Willow Leaf Ficus

Willow leaf ficus ive had for awhile. When i got it there wasnt much to it. I fed and watered and let it grow.

The middle of June i defoilated it.

RickMartin said:

The middle of June i defoilated it.

Click to expand...

Why?

Because i wanted more buds and i got them. It was also recommended by members of my club. Pic of it now in a bigger pot coming soon.

Rick

And here it is 1 month later

RickMartin said:

Because i wanted more buds and i got them. It was also recommended by members of my club. Pic of it now in a bigger pot coming soon.

Rick

Click to expand...

Problem is, from this, you actually didn't get more buds at all. Instead, you just removed older leaves, and the growing tips simply continued to grow, and now they're growing on branches that are now bare closer to the trunk. It's a ficus, so no big deal, but if you do this on a more challenging species to cultivate, it will cause problems.
Look at this markup; defoliated branches marked in purple, new leaves were left on the tree, circled in red:

When it "grew back", it was simply the leaves circled in red above continuing to grow. Bare branch areas are still bare:

Again, it's a ficus, so no big deal. But, when you defoliate, it should be after a tree is done growing for the summer, but when it still has enough time to produce another flush of growth.

When you defoliate an actively-growing tree, you need to also remove the growing tip if you want it to produce more buds to grow into shoots. When you do this, it will activate dormant buds at the axils of the leaves you removed. Instead of having bare spaces on branches (bad for bonsai), you are forcing more shoots (good for bonsai):

I will have to study photod when i get home to my computer. To small on my phone.

Rick

Ok i get the part about bare branches, but my primary goal was to get buds along the trunk, which i did. But yes you are correct on the branches and i understand what needs to be done now..let it grow, then cut back.

Rick