Indoor experiments with ficus cuttings?

[MSGhero]

Is there anything fun or educational I can do with these 3 willow leaf ficus cuttings I just bought? I'm trying to learn from experience on something cheap, so I am OK with a technique even if it's not "ideal" or whatever.

I don't have access to outdoors, so this will all be under a grow light. This experiment is so I don't mess up my main ficus when it eventually needs these techniques (one day...).

 

[Michael P]

One interesting thing you could do is single trunk versus multi-trunk or clump form. There are several cuttings suitable for both.

 

[August]

I vote for fusion. I think most ficus are conducive to fusing, it's really fun to watch progress, and opens the road to more advanced fusion techniques with outside trees!

This is an excellent resource: http://www.fukubonsai.com/1f9a13.html

 

[LuZiKui]

One thing that might be interesting is trying a different pruning approach on 2 of them and seeing how they respond. For my willow leaf I follow the advice in this thread (which is a GREAT resource if you haven't seen it):

Developing a large Willow Leaf Ficus

... and lessons learned. This was a tree I purchased in about 2008. Being a slow learner, I wasted a lot of years of work on the tree. I defoliated it a couple of times a summer and wondered why my growth was so poor and development was so slow. Starting in 2013, I completely changed my...

www.bonsainut.com

But, you could maybe try one like MarkyScott and maybe try a full defoliation on another to see the difference in growth.

Also, you could experiment with taking cuttings to see if you can get them to strike. Then you've got unlimited willow leaf to play around with!

 

[hemmy]

I'm trying to learn from experience on something cheap, so I am OK with a technique even if it's not "ideal" or whatever.

Wire shaping vs clip and grow.

Willow leaf ficus thicken nicely in containers and seem to thicken with leaf density that doesn’t require really long extensions.

As suggested above, also defoliate/partially defoliate.

 

[MSGhero]

Lots of cool replies. I have the Yvonne thread bookmarked already, and my early spring indoor temps aren’t so bad, so I was even considering it for my main tree starting next year.

I saw fusion plus wiring, maybe here or in the ficus book. I think fusion with defoliation techniques on each individual, plus trying a few cuttings is pretty much everything I’d need to learn for some time!

 

[MSGhero]

One of them completely defoliated while I was away and had a plant sitter, so I guess I'm getting a head start on the defoliation comparison. Not too worried... The other two cuttings were fine, and they were fairly cheap in case I ever do need to get more.

 

[cishepard]

Another idea would be to try the root over rock technique with one of the cuttings and enter the ROR contest. Ficus fits the qualifying rules and is supposed to be an ideal species for ROR. I am looking for a young tree myself for this reason : )

https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/2023-2026-ror-contest-rules.58832/