Tips on growing LARGE Willow Leaf Mother plant?

[JoshuaRN]

So i discovered w.leaf ficus about 7 years ago and gained an immense amount of respect for it right around the same time that my cat discovered that if you yank on it, there is more plant under the soil. I would re pot the poor thing at least 2x a week. Since then i have purchased about 10 and have done a few various experiments but mostly they are all smaller examples.
My plan now is to grow one purely for taking med - large cuttings off, so what im asking is if you had to grow a w.leaf purely to get it massive how would you go about it.

Soil?
Container?
Summers in the ground?
Bribe one of the W.Ficus champs here to sell me a large cutting?!
large grow media to force large roots -> root cuttings?


Zone 5 - so field growing tropicals is limited to milk-crate submersion, but i have never found that this species benefits from free reign of soil.
Indoor Setup - Main tropical area 2x cedar benches with 6ft adjustable CFL shop lights,
- Tropical ICU/cutting are 2x 4ft enclosed aquariums with humidity trays inside and 1x 6ft CFL shop light suspended directly above the glass.
-For Large "house plants" i sneakily replaced the recessed flood lights indoors with daylight spectrum adjustable halos (i love my very patient wife), currently they do a nice job of keeping my "this tiny cactus isnt adorable anymore cactus" alive, and a i got bored root over massive lava elastica which both are fairly large.

So heres my plan and im hoping for insight. I was going to order a 3-7" nursery pot w.leaf/sali/nerif (source suggestions welcome) and treat it as normal, once i start to see some vigor --> transplant it into a lava/perlite/peat (im thinking 50/50 inorganic to organic) deep plastic pot. Test out slicing the pot in summer and field growing, and up-pot with large pumice or lava as the bottom 1/3 of the new pot each season.
Remember the goal here is NOT bonsai, its cutting stock for NEW bonsai.

*** alternate side experiment, has anyone tried fusing ? i have a 4 year old cluster that i grew out and let get really lanky that i just started a test on (credit for idea that may lead to pending death or success of the idea goes to jerry messiak) the test is using zip ties to fuse lower unwanted branches and aerial roots into the main trunk. Scarring will be a problem but i have time to deal with that later.

Thanks Guys.
-Joshua

 

[MrFancyPlants]

Great idea, I’ll be listening with interest to the thread. Mine have done quite well with a hydroponic setup in an aquarium for humidity and LED lighting... but I can see how that might not be the most convenient for a mother plant. I am curious if they would even survive as a house plant like it’s benjimina cousins.

 

[JoshuaRN]

When they start to rebel and struggle I’ve had a lot of luck with a big trash bag (clear or white) draped over the plant and tied under the pot. Just follow usual tent precautions (mold, direct sunlight) and make sure to slowly re-introduce the plant to room air.
On the bench the air is sufficiently humid but large open rooms in the winter here tend to suffer from dry hot air.
The bag method is actually one I’m trying now to jump start a few cuttings in large/med lava.
But yeah I’m excited to see what some of the more experienced ficus guys reccomend . I’m ordering a few new w.leaf soon , I think I found a decent source for a good price . Well see.

 

[quietobserver]

From my experience they seem to grow hardest/fastest in straight pumice, preferably a little smaller particle sizes. With that said, they’ll also need watered more in straight pumice, but that’s also what’s driving them to grow more quickly. The renewing of air/water in the pot for the growth process.

 

[Pads]

Great idea! I was also thinking about planting a small willow leaf in the ground next year during late spring (10a zone) and see what happens

 

[JoshuaRN]

Test group is all setup as of today, I’ll add pictures later , first run I started with rooted 3-4in cuttings in mostly lava , first 3 are in solo cups to get root bound growing under my normal tropical bench and 2 others are in 1 gallon nursery pots with larger mix lava growing about 1”under a cfl in a humidity bag. Order is going in this week for 3 1ft (largest I can find that appear useable) once they arrive and aclimate I will start trying more growth variation to see what works fastest.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Your climate is not good for growing large ficus. If you are growing just for use as a stock plant, not bonsai, you don't need one big massive plant. Half a dozen smaller plants can provide as many cuttings for propagation as one big massive plant, and will be easier to keep under lights. If it is not for bonsai, you don't need to have aerial roots. You don't need big trunks for propagation stock.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

For your medium to large ''cuttings'', why not just grow small cuttings up to the size you want with bonsai in mind all along. This is more feasible under lights than trying to grow a behemoth ''mother plant'' under lights. When growing under lights, it is important to have as many leaves as possible within the 9 inches or so of the lamps where the light intensity is sufficient for peak photosynthesis. The taller the tree, the less light hitting the lower portions of the tree. The draping for humidity and extra work required to get aerial roots, is easier to do for a smaller tree. Unless you lived in a frost free zone, like Homestead Florida and south, I would not try to grow big monster ficus, unless I had free greenhouse space.

But that is my thought. I am glad you are excited about willow leaf ficus.