Ficus - less often grown species

petegreg · Nov 19, 2016

Hi all, if you have some less often grown Ficus species, please share them.

Ficus pumila

I'm always happy when I find a new plant to play with, twice more if found forgotten at my household.

This cutting grown F. pumila is some 12-15 years old. It was wired few years ago , only watered and fed for all its life. OK, some clipping... It's more a vine than a tree, doesn't like too much water and hot direct sunlight. I found a good posn for it right in the beginning, growing sitting on my fridge approx. 1 m from a window. The plant grows actively 12 months a year, so I cleaned and pruned it today, removed more than half of foliage. The top is very new, sprouted only some year ago.
...two before pics and one after:

hemmy · Nov 19, 2016

That's a monster trunk for a pumila! The biggest one I've been able to find in a nursery has a diameter of 1 cm.

petegreg · Nov 19, 2016

hemmy said:
That's a monster trunk for a pumila! The biggest one I've been able to find in a nursery has a diameter of 1 cm.

Thanks hemmy, it's a matter of time. This was started with a cutting sized trunk too.

hemmy · Nov 19, 2016

Here's the biggest trunk I've ever seen, the biggest is 4" diameter (10cm)! I'd love to have a thick cutting but developing taper to the new branches might take 50 years!

petegreg · Nov 19, 2016

hemmy said:
Here's the biggest trunk I've ever seen, the biggest is 4" diameter (10cm)! I'd love to have a thick cutting but developing taper to the new branches might take 50 years!

Oh, can it be ground grown where you live?

I think big chop wounds could be carved ála boxwood and Co, but then better if kept out of rain.

hemmy · Nov 19, 2016

Coastal Southern California, no freezes, our min temp is ~40F (4C). That one is growing on the side of a building in a retail shopping area surrounded by concrete so it probably stays warmer. It is 15ft high with branching probably 10ft in two directions. I only recently noticed it, but definitely an area I will keep an eye on for any construction!

petegreg · Nov 21, 2016

I've got one more to share here.

Ficus triangularis

Checking notes I can't believe it's been 11 years with me since brought home as a rooted cutting. Kept indoors on W-window sill, it has some break in growth every winter...our bedroom is cold, some 18℃.
I wanted to remove sacrifice branch today, but will wait. It needs to be repotted next spring and...ehm rotated more often. Some might say the leaves are similar to ginkgo.

Bolero · Nov 21, 2016

These Narrow Leaf Fica's and others belong to my Bonsia buddy. shot the pictures Friday...
All are 30+ years of age...

petegreg · Nov 21, 2016

Bolero said:
These Narrow Leaf Fica's and others belong my Bonsia buddy. shot the pictures Friday...
All are 30+ years of age...

Wonderful trees you've / he's got there.

Could you please specify scientific name? When I google it I receive - Other name: Other names for Narrow-leaf fig: Ficus alii, Ficus binnendykii, Ficus longifolia. Yours / his look like F. salicaria (Willow leaf ficus), but I can be wrong. And some retusa or microcarpa.

Anthony · Nov 21, 2016

Peter,

there other willow leaf ficus - here is Ficus primioides [ spelling ? ] our local ficus.
These are due to be redone and re-fixed as no one could control them.

We didn't know they could thicken in a pot with minimal soil.
So they got out of hand.
Good Day
Anthony

from 1982 or so, found as whip on a coconut tree.

This a half of another tree

Anthony · Nov 21, 2016

This is how slim they start off -

The Ficus p. as a tree has tendency to weep.

This now in 2016 a tall elegant tree with more work on the roots, but no new image as of yet.
Good Day
Anthony

petegreg · Nov 21, 2016

Anthony said:
This is how slim they start off -

The Ficus p. as a tree has tendency to weep.

This now in 2016 a tall elegant tree with more work on the roots, but no new image as of yet.
Good Day
Anthony

View attachment 123708

Thanks Anthony.
How slim they start...but how quickly can they get some trunks? Especially if potted? I've got some breaks in keeping tropicals developing strong. I know, 1) four seasons, 2) kept indoors.

Shima · Nov 21, 2016

Here's another pumila, about 70 or so years from a cutting. A bit pointy here but it corrected itself in a few days.

It has more color now. I'll up-date it tomorrow.

petegreg · Nov 22, 2016

Shima said:
Here's another pumila, about 70 or so years from a cutting. A bit pointy here but it corrected itself in a few days. It has more color now. I'll up-date it tomorrow. View attachment 123744

Very nice ROR, I've got two cuttings trained in upright style.

Anthony · Nov 22, 2016

@Shima,

now that is IMPRESSIVE!
Thank You.
Good Day
Anthony

*How tall , trunk size ?

Anthony · Nov 22, 2016

Peter,

we have been exploring the use of the - sacrificial branch - what we discovered with the local Ficus p, about 5 or 6
years ago was, it could pack on trunk size even in a 2.5 cm deep pot - and with 90 % non porous inorganic soil
mix [ by volume ]
Branch has to grow to 1 m to get the effect.

We are exploring this on other local trees.

By the way the Ficus b. types do horribly down here, suspicions are, they are zone 9 [ see China ] and we would have
to get them from zone 13 or so. Think Ficus carica.

There is another Ficus, but it is non-glossy as the leaf goes, has yellow fruit and does well. Not sure what type it is.
Here is an image of it without leaves.
It has been damaged and does not have that density any more, so repairs are under way.
Good Day
Anthony

petegreg · Nov 22, 2016

Anthony said:
Peter,

we have been exploring the use of the - sacrificial branch - what we discovered with the local Ficus p, about 5 or 6
years ago was, it could pack on trunk size even in a 2.5 cm deep pot - and with 90 % non porous inorganic soil
mix [ by volume ]
Branch has to grow to 1 m to get the effect.

We are exploring this on other local trees.

By the way the Ficus b. types do horribly down here, suspicions are, they are zone 9 [ see China ] and we would have
to get them from zone 13 or so. Think Ficus carica.

There is another Ficus, but it is non-glossy as the leaf goes, has yellow fruit and does well. Not sure what type it is.
Here is an image of it without leaves.
It has been damaged and does not have that density any more, so repairs are under way.
Good Day
Anthony

View attachment 123754

Anthony, thank you for your response. So
as you stated it's possible with SB in pot too. Good to hear this. Yes, I've got one young common fig that has a long way to go. It goes dormant in winter here.

Shima · Nov 22, 2016

Thanks all. Here's the promised up-date on another cool, dark, rainy day. And for Anthony: it's 16" high and 23" wide with 4" trunk.

Bruce

Ficus - less often grown species

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