Idea?? maybe...

DannyBonsai

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I have some ficus microcarpa plants, about 6" tall , and one looks like the perfect semi-cascade. my question is, since the roots are almost 15" long, could I take a tall rock, train the roots around the rock about 3/4 from the top, and once the roots are solid in the pot and the soil over the rock removed, gradualy start to coax aerial roots down to the tray? are there any examples of this happening in nature, where a fig seed is deposited on, say, a cliff instead of a host tree, and sends roots down to the forest floor? thanks for tips and ideas.
 

edprocoat

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I have some ficus microcarpa plants, about 6" tall , and one looks like the perfect semi-cascade. my question is, since the roots are almost 15" long, could I take a tall rock, train the roots around the rock about 3/4 from the top, and once the roots are solid in the pot and the soil over the rock removed, gradualy start to coax aerial roots down to the tray? are there any examples of this happening in nature, where a fig seed is deposited on, say, a cliff instead of a host tree, and sends roots down to the forest floor? thanks for tips and ideas.

Yes it can be done fairly easy with the microcarpa, they take well to both root over rock and grown on rock presentations. You asked about nature, I have seen fig types growing over a foundation in Georgia years ago, it may have been a banyan tree though, and I seen a fig tree growing on part of the rampart of an old spanish fort south of St pete Fl. I have been fooling with Bonsai since I was a kid and I am now 51 years old and the vast majority of Bonsai specimens are not clearly what one would see in nature, rather a version of what the designer may have seen in nature and tried to replicate and improve on. Some of the more unique styled trees I have seen could not have occured naturally at all, but they still are visually appealing and are great works to be appreciated by those who they appeal to.

ed
 

edprocoat

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Another thing, if you want your roots over the rock into the soil I would place them over the rock and wrap them and the rock where the roots touch in saran wrap, the clear plastic stuff used for cooking, wrap them tightly. I take the roll of saran wrap and using a razor blade knife cut around it while its one the roll to a section that is two inches wide, cut the paper roll too and you have an easy to work with piece of plastic that will stretch and hold the roots firmly to the rock allowing them to grow to the rock. Smooth rocks will work contrary to popualr belif, but jagged rocks are quicker for the plant to grip to and are visually better. Then set the rock in your soil medium, and bury the roots. Pea gravel works great for this, and there are tons of different types of similiar stuff out there, everybody has a reason why their choice is best, but they all seem to work. To get great aerial roots either wrap the plant pot and all in a large clear plastic bag as this will keep it moist enough for them to form, or you can get two clear plastic storage boxes with enough room to use one to set the plant pot and all in and the other to use as a lid. This works like a greenhouse keeping the moisture in and allowing light to filter in through the dew covered plastic.

There is a post here that the guy cuts a notch in the tree and brushes it with rooting hormone and then covers it in cut paste, it looks like it works nice too.

Good luck with your tree.

ed
 
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