a few ficus trees

[dustbust]

a few of my trees at their ugly stage.

pic 1 will not make a proportional bonsai. The trunk is too thin. I have about 3 more trees with a trunk this size that im growing out. This is my "practice ramification" tree.

Pic 2 is a walmart ficus sold as bonsai with the glued rocks. I re-potted last year and chopped this summer. Getting fast growth out of this one. Have to keep rubbing out double to quadruple buds.

Pic 3 is another practice tree. Has a huge ugly scar and was just chopped recently.

Pic 4 is the top of the walmart ficus. will make a cool little mame once i start ramifying it to get it compact.

I really have no plan for any of these right now. im just kind of letting them develop and hoping to "see" the future tree within. If anybody has some ideas that would be great.

 

[drew33998]

If the 4 trees mentioned in picture 1 are the same variety why not fuse them to get something a little better? There is a guy on here doing this project right now under the "tropicals" section

 

[Redwood Ryan]

If the 4 trees mentioned in picture 1 are the same variety why not fuse them to get something a little better? There is a guy on here doing this project right now under the "tropicals" section

It'd be best to fuse them if they came from the same plant. Fusing trees that aren't from one collective tree, but are the same species, can result in a mix match of bark differences. They may be the same species, but every tree varies.

 

[drew33998]

It'd be best to fuse them if they came from the same plant. Fusing trees that aren't from one collective tree, but are the same species, can result in a mix match of bark differences. They may be the same species, but every tree varies.

I was waiting for you to chime in!

 

[dustbust]

ya, thats a GREAT idea. I wouldn't be able to do the steel cage method (read your thread Ryan, very cool) but maybe just wrapping them together would work. With ficus do i need to peel the bark where they meet or will they just fuse? thanks guys

 

[Redwood Ryan]

ya, thats a GREAT idea. I wouldn't be able to do the steel cage method (read your thread Ryan, very cool) but maybe just wrapping them together would work. With ficus do i need to peel the bark where they meet or will they just fuse? thanks guys

Are they all from the same tree?

You don't need to expose the cambium, they'll fuse just fine without having that done.

 

[drew33998]

I would go with what Ryan is saying here. I am no expert in tropicals and he has a nice set-up for tropicals.

 

[dustbust]

3 are from the same, 4th one is not. So ill prob just do the 3 which will still give me a good kickstart.

second part to this question while I have Ryan chiming in. My setup is trees outside in the summer and back indoors in the winter in my basement. I have a 4Lx4Hx2D frame I have it wrapped in plastic with a fan and florescents. BY now the trees are too tall for this setup. Will my trunks continue to thicken if I have to keep whacking them to 4ft every fall?

Thanks Guys

 

[Redwood Ryan]

3 are from the same, 4th one is not. So ill prob just do the 3 which will still give me a good kickstart.

second part to this question while I have Ryan chiming in. My setup is trees outside in the summer and back indoors in the winter in my basement. I have a 4Lx4Hx2D frame I have it wrapped in plastic with a fan and florescents. BY now the trees are too tall for this setup. Will my trunks continue to thicken if I have to keep whacking them to 4ft every fall?

Thanks Guys

The trunks will still thicken, but at a much slower rate. Best way to get a fat Ficus trunk is to let it grow unrestricted in a shallow pot.

 

[dustbust]

Ya that's what i figured. Might just have to create another growing contraption

 

[KennedyMarx]

I like the last one. I think it could make a cool broom style with some continual growing and cutting back.

 

[dustbust]

Broom is what I kind of had in mind for that one. I cant decide if I should keep the broken side branch or not. I kind of like the Non-perfect style of trees.

 

[dustbust]

well i put the 3 together. I cut the roots where they meet and electric taped them together. Actually was pretty easy and matched up pretty good. Now to wait.

Ill post a pic after work.

 

[dustbust]