Rpx - benjamina collection

[rapax24]

Starting this thread to document the development of my ficus Benjamin collection.
All the trees in this thread have been propagated from an a pot of ficus Benjamina natsja sold at Wilko as indoor foliage plant for 5£. Unfortunately I am very bad at recording my trees development and I do not have any photos of the plant at this stage but it looked similar to the one in the screenshot below.


This thread hopefully would be a record of successes and failures these plants are going through while on my care.

They were the first trees I ever tried to train as bonsai and fortunately I had no idea of the bad reputation of Benjamina as bonsai so I just potted them up in a large terracotta pot and let them grow for all summer 2020 on my window sill.

By the end of September I had decided to be join the gang of the lockdown bonsai newbies and decided to make a forest planting from it.
Armed with a drill I punched a bunch of holes in a worn oven tray and potted the whole thing up in pine bark and cat litter.
The one in the photo was really supposed to be the back of the tree but whatever.


Fast forward to September 2021 and I decide the tree deserves a pot for surviving my care this long.

Here the three living in its winter space. An idea cabinet with some cheap grow lights. The group has lost one tree that have overgrown the space and now lives on its own in a pond basket.


The ficus in the terracotta pot at the right is actually a rooted cutting of the top of one of the tree in the forest. And looking at it now I realized how much it has grown and thickened up this year.

To be continued.

 

[rapax24]

Start again with an image of the tree in February of 2022 having had a hard cutback after being left to grow unchecked in the cabinet for a few months.

Old leaves at the top removed to have a better look at the ramification and what to remove.
My Benjamina have significant top growth tending to shed lower branches.


I am starting to understand the reason why this species is considered less desirable than others at least for people not growing in the tropics.
Leaves do not seem to reduce regardless of the amount of twigs up top. Keeping the tree to the size can be difficult as backbudding is unreliable and the canopy often needs to be rebuilt from lower branches but other than that, these trees have been bulletproof for me, taking neglect, chops, draught without a hiccup. Also they are the easiest thing to propagate I have ever dealt with. Branches as thick as a finger can be cut and put in water and they will root in a few weeks without failure.

Finally a foto from a few weeks ago with the tree outside for summer having just had another trim back.

 

[ShadyStump]

I've been dabbling since 2019, but when I finally decided to take bonsai a little more seriously I got a benjamina just like you describe so I could have something on my desk at work. It's done wonderfully!

I think they make better bonsai than many people want to admit. They're not likely to become show pieces, but they can be year round fun, and fantastic for beginners.

 

[Mapleminx]

I now own a variegated Benjamina. Totally blaming you for this @rapax24 . I don’t even like Ficus…how dare you inspire me

 

[rapax24]

I now own a variegated Benjamina. Totally blaming you for this @rapax24 . I don’t even like Ficus…how dare you inspire me

One like those on the right?

I had two plants similar to the mother plant and 1 year in they look like these.
They are slower growing which might be a blessing (lower maintenance required) or a problem. At the moment I have let them grow but I will post more of them if I ever decide to try and train them.
Anyway, these are more of my tropical trees. The main tree lives under a cheaper grow light in the other room.

 

[rapax24]

My little forest today with the new growth since coming inside in the last 2 weeks.
It has overgrown the pot too so I think I will have to decide on another plan.


All trees look quite happy and growing some new roots at the top of the pot, sign that it might need a repot.
I think I will stay put and see if I manage to get some aerial roots.



Here a photo from the side of the bigger clump with a big chop almost closed. The top of the tree was cut off and rooted as a cutting and now has become a tree of its own.
I didn't treat the cuts at all not I did a good job on the chop, yet these guys are doing a decent job at closing the cut, better than my microcarpas.

 

[Mapleminx]

One like those on the right?

I’ll let you know when it arrives. It’s variety is “kinky” which means nothing to me but it’s meant to be quite bushy and compact.