Making This Ficus Into a Shohin?

[vdeschamps]

Hey guys,

I just acquired this ficus ginseng for a meager sum of money. It is about 14" high, and I would like to keep it at 6".

Which means: cutting all of the branches and the leaves. What amazes me with this tree is that there are no new shoots on the branches underneath the canopy. Is that normal? Would new shoots appear if I cut the branches hard?

Thanks!

Vincent

 

[Poink88]

Would new shoots appear if I cut the branches hard?

Yes...........

 

[MrFancyPlants]

It is always a risk to remove all of the leaves from one of these. Chances are it will bud back, but it is not guaranteed. If you want to increase the likelihood of success, you need to get it really healthy with active growth before chopping. I think I would also leave that right hand branch on with the lowest set of leaves as your new leader. It would still be likely to backbud and it is always safer to leave some green on.

What type of ficus is it? Where did you get it?

I must say, I think I would have steered clear of this one. Although it has nice taper, those roots look a bit too swollen to look natural to me. Don't despair, there are ways to fix this by airlayering or encouraging lots of air roots with high humidity. I think lots of air roots and a sumo banyan style would be my goal if I already had this tree.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

One more tip. I always like to deal with the roots of a plant before I worry about the top. The leaves will help the roots regenerate from a hard repot to get into some good soil. And then once it is in good soil you'll get more leaves faster once you chop it back. You might even get some back budding where you want it once it is pushing lots of growth.

This thread should provide some inspiration. Maybe I do want one of those.

 

[vdeschamps]

It is always a risk to remove all of the leaves from one of these. Chances are it will bud back, but it is not guaranteed. If you want to increase the likelihood of success, you need to get it really healthy with active growth before chopping. I think I would also leave that right hand branch on with the lowest set of leaves as your new leader. It would still be likely to backbud and it is always safer to leave some green on.

What type of ficus is it? Where did you get it?

I must say, I think I would have steered clear of this one. Although it has nice taper, those roots look a bit too swollen to look natural to me. Don't despair, there are ways to fix this by airlayering or encouraging lots of air roots with high humidity. I think lots of air roots and a sumo banyan style would be my goal if I already had this tree.

Hi and thanks for the reply. It's a Ficus Ginseng and I bought it on eBay.

My goal is to create sumo style Ficus, I don't know anything about air layering. I need to look into this.

What type of soil should I use to repot the Ficus?

 

[Redwood Ryan]

I would NOT cut back hard, especially since you don't know the health of the tree. Wait until you receive it before you think about cutting it back hard.

Get the tree actively growing before any pruning is done. Repot into a fast draining, somewhat organic mix.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

Ginseng is not actually a species of ficus, but in that other thread I linked to, it suggested that most labeled as Ginseng were actually Retusa, which I haven't specifically worked with. If you are planning on growing this indoors, enclosed, under lights, I would use very little organic components like maybe 45% turface, 45% lava rock, and then 10% orchid sphagnum, although if you asked 10 people you would probably get 10 answers on the ideal soil mix. Be sure and get rid of all of that dark compacted soil no matter what you use. I think I would use some extra sphagnum mounded around the trunk, maybe wrapped in plastic, to help induce the aerial roots .

 

[vdeschamps]

I would NOT cut back hard, especially since you don't know the health of the tree. Wait until you receive it before you think about cutting it back hard.

Get the tree actively growing before any pruning is done. Repot into a fast draining, somewhat organic mix.

I received the tree a week ago. True, I should wait and see how well it does. Thanks for the advice

 

[vdeschamps]

Ginseng is not actually a species of ficus, but in that other thread I linked to, it suggested that most labeled as Ginseng were actually Retusa, which I haven't specifically worked with. If you are planning on growing this indoors, enclosed, under lights, I would use very little organic components like maybe 45% turface, 45% lava rock, and then 5% orchid sphagnum, although if you asked 10 people you would probably get 10 answers on the ideal soil mix. Be sure and get rid of all of that dark compacted soil no matter what you use. I think I would use some extra sphagnum mounded around the trunk, maybe wrapped in plastic, to help induce the aerial roots .

Thanks Got a lot of work in front of me with this guy.

 

[Redwood Ryan]

I received the tree a week ago. True, I should wait and see how well it does. Thanks for the advice

Ah, that's the sellers picture so I wasn't sure. And IMO, I'd stay away from the stuff that guy sells. Overpriced and not worth what he's asking.

 

[Poink88]

FYI, next time (if there is next time) for about $12.00 you can get similar sized ginseng ficus at Walmart, Lowes or Home Depot....healthier too.

 

[vdeschamps]

Ah, that's the sellers picture so I wasn't sure. And IMO, I'd stay away from the stuff that guy sells. Overpriced and not worth what he's asking.

I wish I would have posted that post before end lol.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

Pushing new growth is a good sign and there is really no rush to repot the ficus, and you could cut it back now, however, I stand by my recommendation that it is better to leave as much green on as possible and work on the roots first. That way the leaves will help regenerate the roots after repotting, and the new healthy roots will help regenerate the leaves when you do your first chop. Alternatively, if you chop now, it will take longer to dry out the existing mucky soil and could lead to problems. It could be fine, but I think it will take less overall development time if you leave as much green as possible at this point.

 

[mat]

This Ficus does not have much bonsai potential...

But if someone gave it to me, I'd get it reasonably healthy. Then chop all 4 branches almost all the way back. Work with what survives, hopefully all four.

You're never going to make good roots out of that mess. You can use this plant to learn some important basic horticultural lessons though, and maybe some pruning too.

 

[KennedyMarx]

You could get it healthy, cut it down, let it fill out, then do a ground layer above the big roots to try to compact the tree down into a more appropriate bonsai style. Of course over time the roots may revert to those big fat tubers once they're allowed to grow.

You should check out this progression on a ginseng:

http://lennardsbonsaibeginnings.blogspot.com/2013/02/ginseng-pot-belly-ficus.html?m=1

 

[vdeschamps]

You could get it healthy, cut it down, let it fill out, then do a ground layer above the big roots to try to compact the tree down into a more appropriate bonsai style. Of course over time the roots may revert to those big fat tubers once they're allowed to grow.

You should check out this progression on a ginseng:

http://lennardsbonsaibeginnings.blogspot.com/2013/02/ginseng-pot-belly-ficus.html?m=1

Wow, what this guy did is impressive! Thanks for the link. I'm going to let the new leaves grow, repot and chop the top off.

I am concerned that the tree has been potted in good soil.