Ficus Banyan Progression "benjamina"

Giga

Masterpiece
Messages
3,813
Reaction score
4,722
Location
Virginia beach, VA
USDA Zone
7-8
I had a thread for this originally but it was more for an ID for the tree and I wanted one just for the progression and techniques use on the tree rather then cluttered with ID stuff.

January 2015 when I was given the tree, I felt the tree was strong and I chopped it down to nothing and did 40 free grafts just in case.
Jan 2015.jpg

April 2015- all but 3 grafts took, but proved moot as hundred of buds formed and was grown indoor for the rest of the winter under powerful custom LED's
april 2015.jpg


May 2015- after weather reached over 60F at night it was moved outside and had grown a lot indoors.
may 2015.jpg


June 30 2015-The tree was allowed to grow more for a bit and fertilized heavily to grow stronger for work- It was defoliated, wired and re-potted. I was not as hard on the roots this go-round, I sort the root and then planted it in a free draining mix.
June 2015.jpg

I wired it up for a wide banyan style and wired 2-3 branches together to fuse them and develop this guy even faster. It has already pushed new growth since this picture. Once it fully leafs out I'll snap another picture, and this will be allowed to grow freely for a while to fuse branches and regain strength. I would guess next year the branches will fuse and aerial roots will be grafted on spring 2016. Also that's a 9 gallon cement mixing tub to show you how big it is.
June 2015-2.jpg

There are a couple branches I am unsure about but I want it to fill in a bit before I remove or keep them, but all in all I really like ficus as a species!
 
Last edited:
Messages
129
Reaction score
90
Location
Orange County, CA (Zone 10a)
Cool progression. This is going to turn out to be a beast of a tree.

How far apart are the branches you're fusing? I would think it would look a bit funny at the base of the trunks of they're far apart.
 

Giga

Masterpiece
Messages
3,813
Reaction score
4,722
Location
Virginia beach, VA
USDA Zone
7-8
Cool progression. This is going to turn out to be a beast of a tree.

How far apart are the branches you're fusing? I would think it would look a bit funny at the base of the trunks of they're far apart.

If you look at the pic they are very close maybe a few centimeters- Branches thicken fast and there will be no gap at the branch base near the trunk. It will just have a better flare for the branch. Also this is just the first styling to get the initial structure for the tree. Some of the branches are also going across wounds to seal them fast so it's a bit ugly now in lue of a final image in mind.
 

LanceMac10

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
6,798
Reaction score
17,176
Location
Nashua, NH U.S.A.
USDA Zone
5
You bet your a$# I like it.....but what do you do with such a ....shall I say a rather unwieldly specimen? In terms of winter storage....great potential...:)
 

Giga

Masterpiece
Messages
3,813
Reaction score
4,722
Location
Virginia beach, VA
USDA Zone
7-8
My garage is finished and it heated and set up to grow orchids n stuff and have a large area with grow lights. It's where my tropical go in winter
 

Giga

Masterpiece
Messages
3,813
Reaction score
4,722
Location
Virginia beach, VA
USDA Zone
7-8
Growing very fast and unrulyy again, a light trim will soon incur. The branch coming right at you, I think will be removed as well, to see the trunks a little better. Also don't pay mind to the unruly wire you see as I was in the middle of de-wiring
0810151824~2.jpg

All the branches are fusing already after 4 weeks. Don't worry about the wire scars as they will heal in short order then wired in reverse and a sense of knarlyness will ensure in a few years time.
0810151824d~2.jpg
 

Giga

Masterpiece
Messages
3,813
Reaction score
4,722
Location
Virginia beach, VA
USDA Zone
7-8
I actually put it for sale, while great I moving away from tropical for now
 
Top Bottom