My First Ficus Progression

Anthony

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Gustavo,

do yourself a big favour, get a willow leaf type. Easier on your nerves.
Also I suggest Celtis -------- African, European, Chinese, American.
As you train both the reason will become clear.
Good Day
Anthony
 
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Anthony,

Will try but not that easy to find those around here... It's always F. microcarpa regular type or the ones grafted onto those bulbous tubing roots... I'm finding it very easy and fast growing.

I meant to say that I have F. microcarpa, not macrocarpa (The latter can also be found here in public gardens: massive trees >100 years old).

I also have what I think is a F. benjamina (the small leaf variety). I snipped a shoot from a larger tree, sticked it in a pot and it's putting new leaves right now, but still less than a pencil-thick ;)
 

Anthony

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Gustavo,

Ficus keeps thickening, and after you put 10 years into something that keeps getting thicker,
you will cry.

We just bought on-line the Chinese Celtis and more African Celtis seeds, two weeks of planting and they
came up.
The Celtis gives you a thick trunk and fine twigs.
The thick trunk in 1 or 2 years. Just use a colander for the growing before placing in the ground.
Shhhhh-------------- it's secret. :)

No friends in Spain ?
There is a European Celtis.
The African is I believe zone 10.

Here is a miracle. The mother was accidentally dried out in the fridge. The root later threw up a shoot.
After 1 year in the ground/colander and 3 years of healing.
We use the spring flush to start off with, and last year it was allowed to grow 1 m long shoots all over in a larger
bonsai pot.
It has been pruned one week ago and is already sending out new shoots.

Fertiliser is Miracle Gro Lawn fertiliser at 1/3 strength [ 12 N ..... ] into moist soil once a week.

As I get time I will be doing another image, I believe for Stickroot. Hope I got the name correct, he is into
Celtis.

This one is Celtis l. from Louisiana.

Good Day
Anthony


celtis m.jpg
 
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Gustavo,

Ficus keeps thickening, and after you put 10 years into something that keeps getting thicker,
you will cry.

We just bought on-line the Chinese Celtis and more African Celtis seeds, two weeks of planting and they
came up.
The Celtis gives you a thick trunk and fine twigs.
The thick trunk in 1 or 2 years. Just use a colander for the growing before placing in the ground.
Shhhhh-------------- it's secret. :)

No friends in Spain ?
There is a European Celtis.
The African is I believe zone 10.

Here is a miracle. The mother was accidentally dried out in the fridge. The root later threw up a shoot.
After 1 year in the ground/colander and 3 years of healing.
We use the spring flush to start off with, and last year it was allowed to grow 1 m long shoots all over in a larger
bonsai pot.
It has been pruned one week ago and is already sending out new shoots.

Fertiliser is Miracle Gro Lawn fertiliser at 1/3 strength [ 12 N ..... ] into moist soil once a week.

As I get time I will be doing another image, I believe for Stickroot. Hope I got the name correct, he is into
Celtis.

This one is Celtis l. from Louisiana.

Good Day
Anthony


View attachment 147741

Many thanks...

Definitely into Celtis now ;)

I was checking trees in public areas of Lisbon and guess what; Lots and lots of C. australis and C. ocidentalis. It's one of the most common...

So I just need to go there (my hometown) or ask my mum to post some.

PS: While searching for trees I found that Lisbon has a fantastic record of its trees including the number of each tree per species per street. Check it out ((https://www.repository.utl.pt/bitstream/10400.5/469/20/ANEXO5.3.pdf). How cool is that?
 

Anthony

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Yes @StoneCloud ,

but remember we have an organic in there [ Celtis soil mix is by volume 1/3 aged compost and 1/3 of an inorganic that holds water and 1/3 silica based gravel]
Inorganic is 5 mm in size.
AND it goes into moist soil [ one watering pass in the evening ------- fertilise in the morning ]

The aged compost is a blend of ground weeds, leaves and bamboo as well as a tree that gives compost at the level of
rabbit manure.- Leucaena l.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucaena_leucocephala

Aged means it sat in 55 gal US barrel kept just moist, allows the weed seed to germinate and die. 1 year.
We have a 10 x 10 x 3 foot high compost heap.
Tapped and sifted to get the compost for ageing.

Compost hold 20 times weight in water / fertiliser with water.
Plus there are many beneficial organisms for root interaction.

@Gustavo Martins ,

most excellent!!

We try to get folk away from wasting time. Grow the best in your area, if local even better.
Down here we are trying pass on the colander ground grow idea so they will not try to expect
amazing results in pots, or fertilise everything to death literally.

Choice of plant is important for results, that keep you happy.
Good Day
Anthony
 

Anthony

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@StoneCloud ,

I forgot to mention this ------------ the intensity of our sun ------- paint tested in Florida and Arizona,
fails down here.
The most that Lawn Fertiliser does at 1/3 strength is very slowly growing shoots and keeps the leaves
a deep green.

And as usual test on expendables, not your mother plants. Okay.

Remember as Oso stated a while ago, at 90 deg.F plant roots shut down, so it is no good fertilisng.
Please note our climate differences.
Good Day
Anthony
 

canoeguide

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My biggest regret was the lack of movement I put in the trunk in the early stages. As the trunk thickened the trunk seemed to get straighter.

It's interesting to see how it smoothed out over time, and it seems that most species are going to do this, but ficus may be a more extreme case. I think this is a good example of how starting with *more* movement than what you think you will need is a good idea. I have a couple ficus whips that I recently rooted and based on your advice I'm going to wire them with some more dramatic movement than I otherwise might have!
 

thomas22

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It's interesting to see how it smoothed out over time, and it seems that most species are going to do this, but ficus may be a more extreme case. I think this is a good example of how starting with *more* movement than what you think you will need is a good idea. I have a couple ficus whips that I recently rooted and based on your advice I'm going to wire them with some more dramatic movement than I otherwise might have!
Glad my mistakes could be of help. I also made some mistakes on the roots where I didn't fix as much as I should have the last time I repotted. I now have to decide what to do with some ugly roots. I will try to explain more tomorrow when I have more time. I will say I am really happy how the tree responded to the defoliation. I got a ton of back budding where I needed them.
 
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