Ficus retusa

markyscott

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I‘ve always found retusa and microcarpa a bit challenging as a smaller tree. Too leggy and difficult to get densely ramified. But, for my taste, they really come into their own as a larger tree. This is my biggest retusa. It’s pretty massive - the pot alone weighs close to 100 lbs. With the tree and soil it’s monstrous - very difficult to move with 2 people.

2A596ACB-205B-4FC8-911A-6C0434ECE475.jpeg
S
 

_#1_

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Damn! Was this a picked up or special delivery lol?

Are you planning to develop a more defined sub trunks/branches on the large main trunk? Left side looks good but the middle looks abrupt though.

Anyways, great tree as always. A far cry from the Ginseng my brother gifted me 👍
 

markyscott

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Damn! Was this a picked up or special delivery lol?

Are you planning to develop a more defined sub trunks/branches on the large main trunk? Left side looks good but the middle looks abrupt though.

Anyways, great tree as always. A far cry from the Ginseng my brother gifted me 👍

Let’s go with special delivery. I haven’t made major styling decisions yet.

s
 

markyscott

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Get it!!
That is going to be a fun tree to work on and sculpt.

@markyscott that thing must weight a fair bit.
Are you going to keep that root between the two trunks and wait for it to thicken?

Gotten! I‘ll probably keep that root for now. First priority is repotting. That will be an adventure.

Scott
 

cockroach

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At least with fici you know you don't have to count the roots you lop off. Hope you have help lifting that beast.
 

cockroach

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Without started a heated debate of he said she said; I was led to believe that retusa are now know as F. microcarpa. With retusa being either a different species or an incorrect defunct name for F. microcarpa depending on who you ask.
 

markyscott

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Without started a heated debate of he said she said; I was led to believe that retusa are now know as F. microcarpa. With retusa being either a different species or an incorrect defunct name for F. microcarpa depending on who you ask.

I‘m no horticulturalist, so I‘ll take your word for it and I’ve always found the species nomenclature for ficus a bit confusing. What I know is this - it was sold to me as a ’Tiger Bark’ ficus from the person who bought the collection. When I contacted the grower about its history, he described it as a ‘Golden Gate’ ficus he had purchased from Brussel’s Bonsai in a 4” container in around 1980. He described his memory about the purchase as ‘not good’. When I looked at it, the bark looks like other ficus trees that have been described to me as ‘Tiger Bark’. Without real strong reasons to do so, I’ve always called ‘Tiger Bark’ retusa and ‘Golden Gate’ microcarpa, but maybe they’re both just varieties of microcarpa.

S
 

LanceMac10

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I like the '09 image, seems like not much thought given to the branching thru 'till '15.

Judging from the previous, more recent photo you shared, seems to be regaining that more re-fined trunk and silhouette.

I'll bet it has a bit of "presence" in person. Is it warm and humid in Houston? Probably grow well there....;) 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣
 

cockroach

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@markyscott Your 25 August pic looks so similar to one of my largest ficus I am developing. Chopped it so hard this summer and it shot back within a month or two.

Will you be adding in twists and turns to branches or just developing the canopy?
 

markyscott

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@markyscott Your 25 August pic looks so similar to one of my largest ficus I am developing. Chopped it so hard this summer and it shot back within a month or two.

Will you be adding in twists and turns to branches or just developing the canopy?

It has a pretty straight trunk. I’ll probably develop it with fairly straight branches.

scott
 
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