Making some hard to find stock

Smoke

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During the last couple years I have been working on two species which are new to me, but may be old standby's for others.

The Willow Leaf Ficus, Ficus salicifolia
and the Dwarf Japanese Privet, Ligustrum japonicum "Rotundifolium"

Both make excellent bonsai and both seem fairly elusive to find. In 2017 I found both of them in Southern California during a material buying trip. I bought a fairly nice specimen of Ficus and two small but mature privets.

The willow leaf and cuttings
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And the privets and cuttings

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So This year I decide to place each one in it's own cup. Next year I will put them into the ground to really fatten up.

The willow leafs. I though I had many more than I had, but upon taking them out of the soil I found that I had many double trunk, and many triple trunk clumps to work with and some single trunk trees. I twisted them up with wire as much as the wood would allow and will see how they do for another year.

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Smoke

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Now the privets. Both cuttings took very well and I don't think I had any that didn't grow roots. They all took. The root mass in the pot was quite substantial and I did not use hormone, I don't think it's worth the trouble, as one can see these did quite well. I have had 100% success with tridents, elms, privets and ficus root as cuttings with no hormone at all.

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Smoke

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So the privets are a much harder wood than the ficus and I had a hard time bending them. I did wire as many of them as I could adding exagerated twists and turns hoping for something for later. Many of them were good but some cracked and some split. I glued them and will see what happens. They may turn out as short cuttings! There are a few double trunk clumps in there as well and am hoping they turn out well.

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The privets were quite tall when I started and about 18 inches in length. I cut off about 10 inches of each and just wired the 9 inch cuttings. When I was done I had a bundle of small whips. These were about what I had when I started last year. I thought about it for a minute and decided that this time I would wire them as very thin whips and really get some movement into them and then plant them out as cuttings. Maybe this will be much easier at the time of transplant next year.

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In all between the two species I ended up with about 35 cuttings total rooted. Each is in it's own pot now and I can concentrate on some training on each. The new ones I planted this year totaled about 25 again. In about 5 years I may have some plants to sell. I paid 120.00 each for the privets and 125.00 each for the ficus. I gave four of the privets to my bonsai nurseryman and he said next year he would charge about 25 to 30 for them. He gave me all the empty pots to plant in, I figured 100.00 was worth his trouble!!!
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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You are right, I don't see the Ligustrum japonica around much, the cultivar 'Rotundiflora' is new to me. Good to see you are making more available.

The Willow leaf ficus is pretty common around here, but all I have seen have traced back to a single source, in Florida, Jim Smith. Now a days, Weigert's is propagating willow leaf for the bonsai market, so is Brussel's, both of their original stock dates back to Jim Smith. There are problems with the scientific name for willow leaf fig, so I avoid using it. There is no type location as to where the original species is native. It is one of those horticultural taxonomic mysteries that has yet to be solved. And the name issue does not affect the fact that this is an interesting tree for bonsai. Glad to see you are working with it.
 

Tidal Bonsai

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Now the privets. Both cuttings took very well and I don't think I had any that didn't grow roots. They all took. The root mass in the pot was quite substantial and I did not use hormone, I don't think it's worth the trouble, as one can see these did quite well. I have had 100% success with tridents, elms, privets and ficus root as cuttings with no hormone at all.

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Great making these two species more available! I am doing the same thing with Japanese Beautyberry. This season I will continue to propitiate them, since they are a very beautiful and fast growing fruiting species!

Wiring them when they are young is key to good stock!
 

BrianBay9

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Is it my imagination, or are Ficus in general just not used very much in California?
 

Smoke

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Is it my imagination, or are Ficus in general just not used very much in California?
Hardly at all. I never see them at the shows. I was very Happy to run into Gary Lai in LA and find this one.

The California crowd ( at least the impression I get ) is that ficus are not bonsai
 

Tidal Bonsai

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Hardly at all. I never see them at the shows. I was very Happy to run into Gary Lai in LA and find this one.

The California crowd ( at least the impression I get ) is that ficus are not bonsai

It’s funny that here where it gets below zero, just about everyone in my club has ficus bonsai. Yet in California, where they grow very well people scoff at them.
 

BrianBay9

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It’s funny that here where it gets below zero, just about everyone in my club has ficus bonsai. Yet in California, where they grow very well people scoff at them.

In San Diego they're common street trees, yet when I lived there I couldn't find any. I finally went to a wholesale nursery and cut down some landscape trees. By the way, 15 yrs later and the large chops on my Port Jackson fig (F. rubiginosa) have never healed.
 

BrianBay9

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Hardly at all. I never see them at the shows. I was very Happy to run into Gary Lai in LA and find this one.

The California crowd ( at least the impression I get ) is that ficus are not bonsai

That's the first comment I got when I moved back and brought Ficus to a club workshop. The leader of the workshop half jokingly told me he'd be sure I got some "real bonsai" to work on soon.
 

Smoke

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That's the first comment I got when I moved back and brought Ficus to a club workshop. The leader of the workshop half jokingly told me he'd be sure I got some "real bonsai" to work on soon.
There ya go
 
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