Ficus trunk chop no buds

spunog

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I did a trunk chop of a ficus virens about two weeks ago. Just had a look today and there is no sign of any growth anywhere on the trunk. It’s about 7 years old and 5-6 inches at base .

Starting to get very worried 😟

Any reassurances from anyone?
 

hemmy

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It will be fine.
Or it won’t.

Any pics? Was the tree growing strongly and on good roots? Is it outside and what are your night temps? Or inside with artificial light? Did you seal the cut?

I have not grown F virens. Jerry Meislik has pics with hard prunings. http://www.bonsaihunk.us/public_html/?p=784

Ficus microcarpa buds back in 1-3 weeks for me, grown outdoors with nights in the high 50sF. I generally seal cut edges because it appears to limit dieback when I can’t cut back to a branch.

Fingers crossed!
 

spunog

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It was growing strong alright but very apically dominant so I felt I needed a chop to get it on track . It’s in a sun room (conservatory) in Ireland so gets tones of heat and lots of water
 

amcoffeegirl

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Is it summer there right now?
If so put it outside.
Did you do any root work prior to the chop?
If it has no leaves then reduce your watering.
 

Forsoothe!

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It was growing strong alright but very apically dominant so I felt I needed a chop to get it on track . It’s in a sun room (conservatory) in Ireland so gets tones of heat and lots of water
Full sun will work better, heat is nice, but not a substitute for makin' sap!
 

BrianBay9

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Full sun, extra heat if you can. When mine are cool (less than 25C) they can take several weeks to bud after a chop, but so far they've always come through.
 

sixemkay

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I did a trunk chop of a ficus virens about two weeks ago. Just had a look today and there is no sign of any growth anywhere on the trunk. It’s about 7 years old and 5-6 inches at base .

Starting to get very worried 😟

Any reassurances from anyone?
How is your tree doing now that it has been a few weeks?
 

spunog

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There’s a single shoot coming from the nebari. Nothing else so far . I was expecting something closer to the cut site . It’s still alive anyway so that’s good 👍
 

leatherback

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Have you considered chucking it in a transpartan plastic bag, raising the humidity to 100%? (Just be carefull with full sun that it does not cook)
 

spunog

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Couple of buds down at base . Hopefully some will sprout further up 🤞🏻
 

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Heitor Silva

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I'm also curious on how the tree performed during the last 2 months. Are you already using fertilizers? From my prior experience, ficus love some poop and water!

1 month ago:
IMG_20190916_163751.jpg


Bazinga!! :
IMG_20191028_085801.jpg
 

spunog

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Have some growth now, most at the base but there are two sprouts further up the trunk. These are contenders for next section trunk and first branch 😁
 

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spunog

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Good idea yeah. I will do that. The virens leaves are pretty big too. Hopefully with lots of ramification they will reduce a bit .
 
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