Large Ficus natalensis

[Redwood Ryan]

Hey everyone,



Took a trip up to Meehans Miniatures today and stumbled upon this monstrous Ficus natalensis. It stands 3 feet tall with a 7 inch base. You probably can't tell much from the pictures right now, but it's a great piece of stock. It's bigger than I expected so I'm going to have to build a box for it for the winter.

 

[edprocoat]

Ryan, I know you are familiar with Ficus and realize that the only way to properly chop this would be using the Samurai sword technique !

Great piece, what are your plans for it ?

ed

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Ryan, I know you are familiar with Ficus and realize that the only way to properly chop this would be using the Samurai sword technique !

Great piece, what are your plans for it ?

ed

Shoot Ed, you aren't kidding. This thing is huge. I'll get some more, better, pictures tonight and see if I can virt up what I plan on doing with it. I need to make a big box for it before winter comes, that's for sure. It's too big to go with my small trees.

 

[Si Nguyen]

That's a beauty, AND A BEAST! Now you have another reason to build another light box! Good luck with it!
Si

 

[Redwood Ryan]

That's a beauty, AND A BEAST! Now you have another reason to build another light box! Good luck with it!
Si

Thanks Si, and yep you're right! This one's too big for the boxes I have now, so I've gotta build a new one for it. The tree is massive.

 

[mat]

Wow. That's an excellent piece of raw material, Ryan. It must be just about bursting out of that little green pot. Are you going to wait until next year to repot? I know if it were me, I'd be itching to bare-root it. I'm not sure if that window is still open for you in Virginia though. Not that there's any hurry - it seems to be doing fine.

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Wow. That's an excellent piece of raw material, Ryan. It must be just about bursting out of that little green pot. Are you going to wait until next year to repot? I know if it were me, I'd be itching to bare-root it. I'm not sure if that window is still open for you in Virginia though. Not that there's any hurry - it seems to be doing fine.

It's a phenomenal tree. I think I'll probably just slip pot it into a bigger pot and do aggressive rootwork later in the season/next year.

 

[Si Nguyen]

Get a portable greenhouse. It's like a small tent that pops up very quickly and you can set it up anywhere. Home Depot has some online. 50 bucks maybe. Cheaper than you could build one from scratch. In fact, since you got the tropical bonsai bug bad, you might as well build yourself a proper greenhouse.

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Get a portable greenhouse. It's like a small tent that pops up very quickly and you can set it up anywhere. Home Depot has some online. 50 bucks maybe. Cheaper than you could build one from scratch. In fact, since you got the tropical bonsai bug bad, you might as well build yourself a proper greenhouse.

Nahh the ones I make are better than greenhouses. Regular greenhouses don't reflect light with their transparent sides. These reflect light and hold heat and humidity. Plus I can make them for less than $40.

 

[edprocoat]

Ryan you really think it needs a larger pot? I find they produce more aerial roots and actually seem to thrive when the roots are congested. I know it would not hurt it but it may slow down the development of the aerial roots, which by the way are amazing on this tree as I doubt its had anything done to promote them.

ed

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Ryan you really think it needs a larger pot? I find they produce more aerial roots and actually seem to thrive when the roots are congested. I know it would not hurt it but it may slow down the development of the aerial roots, which by the way are amazing on this tree as I doubt its had anything done to promote them.

ed

I usually find that to be the case with salicaria, but I don't have too many rootbound giant natalensis, so I'm not sure as to whether or not being rootbound makes them flourish. I'll have to think about it.

 

[berobinson82]

Seems like a great price!

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Great price indeed. Now as to styling, I'm clueless. I made a virt where I blocked out the branches so there's an idea of how the trunk looks. If anyone is brave enough to take a stab at a quick virt, go for it

 

[Redwood Ryan]

I think this might actually be too big for me to handle, so I'm trying to sell it to a good home. If anyones interested in taking it off my hands shoot me a PM.

 

[mat]

tempting...do you think that you could ship that thing?

 

[Redwood Ryan]

tempting...

You're in Florida and this tree could live outdoors year round for you, which would be great.

 

[jkd2572]

That tree got put on eBay tonight.

 

[Redwood Ryan]

That tree got put on eBay tonight.

Wasn't me

 

[jkd2572]

Sorry I thought your were planning on buying it. Just wanted to let you know. I have now put the two and two together with the seller name.

 

[jkd2572]

Sorry again I had not read the whole thread.