A Tale of Four Ficus

[M. Frary]

I'm waiting for a @M. Frary response.

I'm not sure what you're wanting.
The only thing I know about ficus is they make some good cookies out of them.
And Adam and Eve wore them to cover their hoo hoos.

 

[ColinFraser]

The only thing I know about ficus is they make some good cookies out of them.

"A cookie is just a cookie, but Newtons are fruit and cake!"

 

[eferguson1974]

I wish I could find something besides skinny benjaminas for sale here! Or overpriced microcarpas that are too small. I did find some here I can order. 8" trunks cost about $70. Maybe its worth it. A skinny one cost 20 here.
Good job, good find!

 

[ColinFraser]

I wish I could find something besides skinny benjaminas for sale here! Or overpriced microcarpas that are too small. I did find some here I can order. 8" trunks cost about $70. Maybe its worth it. A skinny one cost 20 here.
Good job, good find!

Thanks!

At least once you get one you won't have to buy any more - cuttings are super easy, and in your climate they should grow like weeds.

 

[ColinFraser]

Check this fun illustration out; can you guess which one was growing in the shade and which one was in full sun?! They are overwise pretty much identical plants:



Here they are side by side:

 

[ColinFraser]

OK, I did keep about two feet of trunks from above the chops. They're standing in a bucket of water and may become cuttings if I get around to it . . .

I kind of forgot about those cuttings; some of them have just been sitting in perlite in a tray for about a year now under my benches . . .



Looks like they rooted

 

[ColinFraser]

Time for a little more torturing the potted one; it's grown well after the last round of root work and cutbacks:



My thought was to keep the first tier of branching in check, while letting the next segment(s) above that run. It looks pretty silly right now, but I can squint and picture the wide squat tree I'm working toward . . .

 

[Giga]

Looking good!

 

[ColinFraser]

 

[ColinFraser]

Still just growing this one for taper. I made some selections to avoid a big knot. I didn't grab a closeup, but the big chop is starting to roll over nicely.

 

[Vin]

Hey, if you're growing it for taper wouldn't it be better to remove those aerial roots? They are keeping that area of the trunk bulked up aren't they?

 

[ColinFraser]

Hey, if you're growing it for taper wouldn't it be better to remove those aerial roots? They are keeping that area of the trunk bulked up aren't they?

View attachment 137825

The highest two are actually dead and don't even enter the soil; not sure why I leave them on there, haha.
I do want to keep the base bulked up and wide, but this does need serious root work. One of the fun things about having a cohort progression thread like this is that I'm doing different things and in a different order to all of them.

I think I'll get to the roots on this one this summer. It's possible the angle will change quite a bit, so I'm leaving my root options open until then.

 

[ColinFraser]

Took a photo of this one for another thread, so I might as well update it here:

 

[ColinFraser]

The edge of the big chop is starting to roll nicely on this one . . .

 

[Deeej]

Any updates on these?

 

[TooCoys]

I'm not sure what you're wanting.
The only thing I know about ficus is they make some good cookies out of them.
And Adam and Eve wore them to cover their hoo hoos.

Adam must have had a small hoo-hoo.