Ficus Microcarpa with huge uros and hollow trunk?

Dose anyone have experience or know if it's possible to design Ficus Microcarpa with deadwood such as large uros and hollow trunk?

Have read that the wood is so soft that if will rot very fast, but if one apply wood hardener would that not stop the rot?

There ares so many products available so it would be possible to do deadwood effects on a Ficus. To prevent rot on Ficus deadwood I use a clear sealant (RB10 CLEAR FLEX) that can be colored by oxides, a few weeks after treating the deadwood with lime sulfur.

If I like deadwood effects like jins and deadwood carved on a Ficus? I do not!

Do the uro, hollow out the whole tree so the water can drain away and keep the tree actively growing to strengthen the outer walls of the trunk. A tree needs deadwood for structural strength purposes only.

Lennard

Lennard, Thanks for the reply.

I myself do not like deadwood features on Ficus either, don't think i actually ever seen it..
But i have one rather large Microcarpa that no matter what i do will have a HUGE scar witch i think will never heal over before rotting starts, so a part hollow upper trunk with uros came to mind, will it look good? time will tell i guess.

Came across this thread on Bonsainut, on page 3 they talk about Charring deadwood, anyone have experience with this type of method to preserve deadwood?
http://bonsainut.com/forums/showthread.php?2586-Hollow-trunks-on-Ficus/page3

If anyone have tips for healing over a ~10cm trunk chop please let me know

Dreamcast wrote:Dose anyone have experience or know if it's possible to design Ficus Microcarpa with deadwood such as large uros and hollow trunk?

Have read that the wood is so soft that if will rot very fast, but if one apply wood hardener would that not stop the rot?

Dreamcast.

Are you asking for Uro or deadwood (jin and shari.)?

Your second question is exactly the answer to your first.

Uro- is a hollowed created in a trunk when the deadwood along the trunk or dead branch rots away. if you preserved the deadwood/ shari and jin, you won't create a hole or Uro.

Uro in my microcarpa-



 
regards,
jun   

Dreamcast wrote:

I myself do not like deadwood features on Ficus either, don't think i actually ever seen it..
But i have one rather large Microcarpa that no matter what i do will have a HUGE scar witch i think will never heal over before rotting starts, so a part hollow upper trunk with uros came to mind, will it look good? time will tell i guess.

Came across this thread on Bonsainut, on page 3 they talk about Charring deadwood, anyone have experience with this type of method to preserve deadwood?
http://bonsainut.com/forums/showthread.php?2586-Hollow-trunks-on-Ficus/page3

If anyone have tips for healing over a ~10cm trunk chop please let me know

Yes, you are right. deadwood as in jin and shari is not natural in a ficus, but trunk holes are common. because of the soft characteristic of the wood on ficus, and its quick healing character. once a big branch was cut or died, the tree will quickly heal the edges of the wound and if the branch or trunk part is too big, the deadwood will rots away leaving holes (Uro) marks in the trunk.
In nature soft tissue deadwood will rot very fast.

Charring is very helpful in dealing with the inside of a soft tissue tree with Uro. It helps in killing fungi that cause rotting and also helps in drying the dead wood inside, charcoal will prevent further development of fungi inside the hole. but it should be done in a very controlled manner. too much heat might kill your tree (warning).

here is one of my soft tissued tree that under gone such procedure.
 
Some years ago:




present:


regards,
jun  

Jun, sorry if i where unclear in anyway, my question was about hollows and how to preserve the wood when hollowed out so that it will not continue to rot and the whole tree in time may collapse.

Thanks so much for your answers and pictures, is charring one time all that is needed to preserve the wood or should i do it again after some time? also should i apply any wood hardener or lime sulfur after?

By the way i love your work!

I am sure you can't do it in one time work only with soft wood tree. do several charring in different time period as not to stress the tree.

Any wood waterproofing will surely help. those used for waterproofing wooden terrace or floors from homedepot/hardware will do...any brand.


regards,
jun  

Thanks, so should i waterproof in between each charring or as a last thing after many charring sessions?

Any pictures of the tree in question?

Lennard

This is the tree, its now partial defoliated to let the lower branches grow thicker, when i got the tree it had a very large root feeding the top so the trunk is really top heavy without any real taper (even reversed taper from some angles) and it has a very large scar in the top that's already roted out alot.
To be honest i don't really know what to to with it, but it has a pretty good nebari below the soil line.
Any ideas?

My immediate feel, looking at the fist two pictures, is towards a raft with an arch.

If you have the space you can even go for a landscape scene where the tree has fallen over a gorge and it has rooted on the other side also.

If not you can tilt it more for a semi - cascade and grow out the tail, it will add taper and heal the wound.

Try and dry out the trunk(not the soil) a bit and then seal it with a waterproof sealant - there are stuff available they use on fruit trees to prevent rot.

The other option is the way you are going now.

If it were mine I would not go for the uro and hollow.

Lennard

Hi Dreamcast

I have no experince with this kind of ficus, so...people who know more, will hopefully tune in and give a OK, if it could Work for this kind of tree, before you do it   
I would cut the tree here, and make a smaller "sumo"...the tree already have the next apex up and running.
The tree will hopefully  shoot from the red dot....first branch...the backside is also perfect for this.


Kind regards Yvonne

Lennard, its a interesting idea with a raft, will have to see how the roots and current nebari would work with that design when i repot next time.

Yvonne, i to have thought of chopping the trunk like you described, and since i have worked a lot with the nebari this would be the easiest design to aim for to get a somewhat good tree in the shortest time.

Where you have placed the red dot is where i a year ago cut a big unwanted root, could it still possibly shoot from there?

jun wrote:I am sure you can't do it in one time work only with soft wood tree. do several charring in different time period as not to stress the tree.

Any wood waterproofing will surely help. those used for waterproofing wooden terrace or floors from homedepot/hardware will do...any brand.

regards,
jun  

Hi Jun, I am learning a lot from your posts.

Thank you very much! I am looking forward to meet you someday..

With regards to waterproofing, can you share the brand that you use the most and where you buy your supplies?

Ive been looking for quite some time with no luck (maybe Im looking in wrong section). I normally browse in Ace Hardwares inside SM Malls.

Best regards,
Jayson

So i decided to saw of the trunk, quite happy with the trunk line now.




Will now let it grow free, also wrapped some sphagnummoss around the branches to promote aerial roots to thicken up the branches even faster.

Looks like the sawed of part will make it and also become Bonsai some day.

Your two trees look good, I am sure they will become nice bonsai in the future....were did you cut the tree?, and did "my" red spot give a branch?

Kind regards Yvonne

Thanks, i did cut it a little more than your red line so the "red dot branch" did not even get the chance, but i get a better trunk movement this way and a will graft on a branch, maybe even more grafting will take place since it has around 15 cm more trunk under the soil line.

Hi, what is the medium you are using for the soil and what size did you sift it to?

Thanks

in regards to the unanswered question(s) about wood hardener,
Minwax brand was recommended to me by others and has proven to work well.

as an aside: man, i hope Jun comes back...
i dig his work, his humor and he has alot of questions left dangling around from folks...   

kevin

beer city snake wrote:in regards to the unanswered question(s) about wood hardener,
Minwax brand was recommended to me by others and has proven to work well.

as an aside: man, i hope Jun comes back...
i dig his work, his humor and he has alot of questions left dangling around from folks...   

kevin

Minwax
Minwax is awesome. I use it to harden volcanic ash paper clay (the stuff I use in ningyo art) to porcelain hardness and soft also on soft dead wood. Minwax does heat up a little while curing, so you don't want that stuff too near the cambium. If you ever need to use minwax on dead wood hollows which are too close to the cambium, that volcanic ash paper clay that I use for ningyo can be mixed with water to form a paste to apply to the dead wood. This acts as a heat buffer to the Minwax. When the clay air dries, you can carve or sand it to whatever texture you desire. The Minwax will bond to the air dried clay and give it a near porcelain hardness.

Ficus Dead Wood
Many species of ficus are otherwise known as strangler figs for good reason. In the wild and in abandoned urban areas, a young ficus seeding will eventually mature into a tree that swallows whatever is near it. The dead wood would be that tree or abandoned house that eventually got strangled and consumed by a ficus.

(Official YouTube BBC Worldwide Channel video . . . meaning it's licensed to share virally)

so, what is this volacano ash paper clay that you speak of ???
sounds interesting...

beer city snake wrote:so, what is this volacano ash paper clay that you speak of ???
sounds interesting...

It's just trademarked as Paperclay and comes in a black plastic bag. It was developed in Japan and is now marketed worldwide by Creative Paperclay Co. You can find this in most arts and crafts store. It is much stronger than paper mache because it has been fortified with volcanic ash.

20 or so years ago, it seemed natural for me to use the Minwax I purchased for bonsai dead wood fortification on the Paperclay that I use to sculpt doll parts because Minwax bonds with cellulose. Paper is made of cellulose. Much to my surprise, the doll parts became like fired porcelain. Dolls shows tend to classify my best of show asian dolls as porcelain.  Then I started using both paperclay paste and Minwax to preserve wood on trees and antique heirlooms.

DYNAMITE Geoline !
sounds fun to work with.

dont wanna hi-jack the thread, so if i have anything further i will ask elseways.

(even though i wasnt doing bonsai "in the old days", i am glad for your return to the forum...
you always seem to have something interesting !)

thanks
kevin

EpicusMaximus wrote:Hi, what is the medium you are using for the soil and what size did you sift it to?

Thanks

Its cat litter, 100% Danish moler, its like akadama but harder, very good medium for colder climates. Would say its a mix of 4-7mm particle size.
There is also another brand sold here with smaller particle size, perfect for small tress.

I use them both straight from the bags, no sifting just water very heavy first time so water runs clear.

I like it when what i hope for just becomes reality in front of my eyes!

Was hoping for a branch, and there it is, and in the perfect place to! lovely!


Will be a good placed back branch IMO.


It may become a nice tree i think.