial roots to form. All you need to do is plant them close and keep them moist and stand back they will quickly form a banyan like tree, when certain branches sprout taller than others cut them off and plant these near the base and these will in time fuse with the existing base making the whole larger again. I would wager that with even a smallish Ficus you could pull off a convincing banyan tree image in less than 5 years, quite possibly in three. For an example I posted a thread here called Fallen Ficus in the tropical forum section, I have taken 7 larger branches from the Ficus and planted the in a small pot about 4 x 4 inches and they have already fused at the roots and can be lifted as one group, this would take several years for almost any other variety of tree. I have a Scheffelera that I posted a thread about here that was created by me from cuttings like Ang3flr suggested for your Ficus R. the cuttings rooted and fused in just over 8 months and all the straight "aerial" roots are actually cuttings.

By the way I have read about the Ficus Religiosa and that its considered as sacred in certain religions yet I have never seen one for sale and assumed the reason was because of its religious reverence, where did you find this tree for sale or was it a cutting from one your family possessed?

ed

 

[MisterMcFeely]

Thanks Angelfire! If only I had the cash to get a hundred seedlings! . But sadly, no.

I will fill out my profile. Thanks again for the help!

always start bonsai with trees that have great trunks already.... luckily for you, you are looking at a ficus.... guess what that means!! .... get yourself about a hundred more of these cuttings/seedlings and put them together (i hope you live in a relatively tropical climate [fill out location in ur profile..helps us help you] )

you can create very interesting bonsai from ficus whips when twisted and grafted together and with their fast growth rate (especially in tropical climates) you can create something amazing in under a decade ....

or .... start with a great trunk and go from there ...

 

[MisterMcFeely]

BTW, Otaku is such a perfect word - aficionado just doesn't carry the same connotation. And the tree you present on the most recent blog post is stunning!!! Me want

bonsaiotaku.com.

 

[Redwood Ryan]

What you say about fusing the whips is an interesting idea. As an alternative, do you think it makes sense to just chop of all the branches when I get it to force the tree to side-branch and thicken the trunk? And then after doing that a few times, then plant into a bonsa pot? Or is that not a smart thing to do?

That's not the wisest thing to do. To thicken the trunk you'll want to let the tree grow big and tall. Chopping it back and forcing it to throw out lower buds will only put you back. So, by letting it grow uncontrolled for a few years you'll obtain a decent sized trunk.

 

[MisterMcFeely]

Thanks for the heads up. Do you think I'll be able to get a decent trunk indoors, in a pot? I ask because I just don't have any land to keep the pot outdoors. The whip-fusing protocol may be the way to go, but I am so scared to mess up the plant!

That's not the wisest thing to do. To thicken the trunk you'll want to let the tree grow big and tall. Chopping it back and forcing it to throw out lower buds will only put you back. So, by letting it grow uncontrolled for a few years you'll obtain a decent sized trunk.

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Thanks for the heads up. Do you think I'll be able to get a decent trunk indoors, in a pot? I ask because I just don't have any land to keep the pot outdoors. The whip-fusing protocol may be the way to go, but I am so scared to mess up the plant!

You'll be able to, it'll just take a loooong time. If it's able to even spend just the summer outdoors, that's better than nothing. However, you may need to add artificial lighting if you want to speed up its indoor growth. A windowsill just won't be enough.

 

[thumblessprimate]

If you live in the right climate or have access to a greenhouse, I recommend that you grow it in the ground to accomplish what Redwood Ryan suggested.

 

[Bryan Correa]

Curious if original poster has any updates or photos? I am trying the same thing. Also - there is now a Bodhi specific nursery in Dallas - I ordered 1 in May which is growing very vigorously (see image), and have ordered 5 more after reading these posts to see if I can experiment with fusing the roots or strategically pruning growth to promote lower trunk growth (I saw the advice above not to.. But the tress are only $10 and I don't mind experimenting a bit).

Thanks!

PS the plant in the image I bought in May.. Small pic is probably from June and big one from a week ago (I repotted and uncovered some roots to try and get some aerialization so it's covered in a bag to increase humidity)

 

[carp]

Ficus religiosa trunk does not swell as quickly as other species like microcarpa and salicaria, but the leaf is interesting so it is almost a novelty. It is also more prone to dieback that other species of Ficus that I work with. Typically when I defoliate, I leave terminal buds, and when I prune, I leave leafs whenever possible but that's not to say that they do not tolerate hard pruning.

 

[TrunkTickler]

Ficus religiosa trunk does not swell as quickly as other species like microcarpa and salicaria, but the leaf is interesting so it is almost a novelty. It is also more prone to dieback that other species of Ficus that I work with. Typically when I defoliate, I leave terminal buds, and when I prune, I leave leafs whenever possible but that's not to say that they do not tolerate hard pruning.

I agree with this,
I just hard pruned mine back and am happy with the majority of the buds that pushed. But one of my key branches is yet to push any buds, I'll continue to wait and hopefully as the summer progresses a bud will form, it's a pretty phat branch so I'm hoping some energy is still making it to it. Of not I'll have to try some grafting techniques

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Nigel Saunders has a few religiosa thats hes been building for years along with some good care instructions for beginners on youtube.

Itll take a while in a pot to thicken up. If you can get it into a larger deep pot, itll grow faster. I would think about getting some movement in the first few inches of trunk now... that portion will be with you forever, even when you chop it back.

I like the bathroom idea for growing if you have a decent amount of natural light there in the winter. Summer, id do my best to get tree outside.