LittleDingus
Omono
I'm specifically asking about nerifolia but this might apply to other ficus as well??
I'd like to make a root over rock planting of a nerifolia. I had bought some young plants in the spring to let grow out a bit before trying to plant one on a rock. When I first moved them out of the nursery pots into decent soil, I had trimmed all the tubers. I went to take a look at them just now and after just 6 months growth, they have tubers bigger than the trunk!
I know part of it is the nature of the beast, but is there a technique to slow down/tame the tuberous root growth on ficus? I had them planted in a mixture of NAPA 8822 which is diatomaceous earth of ~1/8" particle size. Generally, the finer particle size encourages finer roots. These all did have lots of fine roots, but the tubers were huge...and after only one growing season. I basically have to trim all the roots off and start again if I ever want to get them on the rock I have planned.
I do have 3 of them to choose from at the moment. I did take one as a "sacrifice" and trimmed all the tubers...which meant taking off all the roots...and put it on a rock...we'll see what becomes of that! The other two I repotted for now thinking I would research controlling root growth more before I trimmed them back again.
Will exposure to air slow down tuber development? Should I be uncovering them sooner to encourage length over girth? I think I read somewhere (I should keep notes) that cooler temperatures encourage more tuberous root growth? Maybe I shouldn't allow the canopy to shade the root zone as much?
Thoughts, suggestions, experiences much appreciated
I'd like to make a root over rock planting of a nerifolia. I had bought some young plants in the spring to let grow out a bit before trying to plant one on a rock. When I first moved them out of the nursery pots into decent soil, I had trimmed all the tubers. I went to take a look at them just now and after just 6 months growth, they have tubers bigger than the trunk!
I know part of it is the nature of the beast, but is there a technique to slow down/tame the tuberous root growth on ficus? I had them planted in a mixture of NAPA 8822 which is diatomaceous earth of ~1/8" particle size. Generally, the finer particle size encourages finer roots. These all did have lots of fine roots, but the tubers were huge...and after only one growing season. I basically have to trim all the roots off and start again if I ever want to get them on the rock I have planned.
I do have 3 of them to choose from at the moment. I did take one as a "sacrifice" and trimmed all the tubers...which meant taking off all the roots...and put it on a rock...we'll see what becomes of that! The other two I repotted for now thinking I would research controlling root growth more before I trimmed them back again.
Will exposure to air slow down tuber development? Should I be uncovering them sooner to encourage length over girth? I think I read somewhere (I should keep notes) that cooler temperatures encourage more tuberous root growth? Maybe I shouldn't allow the canopy to shade the root zone as much?
Thoughts, suggestions, experiences much appreciated