Two Little Ficus Projects

[thams]

Been a while since I've posted here. I've been letting my trees rest to help them regain strength from chopping. It'll probably be another 6-8 months before I touch any of them to help with vigor and thickening.

Anyway, just thought I'd post two little ficus that I chopped several months ago. The first tree was about 9" tall when I chopped it, and the second is a root cutting from the first. Once the buds grow out some, I will select the branches and let them grow out to thicken. My plans for the root cutting is to turn it into a funky cascade.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Good luck! I look forward to seeing the results. I'm too clumsy to work on such a small scale.

 

[thams]

Good luck! I look forward to seeing the results. I'm too clumsy to work on such a small scale.

Thanks! This is a learning experience for me, so we'll see how it turns out. I won't be able to hide any mistakes on such small trees, but at least ficus are very forgiving.

 

[GrimLore]

Looks like that could be nice honest. Just take your time and enjoy!

Grimmy

 

[thams]

Looks like that could be nice honest. Just take your time and enjoy!

Grimmy

Thank you - will do!

 

[KennedyMarx]

They look really healthy. Do you have them in some kind of enclosure inside?

 

[thams]

They look really healthy. Do you have them in some kind of enclosure inside?

No, they're sitting under a 4-bulb T5 fixture right now. The tree was very healthy before I chopped it, so it had a ton of energy reserves to push new growth. I repotted them at the same time I chopped them. I haven't messed with them since so they can regain their health before I trim and wire them. Particularly looking forward to developing the cascade.

 

[thams]

Just a small update on these two (trying to keep the tropical thread limping along through the winter!!). I've been consistently guarding against mites, so they've been pushing growth all winter.

I has able to tweeze out all buds except for 4 on the soon-to-be-cascade. I'll likely remove two or maybe three after the chop is healed over. I'll do the same for the other tree once the growth hardens off and gains some length.

 

[tmmason10]

Your getting some good growth for inside, nice work.

 

[amcoffeegirl]

On the cascade one the cut was made straight across. So would you have to go back and recut it at an angle? I have several smaller ficus and I'm still learning how to proceed. What will a straight cut look like? Vs an angle cut or a v-shaped chop. I guess my question is how do you decide the best chop choice?

 

[thams]

On the cascade one the cut was made straight across. So would you have to go back and recut it at an angle? I have several smaller ficus and I'm still learning how to proceed. What will a straight cut look like? Vs an angle cut or a v-shaped chop. I guess my question is how do you decide the best chop choice?

That's a good question -- honestly I just went for it and cut straight across. The diameter of the cutting is so small that I didn't really need to cut at an angle to have it heal properly. If the cutter were larger then I probably would have cut at an angle.

 

[thams]

Selected branches for the bigger tree. I've left a lot of sacrifice branches to keep up the vigor of the tree and help fatten the trunk. Once the apex thickens it'll be taken back and the next segment will be grown out.