sorce
Nonsense Rascal
Screw bending that trunk!
Clip and grow!
What kind of fert?
Sorce
Clip and grow!
What kind of fert?
Sorce
Ficus experiment
- Thread starter cbroad
- Start date
cbroad
Omono
I want to do both, but unfortunately the most important parts are right at the base of the branches and those are the hardest spots to get movement in because I couldn't anchor the wire well. I did get some wiggle in them, it's just hard to see in a 2D picture.
For the fertilizer, I use Jack's Classic Hydro FeED 16-4-17. The cool thing is, I got 16lbs for free because a customer returned them after the fertilizer had became hygroscopic and started liquefying and the buyer for that department threw them all in the dumpster. I called the lab at J.R. Peters and the lady there said they're still good and to just mix both packets up for each 4lb tub, I only use 1tsp per 1 gallon of water. I now have a crap load of it, I gave my dad a tub of it and now he's into hydroponics, growing amaryllis and magnolias
For the fertilizer, I use Jack's Classic Hydro FeED 16-4-17. The cool thing is, I got 16lbs for free because a customer returned them after the fertilizer had became hygroscopic and started liquefying and the buyer for that department threw them all in the dumpster. I called the lab at J.R. Peters and the lady there said they're still good and to just mix both packets up for each 4lb tub, I only use 1tsp per 1 gallon of water. I now have a crap load of it, I gave my dad a tub of it and now he's into hydroponics, growing amaryllis and magnolias
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MrFancyPlants
Masterpiece
How often do you empty the reservoir and then refill it? Don’t you have to periodically to prevent salts from building up? I have a similar setup for my vacation watering system but haven’t had a chance to iron out the kinks.
cbroad
Omono
In the beginning before it really started growing I was probably changing it and cleaning the bucket about once a month, but when it took off it started drinking water pretty fast. I was having to refill it every two weeks, then even sooner and eventually about every five days and that's went I put it in the 5gal bucket.
I purposefully let the water get kind of low, and accidentally let it get almost completely empty once (the ficus didn't blink). There's no visible salt build up inside the tank, but there definitely is on the Hydroton, so I guess it's evaporating because the water is rarely in contact with the substrate. I guess most of the nutrients are being used. I had originally wanted to buy a pH meter and a tds meter so I could check those things, but it never happened and the ficus just keeps going so I'm fine with it
I purposefully let the water get kind of low, and accidentally let it get almost completely empty once (the ficus didn't blink). There's no visible salt build up inside the tank, but there definitely is on the Hydroton, so I guess it's evaporating because the water is rarely in contact with the substrate. I guess most of the nutrients are being used. I had originally wanted to buy a pH meter and a tds meter so I could check those things, but it never happened and the ficus just keeps going so I'm fine with it
sorce
Nonsense Rascal
My ginseng is overgrown....
Thinking about trimming it and pulling this off!
Sorce
Thinking about trimming it and pulling this off!
Sorce
cbroad
Omono
Do it!!! I think you'd be amazed by the growth
sorce
Nonsense Rascal
I threw about a dozen cuttings into my HOB fishtank filters, must have been about Dec 21 or so....
All fine with nubs forming!
Oh good lord, what have I done?
Sorce
cbroad
Omono
@sorce
Interesting, so you just put them in the back where the water comes up? That's pretty cool!
Just wait and see what I'm about to do, I upgraded my lighting system and am building a bigger 27 gallon growth tank, in about a week or two I'll have everything up and running and I'll really be pumping out some cuttings. The greenhouse supervisor at my store said she'll buy cuttings from me, so maybe this whole endevour will start paying for itself!
Interesting, so you just put them in the back where the water comes up? That's pretty cool!
Just wait and see what I'm about to do, I upgraded my lighting system and am building a bigger 27 gallon growth tank, in about a week or two I'll have everything up and running and I'll really be pumping out some cuttings. The greenhouse supervisor at my store said she'll buy cuttings from me, so maybe this whole endevour will start paying for itself!
sorce
Nonsense Rascal
cbroad
Omono
Melospiza
Shohin
Wow this plant has grown into a monster. Says a lot about how well-suited it seems to be to hydroponic culture. I wonder where all that stem and root rot is that we were all warned about repeatedly.Here's an update on my ficus experiment that was started in February:
I started it in a 3 gallon bucket and today I put it in a 5 gallon bucket, it was drinking about 2.5 gallons in less than a week so I thought it was about time to bump it up.
It's really put on a ton of growth since the last update in June. It had gotten so dense that I decided to wire 5 of the main trunks outwards to open up the canopy. I had previously wired the biggest branch to open it up and now all of the other branches have filled the void. I let the wire bite in pretty hard and the wire scars are almost completely healed on the near 3/4 inch main trunk.
Some of the earlier aerial roots have already grown into trunks and fused to the main trunk.
Here is the tree after we being wired, it'll look funny until the newer growth orient's itself to the light.
Unfortunately it's hard to see any of the movement put into the branches because it's just so dense, but I left a lot of options if I decide to use multiple branches as one composition or layer separate branches to use and develop alone.
I'm really satisfied with the growth of this system, things seem to be developing well and I need to start taking cuttings or layers soon. I bought another net pot/lid combo with a 10" diameter opening so I hope to try rooting cuttings directly into the Hydroton. My air pump has two outlets so I can run a second dwc bucket using the old 3 gallon bucket. Hopefully by the next update I'll have some cuttings or layers to share!
cbroad
Omono
Haha it definitely has, but unfortunately, summer of 2018 I had to shut the indoor setup down to make way for a roommate. So I had to transfer the ficus into soil, which it took in strides, even after cutting 90% of its roots off. It has definitely slowed down its growth.
Funnily enough, at some point near the end of its hydro adventure or shortly after transplanting it to soil, the ginseng roots did in fact rot away and the aerials took over as the main root system (a win I think). Also my main leader died for some reason last season. There may still be something about ficus rotting and sacrificing branches, but I don't think it's exactly why everybody thinks.
I need to update with new pictures. Last spring, I had aerials forming again near the base, so I packed some soil around them to make sure they didn't dry and wither away. It's about ready for a cut back and the new roots to be exposed.
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cbroad
Omono
Also, the roommate is gone and it's back inside under a 600w MH 
cbroad
Omono
Just took a couple quick pics:
This is basically what I'm working with. A hard cut back is definitely going to happen but I'm not sure if I'll keep all the trunks, or ditch a few. If I do intend on cutting some away, they'll either be layered off or turned into cuttings.
A little closer up of the trunks:
I used a plastic divider to keep the soil around the developing aerials (probably regular roots at this point) and from completely over potting the whole thing. The old leader scar is covered up, but weirdly when I was covering the scar, a root had emerged from the middle of the wound, I'm curious to see if it survived and what it looks like now...
And an overall pic of my personal jungle:
More updates to come hopefully soon!
This is basically what I'm working with. A hard cut back is definitely going to happen but I'm not sure if I'll keep all the trunks, or ditch a few. If I do intend on cutting some away, they'll either be layered off or turned into cuttings.
A little closer up of the trunks:
I used a plastic divider to keep the soil around the developing aerials (probably regular roots at this point) and from completely over potting the whole thing. The old leader scar is covered up, but weirdly when I was covering the scar, a root had emerged from the middle of the wound, I'm curious to see if it survived and what it looks like now...
And an overall pic of my personal jungle:
More updates to come hopefully soon!
cbroad
Omono
For the time being, this ficus' hydroponic adventure is over, but it could one day see the bucket again...
I started a new thread for this tree, and all of its subordinates: Post hydroponic ficus finagling
I started a new thread for this tree, and all of its subordinates: Post hydroponic ficus finagling
