A Tale of Two Ficus

[cockroach]

I bought 2 ficus as a generical styled semi cascades about 2.5 years ago. Both looked like this one:

After 2 years of development, the above picture ficus looks like this after a defoliation:

I am thiking to remove all the branches to the left stopping at the first upward curve of the main trunk.

The other was put into a pvc pipe with potting soil to promote long roots. A year later attached to coral rock:

Last week defoliated and wired:

Both are ficus microcarpa which is one of my favorite species as it is a joy to work with, especially in our climate.

 

[linlaoboo]

my tree lookes very similar to your 1st picture and you just showed me some good idea. Thanks a lot, will be looking for a coral rock from some aquarium shop lol.

 

[cockroach]

This was after I removed the wire and added a little more moss to the base and substrate.

Root on rock detail

Trunk

Moss detail

Top view

Full shot again

I will continue to defoliate and get back budding to tighten the canopy slightly. The left branch looks tad out of sorts but I am setting it lower than needed as they always bounce back a bit more than desired.

 

[petegreg]

Adam Lavigne calls this spiecies "plastic trees"... And you've just proved it. Nice, different, I like them both.

 

[boguz]

They look very nice.
Btw, how often can you defoliate in a year?

 

[cockroach]

I defoliate twice a year sometimes if I am trying to create ramification and reduce leaf size in the same growing season. For now though, all my ficus are getting well deserved breaks and just being allowed to grow. Near the end of the season, late Sept to mid Oct here, I will hard prune or defoliate again.

This what one looks like after a hard prune to transform it into a "literati" cascade.

 

[eferguson1974]

I have a couple ficus that I think are microcarpa. When you defoliate do you leave a leaf or leaf buds on the branches? If mine dont have some green on there, the branches die. Are yours that way? It looks like some of your limbs dont have any green, so I wondered if your trees are better about backbudding. Actualy it seems like all my ficus are the same way. All my collected local stranglers loose branches without leaves, so when I collect them I have to be carefull and leave some leaves or at least buds or the whole tree will die.. Thanks for any insight on the theme, I want to air layer a couple of them and would like all the info I can get from experianced hands..

 

[boguz]

I have a couple ficus that I think are microcarpa. When you defoliate do you leave a leaf or leaf buds on the branches? If mine dont have some green on there, the branches die. Are yours that way? It looks like some of your limbs dont have any green, so I wondered if your trees are better about backbudding. Actualy it seems like all my ficus are the same way. All my collected local stranglers loose branches without leaves, so when I collect them I have to be carefull and leave some leaves or at least buds or the whole tree will die.. Thanks for any insight on the theme, I want to air layer a couple of them and would like all the info I can get from experianced hands..

Yes, i know the same, when you defoliate all leaves of a ficus, branches die. This is the secret of mr.cocroach i guess

 

[aml1014]

Weird, I've never had dieback problems when I fully defoliate my ficus. I just make sure there is am active bud somewhere on every branch.

Aaron

 

[cockroach]

When it comes to microcarpa, I am nonchalant about chopping, hacking and pruning where I see fit. It is however, in my case at least, important to choose your timing well. If I am doing it early in the season, I check the weather forecasts as far ahead as they will go. If there is anything that looks cold coming I do not do it. Overcast is my favorite because I just put it back where I took it from.

If the weather does turn unexpectedly, as it did this year with a shohin microcarpa I defoliated, I end up with a few branches suffering some die back. But with the defoliation, the resulting flush of new growth more often than not compensates for the lost branch. If done at a time of warmer spring weather with some rain, the trees usually reward me with fantastic growth. Another microcarpa, that I was changing from a potted plant into a smaller bonsai did this for me this year. I hard pruned and defoliated during perfect weather. Even after snapping a major branch and just wiring it back into place it did not die back. These are the joys of growing a tree in its climate zone.

Having said all that, I do have a few microcarpa cultivars that are prone to die back. On these, as mentioned by aml, I make sure to leave an active bud somewhere on the branch. I like to leave it at the tip and then cut back once I find a suitable new adventitious bud.

I also water and feed as normal after defoliation.

 

[Mike MoMo]

Really enjoyed this thread, never considered using pvc pipe to encourage long roots. Still waiting for the weather to warm up here so my ficus can go outside.

 

[cockroach]

This tree is currently at this stage