Ficus retusa and salicaria seeds

[SimonDuval]

Hi all,
Being in beautiful but cold Quebec, Canada, it's hard to get your hands on plants such as Ficus retusa or Ficus salicaria. I am thinking of starting a bunch from seeds but I can't seem to find anywhere to buy those seeds. Can anyone point me to a good seller?

Thanks,

 

[drew33998]

Hi all,
Being in beautiful but cold Quebec, Canada, it's hard to get your hands on plants such as Ficus retusa or Ficus salicaria. I am thinking of starting a bunch from seeds but I can't seem to find anywhere to buy those seeds. Can anyone point me to a good seller?

Thanks,

Redwood Ryan may have some left to sell to you or he can def tell you where to look. He is the Ficus guy on this site. I know he was selling/may have sold most of his trees.

 

[rps]

Hi all,
Being in beautiful but cold Quebec, Canada, it's hard to get your hands on plants such as Ficus retusa or Ficus salicaria. I am thinking of starting a bunch from seeds but I can't seem to find anywhere to buy those seeds. Can anyone point me to a good seller?

Thanks,

i'm in a much smaller urban centre than montreal and at least two of the family nurseries bring in tropical bonsai shipments a few times a year --- and i forever stumble across retusa in the big box stores.
are you a member of the montreal club? if not, you might want to contact them for information regarding local greenhouses that import tropicals.
http://translate.google.ca/translat...ch?q=montreal+bonsai+club&client=safari&hl=en

or, you can talk to one of the nurseries yourself. even if they don't bring in tropical bonsai as a matter of standard practice, you should be able to convince them to bring in a few with their next inbound shipment of (non bonsai) tropicals. certainly worth a try.

If you really do want to try seeds, I know misho bonsai used to sell ficus (seeds) --- but their webpage has been down for some time. there are vendors on eBay offering ficus seeds, but I have never dealt directly with any of them.

 

[SimonDuval]

Well there is 1 bonsai nursery in southern Quebec that imports ficus, those S type ones. They don't have much available right now.
Of course I could always get a retusa at Wal-Mart or Home Depot, but again, these would be the ugly ones. I'll keep looking around for seeds, thanks!

 

[mat]

You could buy a few 'ugly' ones and just take cuttings. That's how most Ficus are propagated.

 

[carp]

Ficus are figs; the flower is inside of the fruit. It takes a specific wasp to pollinate each species of fig. I know down in Vero, FL the fig wasp for Retusa is in the area because I've seen seedlings growing on benches where a bird had pooped a seed out. But you're better off taking cuttings.

The Salicaria has never produced a viable seed, to my knowledge, anywhere in the world, and is solely propagated by cuttings. Salicaria propagation is nearly 98% in Spring and Summer here in Florida. There is really no need for seeds.

What I'm getting at is, just order some cuttings from eBay if that's what you're looking for.

 

[rps]

The Salicaria has never produced a viable seed, to my knowledge, anywhere in the world, and is solely propagated by cuttings.

valid point