Stubborn aerial roots on ficus

karen82

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I have a couple of ficus that I've been working on growing aerial roots on. I made them a growing case for the winter so I could maintain constant humidity, and after 2 months in the case and being misted 5+ times a day, they are finally starting to grow some aerial roots.
After all this work getting them to grow, I want to get these roots to grow down into the soil and toughen up a bit so I don't have to worry about them drying out and dying if I forget to mist them.
But, these roots have a different idea. They all want to grow upwards.
Any ideas for training these roots to grow down? I know the usual trick is to train them to grow into a straw, but that just won't work the way these roots want to grow upwards. I think they are too delicate and brittle to wire, and string would wick water away and dry them out too much.
 

cbroad

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Good question, I have the same problems on mine. I've been keeping mine under clear trash bags to keep the humidity up and they've literally been throwing aerials in every direction...

I'll be watching this thread.
 

bonsaidave

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I have seen several videos where people use straws. I am guessing in the straw it is pretty humid so the root just keeps growing down.
 

karen82

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Here's what some of them look like. I've been trying out weighing that one root down with a scrap of wire for a few days now, it still refuses to head down to the soil.
afeb 001_01.JPG afeb 003.JPG
 

Anthony

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Take straws or tubing and split, lead to soil.
A little water down the tube once in a while helps.
Trick from the East Indies.
Right you are @bonsaidave .
Good Day
Anthony
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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Here's what some of them look like. I've been trying out weighing that one root down with a scrap of wire for a few days now, it still refuses to head down to the soil.
View attachment 177938View attachment 177939


I've seen this. Yep, root growing up. I guess the tree didn't read the book to know it should go down. I'm just teasing, If you keep doing what you are doing, keep the humidity up, many more aerial roots should start. Your trunk could start looking ''hairy''. As more sprout some will be pointing down. Others as they get longer will naturally bend down. And if you like, you can carefully wire these roots down. To be attractive, you probably want to only keep aerial roots that sprout from the bottom or downward facing half of the trunk. The roots that sprout from the top side will eventually need to be removed. My thought is to continue to keep it humid and warm, as you have done, and in a few months you will have many more aerial roots to choose from, you can then thin back to only the aerial roots that are attractive in their location and direction. You can also wire to bend an shape, or to straighten out and get the correct direction on your aerial roots. Good work, it is difficult to get aerial roots to sprout indoors. I get them only in years when I put my Ficus outdoors, and we have an unusually warm and humid June and July.
 

Zaratrusta

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I leave a video of how to force aerial roots. It's in Spanish so I'll summarize it. Before applying the technique recommends that if you don’t repot in a long time (and the pot is full of roots) the tree tend to emits more aerial roots.
As for the technique, it is recommended to use the drill at low revolutions so as not to cauterize the cambium layer. Use a wood drill bit well sharpened to avoid tearing. Another point that makes is that if you see roots in the bottom of the plastic tube don’t remove it because they are probably roots of the tree that rise from the ground by the highest degree of humidity in the soil.

Greetings and trust a lot in this guy because he knows a lot about ficus and excuse my clunky english as well.

 

karen82

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It's finally taking off with the aerials. Even the aerial roots have their own aerial roots.
plates 003.JPG
None are even pre-bonsai yet, but it's nice to have a few Ficus to baby during the winter.
They're staying in the growing case until it's warm enough to move them outdoors, at which point I will go through and decide what roots to keep.
 
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