My biggest Ficus

Hello everyone,

Just thought I'd share this hunk of a trunk Ficus microcarpa that I bought from a friend down in LA the other week. It has a two foot canopy, stands two feet tall, and has a base of 8 inches. Just wanted to start a thread to gather ideas/comments about it.

Any chance of a pic of the whole tree so people can get a clearer idea of its size, shape etc.?

fiona wrote:Any chance of a pic of the whole tree so people can get a clearer idea of its size, shape etc.?

Oh duh, oops. Will get one after work

Here are some shots of it (with a busy background, sorry!):

Here's a better shot of it in its entirety:

hi Ryan!
I submit to you an idea. Hope this outline is helpful for you. Wish you success.

Ẩn khách wrote:hi Ryan!
I submit to you an idea. Hope this outline is helpful for you. Wish you success.

Thank you! That is exactly what I had in mind! Nice to see it in front of me.

I just finished up this virt as well. Comments?

As for the second virt, I wouldn't make the top as pointy, something more like this:



Any comments/thoughts?? This is gonna be a tough decision....

However, if I go the way I had originally thought of, going off of Ẩn kháchs virt, this is what the tree could look like in its defoliated state (virt I just made):




Comments?

Another virt after removing that right branch, extending the left one, and rounding out the canopy:

Hi Ryan!

Your options are feasible. With Ficus I only have a little bit of experience. That is the cut to the direction, in the long run would be nicer is to use wire bending to create and maintain such form

Ẩn khách wrote:Hi Ryan!

Your options are feasible. With Ficus I only have a little bit of experience. That is the cut to the direction, in the long run would be nicer is to use wire bending to create and maintain such form

Thank you!


Here's another virt designed by a good friend. I like it, a lot

Much fuller canopy on this guy now. I'll let it grow another few weeks before cutting it back to induce backbud.

This is a great piece of material, look forward to see what you make of it.

It's just been pushing out new growth without me cutting it back at all:


I've been considering removing the crossing root shown in the below picture. It's removed in the virt as well:

Root removed:

This one's been moved indoors as of last week and seems to be doing fine so far.

Once I removed that root, I covered the cut in rooting hormone and placed wet sphagnum moss against it. I noticed new roots today:

Lots of roots have sprouted now:

That's a lot of roots! Be careful, though, as they're probably very fragile at this point.

If nothing else, this tree is well on its way to being the most photographed bonsai ever. Keep 'em coming as the tree develops!

The roots have hardened off since the last picture, but what I'm wondering is how exactly I'm supposed to separate the moss from the roots? I'm sure they're still rather fragile...

For anyone interested, this tree has bounced back after being moved into my better functioning greenhouse:

Does anyone think it'd be a good idea to cover that "belly button" with some cut paste to prevent it from rotting? I was also told wood hardener works well. Water tends to pool in that spot. Thoughts?

Found a pool of water sitting in that belly button tonight. Not sure how long it had been there, but it is making me want to cover it even more...