fusing ficus

eferguson1974

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How long do ficus take to fuse? I bound some that I collected, to make a fat tree faster. Theyre pencil thick more or less. How many can be fused at one time? And would scraping off the bark where they touch make it faster? Im not in much of a hurry, its an experiment and if they live I will care for them/it even if they dont fuse. But I know this species does fuse, Ive seen wild ones stuck together where branches touch. My idea is to use the tallest in the middle, shortest on the outside so it has taper. Can I bend the outer ones out like branches above the fusion? Im thinking it should make a banyan style, which I like a lot.
If anyone has done it, Id like to know about your experiance. Thanks for any answers or advice..
 

aml1014

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I did it with my old ficus houseplant I got when I was young. I wrapped 6 trunks together with velcro wrap, it took 5 years to completely fuse but that was being treated as a houseplant not bonsai.

I have a ficus clump that I've had for almost 2 years. It's 5 trunks and they are beginning to fuse well at the base under bonsai culture.

Aaron
 

eferguson1974

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Thanks, that gives me a sence of how long it should take. Down here in the tropics with an all year growing season maybe a little quick. Im kinda assuming that most species are more or less the same. Idk the species of these, its pretty hard to figure out..
 

eferguson1974

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I have no experience about fusing Ficus trunks, but surely it would depend of how fast the trunks grow.

See the link (sorry, in spanish) and the result of one year in the second page. Very promising...

http://www.ficusbonsaiclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=1125
Thanks for the link! No hay problema con español, lo hablo todos los dias.. No problem with it being in spanish, I speak it everyday. The locals say I speak 90% or more of the language, living here its important! I dont live in a tourist area so very few speak english. Im going to check out the link now, thanks again..
 

Cypress187

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I have a ficus bound in wire (and folded ducktape) for longer then a year, I don't want to be too hasty.
 

eferguson1974

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I have a ficus bound in wire (and folded ducktape) for longer then a year, I don't want to be too hasty.
Im in no rush, I just wondered how long it may take.
I was just recently told of a farm with tons of these stranglers in the orange trees. The owners love the idea of me collecting them. My buddy says there are old and young, all sizes. So when the rain lets up I should have a lot more to play with. If I get thick ones with no taper, Im going to fuse younger trees to them, and start learning to graft seedlings to bigger ones to make nebari and cool roots for banyan style trees.
 

Jordan Dies

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I have a ficus bound in wire (and folded ducktape) for longer then a year, I don't want to be too hasty.
Hi not sure if you still come on here but I have not long got a ficus and I am looking to bind it, came across this and was wondering if you had an update on yours as it was so a while ago now. Thanks
 

BrianBay9

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Remember not all ficus behave the same way. Ficus microcarpa that I've tried fused within a year. I've tried Ficus benjamina that never fused within my limit of patience (prob 2 yrs). But you can certainly find plenty of fused examples of benjies with those silly woven trunks.
 

Jordan Dies

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Remember not all ficus behave the same way. Ficus microcarpa that I've tried fused within a year. I've tried Ficus benjamina that never fused within my limit of patience (prob 2 yrs). But you can certainly find plenty of fused examples of benjies with those silly woven trunks.
Thanks for that. I don't like the ones that are woven together looks like a pony tail.
 

Melospiza

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I bound 5 Ficus microcarpa cuttings together and didn't even use raffia or tape, just cotton rope like in that Spanish-language article. They started fusing within the year. I found that the rate of fusing is proportional to the rate of growth. Vigorous, fast-growing branches fuse more than slower ones. In one year, the trunks had made contact and are fusing but you can still tell they are separate cuttings. To completely fuse and for the plants to look like a single plant will take at lease a few more years.

Also, if you can, insert a wooden cone at the base of the clump of cuttings. This will give you good taper.
 

Cypress187

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Hi not sure if you still come on here but I have not long got a ficus and I am looking to bind it, came across this and was wondering if you had an update on yours as it was so a while ago now. Thanks
I don't think mine is going to fuse for a while.
 

ajm55555

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This is my experiment. A couple of years ago I bought a pot with some Ficus Benjamina saplings at IKEA, which were almost dying and their set up gave me the idea to start trying to fuse them and create a bonsai.
This is the then (stock photo) and the now. I will soon post a picture of where they're starting to fuse together. I think it will take 3-4 more years to see something nice.
I used some twine all around the trunk to keep them adherent to each other until a few months ago. It left some bad marks that I'm sure will go away.
Now it's only in the top part.
ficus_benjamina_fusion.jpg
 

BrianBay9

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This is my experiment. A couple of years ago I bought a pot with some Ficus Benjamina saplings at IKEA, which were almost dying and their set up gave me the idea to start trying to fuse them and create a bonsai.
This is the then (stock photo) and the now. I will soon post a picture of where they're starting to fuse together. I think it will take 3-4 more years to see something nice.
I used some twine all around the trunk to keep them adherent to each other until a few months ago. It left some bad marks that I'm sure will go away.
Now it's only in the top part.
View attachment 207923

Yeah, I think benjamina is way slower than microcarpa to fuse.
 
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