Ficus Species Pro/Con List

[Paradox]

My favorite ficus is the
Willow leaf. I like the small leaves, and the ability to get tight foliage easily.

I have 4 currently. One I grew from a pencil sized tree, a shohin and 2 small ones I grew from cuttings of my large one. I haven't had too much trouble with them defoliating during winter unless they got too dry or I get a lot of scale

 

[Orion_metalhead]

I plan on producing some cuttings for sale in late spring, early summer 2026. If I have a successful batch of cuttings, I will be selling them, at a modest price. The caveat is I want all recipients to agree to be careful with correct naming. I want no "new names" made up for this species unless it is a formal botanical description published in a botanical journal. No new names like 'Mexicali', it needs to remain 'Ficus species from San Cristobal, Chiapas, Mexico', or 'Chiapas' for short. We must make an effort to preserve provenance until it is understood what this specimen represents.

I would like a cutting if this happens and will tag and appropriately refer to the species as noted.

 

[BartelBe]

My microcarpa and I are getting along very well for over 12 years now. Bought as a classical mall-o-dori, I'd like to add that it also responds well to lat spring defoliation and mid-summer hard pruning of the roots. I learned that defoliation is the exact thing to do when you are trying down-size a leggy grown tigerbark ficus. Hard stem chops however to take a decade to heal, as per my experience.



This pic taken in oct 2024 shows the tiger bark that didnt look well in a trial to shape it as a wind swept tree


This is the status at this time after a thorough reshape and a hard root cut (done in mid-summer in it dormancy period) where the fist-thick roots needed a hard prune to keep fitting in its pot.

 

[Ply]

My microcarpa and I are getting along very well for over 12 years now. Bought as a classical mall-o-dori, I'd like to add that it also responds well to lat spring defoliation and mid-summer hard pruning of the roots. I learned that defoliation is the exact thing to do when you are trying down-size a leggy grown tigerbark ficus. Hard stem chops however to take a decade to heal, as per my experience.


View attachment 622868
This pic taken in oct 2024 shows the tiger bark that didnt look well in a trial to shape it as a wind swept tree

View attachment 622869
This is the status at this time after a thorough reshape and a hard root cut (done in mid-summer in it dormancy period) where the fist-thick roots needed a hard prune to keep fitting in its pot.

Do you manage to keep the moss green/alive once indoors?

 

[BartelBe]

Do you manage to keep the moss green/alive once indoors?

Yes, but note that I'm using a single grow light for max 3 hours a day occasionally since last year . The moss "holds on" for some time. However, it gets very dark and thins out week by week and generally it is scrumbled & brownish 2 months before spring time (around februari). The Ficus's winter home is a veranda-extension of our living room: lots o' light, just not long enough.

 

[Desert O'Piñon]

I plan on producing some cuttings for sale in late spring, early summer 2026. If I have a successful batch of cuttings, I will be selling them, at a modest price. The caveat is I want all recipients to agree to be careful with correct naming. I want no "new names" made up for this species unless it is a formal botanical description published in a botanical journal. No new names like 'Mexicali', it needs to remain 'Ficus species from San Cristobal, Chiapas, Mexico', or 'Chiapas' for short. We must make an effort to preserve provenance until it is understood what this specimen rerepresents.

I would also be interested in purchasing a  chiapas ficus cutting. I'm willing to be at the end of the line, but I'm curious how it would do against a northern wall here in the desert. I have a plan to keep its immediate area humid. I estimate it would get about 5 or 6 hours of direct sunlight in the peak of summer, and since San Cristobal has many hours of cloud cover, it may be a close enough replication of the tree's native light.

Provenance is horticultural precision. It's like using the right directions when explaining how to get to the airport. If you use the wrong words, you end up in the wrong place. I would definitely not call it anything other than 'Chiapas,' until labeled under a definitive taxonomic name.

 

[Carol 83]

I would like a cutting if this happens and will tag and appropriately refer to the species as noted.

Me too @Leo in N E Illinois .

 

[pweifan]

What do you like about F. burt-davyi?

Do you find F. benjamina is reluctant to backbud? I've heard they need to be treated like conifers.

F. burt-davyi reduces really well for me. It also reliably backbuds and grows easily from cuttings. I'm a big fan!