What have I done? A couple of new ficus trees...

[coh]

I was in the process of downsizing my tropical collection. One died (a buttonwood) and I sold one (a dwarf water jasmine). But then I saw the post on bonsai classifieds about Fred (at Hollow Creek) selling off his ficus stock at very low prices. You know, like the ones that Ryan got (see http://bonsainut.com/forums/showthread.php?16809-A-Steal-of-a-Deal) Well, in a moment of weakness...I went down to Hollow Creek and wound up coming home with 2 relatively large ficus trees. So much for downsizing.

Neither tree has been styled but they both have pretty good size trunks. I'm going to post pics of the first one in this post, then follow up with a second post showing the other one. I hope to keep this thread updated as they develop. Note, I'm not sure exactly which ficus species these are. They resemble some type of microcarpa but the leaves are quite a bit larger than the tiger bark ficus I have.

Ficus #1: The first 2 photos are from very slightly different angles near where I envision the front to be. For reference the pot is 10.5" across, so the trunk is about 4". There are two large aerial roots to the right that I think could eventually merge together and with the trunk, this would add 2" to the total width.

The trunk rises up and to the right at about a 45 deg angle. The top of the trunk is about 8" above the soil, and the top of the foliage right now is at about 18".

I have a couple of ideas about potential styling but would welcome suggestions from anyone on bnut!

 

[coh]

Ficus 2: Same species (I think)

This one is bigger. It is in a 14" wide pot. The trunk base is around 6" and decreases pretty quickly. There is a considerable amount of leaf damage, from cold (I think...based on where Fred had these trees), so I need to see how this one responds. I slipped it out of the pot yesterday and cleaned up the roots a little...replaced some of the compacted organic soil with well draining aggregate, poked holes through the root system, removed as much of the oxalis weed that I could, etc. A more significant repot will occur in the spring or early summer depending on how it responds.

See an upright/sumo type, perhaps a spreading banyan style. Any thoughts, let me know!

 

[Vin]

I bought two from Fred as well in a moment of weakness. I'm giving one to my Son and I'll play with the other until I'm tired of bringing it in and out of the garage during the winter. I don't think mine are quite as big as the ones you have though.

 

[Vin]

The trunk base is around 6" and decreases pretty quickly.

Can't wait to see what you're going to do with this one. Nice and beefy. As soon as I saw the image I had Sumo in my head.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Sweet! I will enjoy watching you bring out your vision with these.

 

[Cadillactaste]

I bought two from Fred as well in a moment of weakness. I'm giving one to my Son and I'll play with the other until I'm tired of bringing it in and out of the garage during the winter. I don't think mine are quite as big as the ones you have though.

Still giving him the one in the cream lotus sort of shaped pot? I am smitten with the entire look of tree and pot combo. Lucky boy...one lucky boy you have there.

 

[Poink88]

Nice tree Chris! Difficult to see inside...too much foliage (good too).

 

[Vin]

Still giving him the one in the cream lotus sort of shaped pot? I am smitten with the entire look of tree and pot combo. Lucky boy...one lucky boy you have there.

Yes he is He'll be here for Thanksgiving and will take it back with him. Looking forward to see what Chris does with his because I have three or four options on the one I'm left with. Maybe his design will give me some inspiration?

 

[coh]

Yes he is He'll be here for Thanksgiving and will take it back with him. Looking forward to see what Chris does with his because I have three or four options on the one I'm left with. Maybe his design will give me some inspiration?

I like the looks of your first one in particular! Neat base.

I won't be doing any significant styling for a while. On the first one, I'm thinking either a semi-cascade or windswept type, with most of the foliage going off to the right (other ideas or suggestions would be appreciated, hint hint). When I repot I'll evaluate whether the trunk can be repositioned, perhaps lean it over more to the right. The second one obviously doesn't really have that option, it has to be an upright. With that one, the main goal is to make sure it is healthy - get it growing. There was a lot of leaf damage and I'm hoping that the buds weren't damaged.

And I'm in a much tougher climate for these things, so my development will be much slower than what you can get in Florida. I have a 400 W metal halide and some fluorescents for my tropicals, but even with that - I haven't been able to get good, consistent growth indoors during our long, cold, dark winters.

Chris

 

[Cadillactaste]

I like the looks of your first one in particular! Neat base.

I won't be doing any significant styling for a while. On the first one, I'm thinking either a semi-cascade or windswept type, with most of the foliage going off to the right (other ideas or suggestions would be appreciated, hint hint). When I repot I'll evaluate whether the trunk can be repositioned, perhaps lean it over more to the right. The second one obviously doesn't really have that option, it has to be an upright. With that one, the main goal is to make sure it is healthy - get it growing. There was a lot of leaf damage and I'm hoping that the buds weren't damaged.

And I'm in a much tougher climate for these things, so my development will be much slower than what you can get in Florida. I have a 400 W metal halide and some fluorescents for my tropicals, but even with that - I haven't been able to get good, consistent growth indoors during our long, cold, dark winters.

Chris

Your first one draws me in...the second a neat tree. No advice on styling...but will watch your thread...the trees since Vin's post of the one he's given to his son has intrigued me. Not sure I wish to go with an indoor set up though that it would need. But, I am watching and learning...and I hope you continue to update us on your progress with these trees. From a Northern's perspective of growing come winter...surely as you mentioned they will slow...but, you have that window of opportunity when it'll be outdoors no doubt.

 

[coh]

Your first one draws me in...the second a neat tree. No advice on styling...but will watch your thread...the trees since Vin's post of the one he's given to his son has intrigued me. Not sure I wish to go with an indoor set up though that it would need. But, I am watching and learning...and I hope you continue to update us on your progress with these trees. From a Northern's perspective of growing come winter...surely as you mentioned they will slow...but, you have that window of opportunity when it'll be outdoors no doubt.

Our summers aren't even really great for tropicals. This past summer was cooler than normal, but even in a normal summer we get lots of nights in the 50s and low humidity...so they don't really seem to "explode" with growth like you might expect. I may not be fertilizing enough and that's something I'll be looking to improve on next year (for all my trees, not just tropicals).

Summers in Ohio are definitely warmer and more humid than up here, so you might do better.

Chris

 

[Jester217300]

Nice, Chris!

Is the second tree the last big one? The pot looks the same but I'm not positive.

I ended up throwing caution to the wind and doing a full repot on the two I got including sawing off the base of the roots. They're both doing quite well right now under lights inside. I'm excited to get them outside next summer and push them hard. I really didn't like the soil and wasn't confident I could properly water over winter. I think I made the right decision for me and my setup but so far I'm the only one of the people who bought from Fred that I know of who did the repot in fall vs next spring. My safety net was taking it to a nursery that could winter it for me if necessary with a better light and humidity setup but I'm not sure I need it now. They barely even flinched.

 

[coh]

Bobby, Fred still had 2 very large ones after I took this one (but I think they've since sold). One of them was truly massive, much bigger than the one I got. Too big for my aging body to handle comfortably. It also didn't have much growth on it, though I suspect it will bounce back.

During the partial repot of the larger one, I found that the root system was quite overgrown (I think Fred said it had been at least 5 years since the last repotting). The soil within the root system was OK, a standard bonsai mix...but the root system has become so dense that water is not penetrating easily. So I teased out the bottom and sides, opened up a couple of wedges, and also poked a number of holes through to the bottom. Also removed the top layer which seemed to be much more "dirt" like, perhaps old broken down fertilizer balls. I thought about doing more but would prefer to wait for warmer weather. The tree isn't taking up much water right now due to all the damage to the foliage.

Having said that, if it takes off with good growth during the winter, I may go ahead and do more work. We'll see.

The smaller one seems to be draining well enough to leave for now.

Can you tell me about your indoor set up? Type of lighting in particular?

Chris

 

[Jester217300]

He did sell the last jumbo one. I've been checking up on it with him.

I think the soil mix for mine was dirt and haydite. At least that's what it looked like. It's not a bad medium to grow stock in but like you said it was very dense when you take into account the growing medium, the size of the pot, and the length of time from the last repot. I felt more comfortable changing it out knowing that I tend to have a heavy hand with the watering can.

I'm doing T5's. As I recall Ryan (and maybe you?) is(are) not a fan of them. This is my first year with a significant indoor grow environment. It seems to be going well but I'm a little timid nonetheless. It's nothing fancy, just lights from rafters over plants on a tarp. They're in the basement adjacent to the furnace so they're in the warmest spot of the house with decent air circulation. I have a few extra fans and a dehumidifier to remove excessive humidity that would be damaging to the rest of the house.

I put some succulents in south facing windows but all of the trees are under lights.

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Ah, so you bought that one. I was going too, but I couldn't see the trunk enough for me to see where to take it. Plus, I had already bought two and figured I would give other people a chance

I'm doing T5's. As I recall Ryan (and maybe you?) is(are) not a fan of them. This is my first year with a significant indoor grow environment. It seems to be going well but I'm a little timid nonetheless. It's nothing fancy, just lights from rafters over plants on a tarp. They're in the basement adjacent to the furnace so they're in the warmest spot of the house with decent air circulation. I have a few extra fans and a dehumidifier to remove excessive humidity that would be damaging to the rest of the house.

I loved T5s when I used them. I had issues with burning the leaves, and getting light down to the lower branches. That's why I made the switch over to these big LEDs. They seem to be able to penetrate the lower branches well, so long as you hang the light high enough.

 

[Jester217300]

I loved T5s when I used them. I had issues with burning the leaves, and getting light down to the lower branches. That's why I made the switch over to these big LEDs. They seem to be able to penetrate the lower branches well, so long as you hang the light high enough.

Ah, gotcha. Yeah, I learned about leaf burn real quick. I've since adjusted to compensate and haven't had any more issues, yet.

For penetration I'm seeing that bottom branches aren't an issue (so far) but the lights have difficulty penetrating through dense canopies to get to the inner branching and leaves.

 

[coh]

Update on ficus # 2.

In the middle of June I decided that the only way to possibly make this tree work in a reasonable time frame in this climate would be to bind the multitude of very small branches together to build thicker branches more quickly. We just don't have a long enough/hot enough growing season to wait for individual branches to thicken.

So, I gathered groups of branches together (fortunately there were places where many small branches originated), wrapped them as tightly as I could with raffia, then added cable ties in places and wire to both constrict and move the combined branches. I've never done this before and it was somewhat awkward. I wired the branches out so that the lower branches were roughly horizontal. I may not keep them all in the end, but for now...having them all there gives me options.

There is evidence that fusing is already occurring, which is promising. I'm hoping to avoid cutting anything back until at least next summer to speed things up as much as possible, but I don't know where I'm going to keep this during the winter. I did the same to the other one in the first post, but don't have any pics right now.

Pics were taken in front of a red barn, not ideal...I darkened the background using photo-editing software which gives a slightly surreal effect, at least on my monitor.

Anyone who has done this...are there any issues to be aware of down the road. For instance, if I decide I want to move/bend a branch, any chance of that causing the fusion to fail or split?

Chris

1. View from near the probable front.



2. Close-up view of above.



3. Close-up of back.



4. Close-up of apex.

 

[A Random User]

Update on ficus # 2.

In the middle of June I decided that the only way to possibly make this tree work in a reasonable time frame in this climate would be to bind the multitude of very small branches together to build thicker branches more quickly. We just don't have a long enough/hot enough growing season to wait for individual branches to thicken.

So, I gathered groups of branches together (fortunately there were places where many small branches originated), wrapped them as tightly as I could with raffia, then added cable ties in places and wire to both constrict and move the combined branches. I've never done this before and it was somewhat awkward. I wired the branches out so that the lower branches were roughly horizontal. I may not keep them all in the end, but for now...having them all there gives me options.

There is evidence that fusing is already occurring, which is promising. I'm hoping to avoid cutting anything back until at least next summer to speed things up as much as possible, but I don't know where I'm going to keep this during the winter. I did the same to the other one in the first post, but don't have any pics right now.

Pics were taken in front of a red barn, not ideal...I darkened the background using photo-editing software which gives a slightly surreal effect, at least on my monitor.

Anyone who has done this...are there any issues to be aware of down the road. For instance, if I decide I want to move/bend a branch, any chance of that causing the fusion to fail or split?

Chris

1. View from near the probable front.
View attachment 81263


2. Close-up view of above.
View attachment 81264


3. Close-up of back.
View attachment 81265


4. Close-up of apex.
View attachment 81266

I think you are headed in the right direction. I have never tried fusing branches together. Here where I live we don't need to do this, if we let a branch run... it is quite possible to end up with a one inch or more branch in a grown season! So no need here... but I understand where you are at you will not get this type of growth.

I will give you a critical tip though.... if you are trying to make these fuse faster, and or grow a branch out, you need to do two things... first, greatly cut back areas above, and do continual pruning periodically above. This helps send energy back down. Work on these lower branches first.... the top will always get more energy and can be worked later with little ease, seeing the tree naturally wants to grow tall.
Secondly, I would put some wire on the branches you want to thicken, then bend the ends of the branches up towards the sky... again, because a tree naturally wants to grow tall, this will greatly add to the speed in which a branch grows.
Other than this, the only other area I can see right off the bat, is the heavy chop on the left bottom base of the trunk... you will need to try and allow something to grow near this area, even if it is removed a little later to help this heal over...
With that said, you need to pick your battles... and concentrate on what you feel is the most important thing to do first... trying to accomplish three things at once, makes not much happen... so, if you are worried about the branches, concentrate the trees energy here. Once you have worked this area, then move on to the scar, or vice versa...

 

[Cypress187]

Aren't those tie wraps going to kill / destroy / bite in, the branch and make it ugly?

 

[coh]

Aren't those tie wraps going to kill / destroy / bite in, the branch and make it ugly?

I don't know if you can kill a ficus branch! They'd probably just swallow up the ties, but that might leave a swelling. I've been gradually removing them as the branches swell.