Can a ficus get root rot?

[Paul F.]

Hi Paul. It looks OK, but still weak. I think it will survive and not lose any branches, but it will take a season or two to recover.

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S

Thats an awesome tree!!

 

[markyscott]

Fully recovered and finally coming into its own with good sun, good soil and frequent fertilization. I’ll do some thinning this summer as it’s growing well.



S

 

[Stormwater]

Thanks for sharing, great lesson.

QUOTE="markyscott, post: 562699, member: 1588"]Fully recovered and finally coming into its own with good sun, good soil and frequent fertilization. I’ll do some thinning this summer as it’s growing well.

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[markyscott]

Here’s a tip about pruning Willow Leaf Ficus in development.

WLF will send adventitious shoots from old wood. So you can cut back a growing branch anywhere and it will send new shoots. The problem is you’ll get a whorl of weak new shoots right around the cut site and not a lot of backbudding. Like this:



This won’t do - now you have to go back in and thin to two shoots and let them get strong - otherwise you get lots of swelling around the cut site and some unattractive branching. Instead of doing this, let the branch extend and remove old leaves on the growing shoot. Do not remove the growing tip. Interior shoots will appear - when they’re strong enough, cut back to the new shoot. You won’t get the unattractive whorl of adventitious budding - instead you’ll get back budding and more interior growth to cut back to.

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[markyscott]

Looking strong. I’ll do some work on it this summer.



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[shinmai]

Good for you, man! That beautiful tree was on the brink of death, and you pulled it through. Most would have looked at the rotted roots and tossed it, but it lives to photosynthesize another day. Heroic work , indeed. Well done.

 

[markyscott]

Strong growth. Time to get to work ....

 

[coh]

She looks ready!

That is a great recovery. I had missed this thread the first time around, but looking back at those pics of the original "root system" (or "rot system"), it's amazing how much growth you've got in basically 6 months. Must be that lovely Houston humidity.

 

[markyscott]

Ready to work.



Now that it’s health is no longer in question, I can turn my attention to the other problems with the tree. There are many.

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[markyscott]

Long straight branches with no movement and no taper. They’re big, but not good. They’ll eventually need to be replaced.




No interior ramification and nothing to cut back to. Just a stick with a poof of branches at the end This is the result of repeated defoliation, resulting in a lack of back budding. So no movement, no interior branching and no way to correct I’ll likely need to start over with most of the branchwork.

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[markyscott]

To avoid these problems, partially defoliate instead. Leave the leaves around the growing tip, but remove all the old ones on the extending shoots. Don’t prune the growing tip. This allows light to penetrate the canopy, keeping the interior shoots healthy. The continued growth and extension of the branch will keep the branch strong and more prone to back budding.



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[markyscott]

These are the important buds and must be kept healthy in order to have something to cut back to.



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[markyscott]

After thinning and shoot selection, a bit of wiring and it’s good to go for now.



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[markyscott]

Properly done, you can get much more natural and interesting branch structure, at least to my eye.



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[Carol 83]

Very educational, as usual. I bought a small one at the show in April, just because it was from a local nursery, and they are nice guys. It dropped all of it's leaves very quickly, and I figured it was a goner. But once the Midwest heat/humidity kicked in, its growing like gangbusters. I'm just going to let it grow for now, but good info for the future.

 

[markyscott]

I ran across this picture - another example of a tree poorly executed (mine from many years ago). I made every mistake in the book. Constant pinching and defoliation before branch development. No cut back. Pruning off the top branches and keeping lower branches. Rewiring and bending the same big branches over and over. Schizophrenic branch angles. All of this gets you a weak tree with poor branch structure and straight branches having no taper or movement. Sticks with a poof of leaves at the end. I did it too. I've since gave this tree away, but if it were mine today, I'd cut off all the branches and start over again. I've seen trees like this in bonsai cultivation for 50 years and they look exactly the same. Pinching is fine for a tree in refinement, but not good for developing branches. Defoliation makes small leaves (because it weakens the tree), so it may be good right before a show, but it doesn't produce back budding or increase ramification. Do it all the time and it will just produce a weak crappy tree like this one.



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[markyscott]

Thinning. Removing old needles and reduce branches to two. Good to get this done before moving into the greenhouse so as to ensure enough light gets into the interior.

Before and after.

 

[markyscott]

Also toon the opportunity to clean up the old wounds. Ficus doesn’t seem to callous over rotted wood very well, so I hope this works.

Clean out the rotted wood. I use hand tools.

 

[markyscott]

Then fill in with two part putty. It’s got an epoxy resin. Just cut off what you need and work the mix until you have a consistent color. Then pack it into the wound - the wood will callous over the top.




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[Xtreemjedi]

REAAAALLY enjoyed this thread, seeing something abused completely resuscitated is wonderful. Great job!

Ready to work.

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Now that it’s health is no longer in question, I can turn my attention to the other problems with the tree. There are many.

S

I love the tables you built!!! lol. I know, not the point of the photo. On the table on the left, what are those black triangle things where the bench top meets the leg called? I know those are to fight wobble. Same for the long one at the bottom, where do you get these? I just built a beastly raised garden box for my wife's herb garden. Her first comment was it's a little wobbly .