Progression of a Tiger Bark ficus microcarpa over 19 years

[Chuah]

I posted a series of photos on the progression of my tiger bark ficus microcarpa over a 19-year period in the General Discussion section: "For the advanced seasoned bonsaists", a thread started by Cadillactaste.
I thought it would also be appropriate to post some of thees photos in the Tropicals forum for the ficus lovers who might have missed the General Discussion thread.

This is the ficus, it won an international photo contest award in 2013, and best of show in Lone Star State Convention in 2014.


Original design sketch in 1997.


Progress in 2001.

Redesigned in 2012, removing big back branch.

Defoliated in 2015:

About 6 weeks after defoliation and wiring, September 2015.


I wrote what I learned and experienced working on this tree, starting from a pre-bonsai to the present day in my blog. There are a lot more progression photos, thoughts, mistakes, future plan etc., which are too long to post in a thread. If interested, please go to my blog:
https://bonsaipenjing.wordpress.com/

Comments and questions are welcome. Thanks.

 

[Nwaite]

Thanks for reposting! I have not seen this yet. I'll Def be going through the blog and checking it all out.

Nice tree btw. Great work!

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I'm surprised the upper trunk scar hasn't closed yet. Did the back branch scar heal?

Curious to hear more about the aluminum foil as well. Do you use cut paste underneath? Or do you just press foil over the wound?

 

[Chuah]

I'm surprised the upper trunk scar hasn't closed yet. Did the back branch scar heal?

Curious to hear more about the aluminum foil as well. Do you use cut paste underneath? Or do you just press foil over the wound?

You have very sharp eyes. The back scar healed somewhat slow, not as fast as I hoped for. The problem with this tree is over the last three years, I put them in our local and state shows which need keeping up the appearances, and did not do the enough stuffs to improve the tree and correct what are needed. I should keep the tree home for the next few years, to properly take care of the wounds and all the planned to-do-list to improve it.


I found aluminum foil did not do much for ficus. However, growing aerial roots around the wound and bridge grafting help a lot. This is another ficus I have which has a very large chopped off trunk. I think the length of the wound is about 4" long, with aerial root and bridge grafting, it heals a lot faster.

Aluminum foil does accelerate wound healing in several other species, notably citrus, trident, Japanese maple, jaboticaba, Chinese fringe tree.
This is a citrus trunk chop, appled TopJin and aluminum foil, and one year later.

This one is an Acer palmatum main trunk chop, one year with aluminum foil and TopJin

This one is a Loropetalum which tends to have die backs on large wounds. Aluminum foil, and preferably a nearby lower feeding branch, seems to help a lot preventing die back.

I already reached the maximum number allowed for attaching file. The two wounds in the Loropetalum is after one year, slightly over 1/2" in size.
Aluminum foil works for some trees but not for others. Still experimenting.

 

[Chuah]

Curious to hear more about the aluminum foil as well. Do you use cut paste underneath? Or do you just press foil over the wound?

Photos of Loropetalum wounds with aluminum foil.

 

[Redwood Ryan]

If you ever want to sell it, I know a guy

 

[aml1014]

Photos of Loropetalum wounds with aluminum foil.
View attachment 94803
View attachment 94804

Do you have a theory why the aluminum foil works? I'm very interested considering I have some wounds that need closing.

Aaron

 

[Chuah]

If you ever want to sell it, I know a guy

It's over 18, and is not going out the door any time soon.

 

[Chuah]

Do you have a theory why the aluminum foil works? I'm very interested considering I have some wounds that need closing.

Aaron

I have no idea how it works, just that it worked for some species better than the others. Learned this from professional penjing people when I visited them Guangzhou. By the way this is an aluminum tape used for air duct with an adhesive back. I have read somewhere people thought it captures the heat just like wrapping air layering with aluminum. Honestly, I don't know. Just try it. I added TopJin to be cautious, but learned not to use both on trident as the wound healed too fast and caused bulging.

 

[markyscott]

Really great work, Hoe. It's even more impressive in person. You're one of my bonsai heroes - thanks for sharing this.

Scott

 

[Chuah]

Thanks Scott, you are too kind. The thread also turns partly into sealing wounds with aluminum tape. I hope someone can come up with an explanation on how it works. See you soon.

 

[Saizan]

Wow! Very impressive Ficus, probable one of the best ones I've ever seen.

I'm curious about, even being a Tiger Bark, you dind't use aerial roots in the lower branches. Without them, the aspect is more "clean" and refinated.

Congratulations! And thanks for sharing the progress

 

[barrosinc]

nice tree!!
I want to start something like this!

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I found aluminum foil did not do much for ficus. However, growing aerial roots around the wound and bridge grafting help a lot. This is another ficus I have which has a very large chopped off trunk. I think the length of the wound is about 4" long, with aerial root and bridge grafting, it heals a lot faster.

What a great photo. Thank you for sharing!

 

[amcoffeegirl]

I am not trying to be disrespectful and please don't be offended by my question- I'm a big ficus supporter myself.
Do you consider this a bar branch?
I have struggled with this on my own trees. I saw another thread recently about this also.
The best way is obviously to avoid them when the tree is young- but then the tree grows and they are across from each other.
This tree is award winning - so how serious is this rule?
In the end I know the only rule is do I enjoy looking at it- yes I do.

 

[Chuah]

Wow! Very impressive Ficus, probable one of the best ones I've ever seen.

I'm curious about, even being a Tiger Bark, you dind't use aerial roots in the lower branches. Without them, the aspect is more "clean" and refinated.

Congratulations! And thanks for sharing the progress

Thanks Saizan, I think having aerial roots are OK for a very very big tree to create the banyan look, aerial roots can grow so fast and become too big for the overall design.

 

[Chuah]

I am not trying to be disrespectful and please don't be offended by my question- I'm a big ficus supporter myself.
Do you consider this a bar branch?
I have struggled with this on my own trees. I saw another thread recently about this also.
The best way is obviously to avoid them when the tree is young- but then the tree grows and they are across from each other.
This tree is award winning - so how serious is this rule?
In the end I know the only rule is do I enjoy looking at it- yes I do.

You have a very valid observation. Constructive critiques and suggestions are always welcome in a discussion, we are here to learn and share.

In my blog, I explained about the primary and secondary branches, though sufficiently far apart but become more problematic when they become too big and caused the seeming bar branch-look. What I did not elaborate is when viewed in person, those two branches, with their movements and placements at different angles coming out from the main trunk, are sufficiently distinct that they do not appear like bar branches. But in a photo, a 3D object is flattened into 2D, all the curves are flattened into a straight line. So those curves, back and forth, even up and down, if they are not sufficiently pronunced, become one straight line in a 2-D photo. In human eyes, there is a depth perception. We also view tree not with a pair of static eyes, so the look become quite different and more lively.

I realized this after taking the photo. To correct that bar-branches perception, I bent these two thick branches to accentuate the curves so they do not look so straight. The is perhaps the best I can do at this stage without taking a big risk of a major operation on this tree in my care for that long.

In essence, you are right. My learning from working on this ficus is that we need to place the branches sufficiently apart, with enough space, to account for future growth, and to wire bigger curves as they also diminished with growth. That is what I try to do on another large ficus I have.

I do not know what the judges see as I did not participate the convention in person. What I learned from some masters is when they judge a tree, they see it as a whole, the overall perception, how healthy, vigorous and how its appeals to them, like a first impression; the nitty gritty comes secondary such as wiring etc. Judging is very subjective and may not be evenly applied. You might have seen all the arguments in posts about show judging. Some judges approach the tree by looking at their best feature first, and then here and there not to their liking; but some approach a tree by picking out all the faults first. That is something I learned when I go to show, to look at every tree with a positive attitude, and then yes, if this is my tree I would do this and that differently. Sort of seeing the cup as half full.

This is a ficus, its' natural canopy is a big umbrella shape and with powerful trunk. In Asia, ficus are grown in parks, the entrant road to a village, next to a temple or an important building. They are old, big and convey memories to each person differently. In Taiwan, I saw people gathered under big ficus tree in the evening in parks. I went to Bali couple years ago and saw many old large ficus with cloth wrapped around the trunk. I asked the tourist guide and he explained that they are so old that villagers worship them; the cloth is there to signify their reverence. May be that's what some judges see. I really don't know because it was a big surprise to me as a hobbyist.

 

[amcoffeegirl]

Yes I read the blog after making my post. Thank you for elaborating.
I always want to keep learning and ficus are special to me. Thanks for the mental image of the Bali ficus. That's interesting to me.
I would enjoy seeing other ficus if you have others also.

 

[Chuah]

Thanks for the mental image of the Bali ficus.

Here are some photos of Bali ficus.

Aerial roots of a ficus benjamini, the bottom left stone tablet identified the tree.


This one has incredible roots:

 

[amcoffeegirl]

Thank you for sharing those photos.
It looks like an amazing place to visit