31 year old Ficus burkei progression.

Looking good Lennard. How often a year will you defoliate to reduce the size of he leaves?
Alein,
Question about natasha:
Do you defoliate it completely?
Do you trim branches without leaving leaves behind>
I am asking this because I hear benjamina dies if trimmed without leaving a leaf...I killed one but I am not too sure if it was the trimming.

Leo Schordje wrote:

I do agree that Ficus benjamina is one of the best of the genus for general bonsai use, though certainly microcarpa and the others that are common in the USA are pretty good too.

Ficus nitida is also excellent for indoor bonsai, and of course potplants.  

Leo if I can remember correctly from student days, I think Ficus is the larges Tree specie group on the planet,  Euprhorbia is the larges flowering group, but you get them in succulents, trees, shrubs, groundcovers and almost every group there is. Or was it Grasses and Orchids? O well I lost that braincell....

 But Ficus is the biggest Tree group, Me thinks.

Love and light

Neli - die if defoliated ? - no they don't.
Later.
Khaimraj  

Ficus b defoliated.



Been defoliated a few times. As it was - reversed now.





Neo Tropics - Ficus priminoides [ year 4 and 1st branch extended ] This ia tall tree some 35 to 60 feet.

K Darling...Thanks...I have been asking wherever I see a chance.
Lennard sorry for hijacking your thread...but we are bumping up the thread...He he he!  
I have been so scared...and always cutting to a leaf...and even wanted to trunk chop but was scared...Tomorrow I am trunkchopping.
My neighbpur called me few days ago and said come get his fig want to throw it away....it turned out it is almost 4.5 meters...I dug it out but was not sure what I will do with it...now I know...chop chop and chop again. (shhhh! And airlayer) if it survives:

Neli,

thought of trying low grafts on that trunk ?
Khaimraj

Is it not going to bck bud if I airlayer it...or chop it...but I have plenty of big branches on top so I can airlayer them and shift them to the lower trunk as grafts.
Thanks! Did not think about that.

I agree totally with Khaimraj that benjamina can be defoliated when it is healthy and grown properly. I would caution that they are stronger and healthier and tolerate this much better when
grown outdoors in the tropics and their native environments. Under window/indoor culture and in less benign climates benjamina are less reliable to bounce back from chops, and
defoliation. Grafting after a chop may be needed if the resulting growth is not satisfactory.
Jerry
PS you can see one of my benjamina problem trees at
http://www.bonsaihunk.us/info/FicusBenj.html

Thanks Jerry.
I will need to make this tree very strong first...hopefully if it survives.I am in the tropics so all my trees are outside.
Need to take note and make the tree strong.. I shall first graft the branches...rooted ones...like my oyakata thought me to...root them, make hole...put them in the hole...while they are fed by their roots and then after it is fused, remove the roots slowly so the branch is fed by the tree.  Figs are fast to graft in out climate.
This is Oyakata doing it...but I will just airlayering it under the branch since it is a fig.

Jerry,
my very first fig was FB. I learned on it trunk chopping...branch forming...I trunk chopped it 3 times this year, every time to the lowest small branch because I have seen your thread on FB. As soon as it got lower branches...I trunk chopped again. For a tree grown for a year only, it has progressed very fast.
And have a look how the leaves reduced...never defoliated just pinched to the inner most leaf every two weeks and then left to grow free.
https://ibonsaiclub.forumotion.com/t11684p15-trying-to-learn-on-a-ficus-benjamina

Neli,
Good work on the benjamina.
Jerry

Thank You Jerry. You have helped me number of times, and I am so grateful. You are a Gentleman!