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Willow Leaf Ficus

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Post  Ryan Sat Nov 27, 2010 4:16 pm

Hey everyone!

I picked this up at my local nursery today. It has a very straight trunk, I know, but I plant to chop it about half way and have the upper portion as a cutting, then have the bottom portion as more of a shohin. I just thought I would post this and let you all see my plans and whether or not you agree with me. I have chopped one of these before and gotten a great amount of backbudding, so I'm not afraid of not receiving back bud. I will also place this in my indoor greenhouse for recovery. I am waiting to chop it before I repot it.

Willow Leaf Ficus 002-50
Willow Leaf Ficus 003-45


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Post  Ryan Sat Nov 27, 2010 5:59 pm

Chopped and repotted:

Willow Leaf Ficus 006-35
Willow Leaf Ficus 007-37
Willow Leaf Ficus 008-40

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Post  Billy M. Rhodes Sat Nov 27, 2010 10:00 pm

In Spring, when the tree can be outside, you will want to repot the stump and spread out some roots.

This was not the best time of year to take these actions, even if you have a greenhouse.

I have a greenhouse and live in Florida and wouldn't do it.
Billy M. Rhodes
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Post  Ryan Sat Nov 27, 2010 10:07 pm

Billy M. Rhodes wrote:In Spring, when the tree can be outside, you will want to repot the stump and spread out some roots.

This was not the best time of year to take these actions, even if you have a greenhouse.

I have a greenhouse and live in Florida and wouldn't do it.

Thanks Billy!

I had one of these and did the exact same thing last year at this time. And here it is as of today:

Willow Leaf Ficus 005-40


Do Willow Leaf Ficus normally grow these rounded roots, or is it just from being in a small pot for too long? I was told at the nursery that they normally grow these, no matter the pot size.

Ryan
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Post  Billy M. Rhodes Sun Nov 28, 2010 12:09 am

Do Willow Leaf Ficus normally grow these rounded roots, or is it just from being in a small pot for too long? I was told at the nursery that they normally grow these, no matter the pot size.[/quote]

I don't think what the nursery said was true, but they do grow fast and it is hard to keep them up potted fast enough to avoid the roots growing in circles around the pot. When you repot, just cut these back and give the tree plenty of room. We usually grow in shallow oval pots
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Post  Ryan Sun Nov 28, 2010 12:19 am

Billy M. Rhodes wrote:Do Willow Leaf Ficus normally grow these rounded roots, or is it just from being in a small pot for too long? I was told at the nursery that they normally grow these, no matter the pot size.

I don't think what the nursery said was true, but they do grow fast and it is hard to keep them up potted fast enough to avoid the roots growing in circles around the pot. When you repot, just cut these back and give the tree plenty of room. We usually grow in shallow oval pots[/quote]

Thanks again Billy!

I will cut that big root up next repot. I read an article online about how some (Jerry Meislik?) cut off a Willow Leaf Ficus root and actually made a tree out of it. If that article is true, I would love to try it with this big root.

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Post  Storm Sun Nov 28, 2010 6:40 am

Jerry Meislik knows what he's talking about. Wink
He has written a book about Ficus.
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Post  Ryan Sun Nov 28, 2010 6:58 am

Storm wrote:Jerry Meislik knows what he's talking about. Wink
He has written a book about Ficus.

Yes he does, I chat with him frequently. I guess "true" wasn't the word I was really looking for, but now that I think about it, I haven't a clue what I meant Confused

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Post  Billy M. Rhodes Sun Nov 28, 2010 11:51 am

Ficus roots will frequently sprout to form new trees. Somewhere on the Forum, Rob Kempinski posted a photo of his tree which I think he grew from just such a root.
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Post  Ryan Sun Nov 28, 2010 3:35 pm

Billy M. Rhodes wrote:Ficus roots will frequently sprout to form new trees. Somewhere on the Forum, Rob Kempinski posted a photo of his tree which I think he grew from just such a root.

Unfortunately due to the huge curve this root has I doubt it would be able to become a tree.

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Post  Billy M. Rhodes Sun Nov 28, 2010 10:42 pm

You plant the root on its side just as it is growing, only with a little more than 1/2 exposed above the soil. It should sprout from the cut end and possibly along the length also.
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Post  Ryan Thu Jan 27, 2011 11:12 pm

This tree has bounced back, no surprise to me. Here it is:

Willow Leaf Ficus 002-65

Boy, I really hate these roots. It kills me to see them. I might repot, remove the roots, and keep it in the aquarium.

Willow Leaf Ficus 003-62

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Post  Ravi Kiran Fri Jan 28, 2011 6:29 am

Hi Ryan,

Good to see that the tree has back budded well. As you say comes as no surprise... Yes the roots on the lower half of the original tree do look ugly. Do away with them.... or as Nike would say "JUST DO IT"

Ravi
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Post  Ryan Fri Jan 28, 2011 5:35 pm

Ravi Kiran wrote:Hi Ryan,

Good to see that the tree has back budded well. As you say comes as no surprise... Yes the roots on the lower half of the original tree do look ugly. Do away with them.... or as Nike would say "JUST DO IT"

Ravi

Thank you Ravi!

I had the day off of school today, so I went ahead and removed a majority of those big ugly roots. Boy, they were everywhere! The roots wrapped around and around and around. Only took me about half an hour to remove the hideous ones. I did leave some rather large ones, but they were lower down and I didn't want to take all the life away from the tree. I think it's somewhat of an improvement.

Before:
Willow Leaf Ficus 003-62
Willow Leaf Ficus 001-66
Willow Leaf Ficus 003-63

After:
Willow Leaf Ficus 004-53
Willow Leaf Ficus 005-50
Willow Leaf Ficus 007-41
Willow Leaf Ficus 008-43

The tree also has an awful lean, which I plan on removing via chopping in a few months:
Willow Leaf Ficus 006-41
Willow Leaf Ficus 009-41

These are the roots I removed, should I try rooting them?
Willow Leaf Ficus 010-27

And finally the tree in the aquarium with the other projects:
Willow Leaf Ficus 011-17


Comments, advice, anything is always welcome,


Ryan

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Post  Billy M. Rhodes Fri Jan 28, 2011 5:49 pm

These are the roots I removed, should I try rooting them?

Yes, bury most of the root in soil leaving a small area exposed, it should sprout.

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Post  Ryan Fri Jan 28, 2011 6:43 pm

Billy M. Rhodes wrote:These are the roots I removed, should I try rooting them?

Yes, bury most of the root in soil leaving a small area exposed, it should sprout.


Thanks Billy. Why bury most of the root? Why not bury the section I want roots to sprout? Thanks again.

Ryan
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Post  Billy M. Rhodes Sat Jan 29, 2011 1:31 am

The root is already a root, what you want is green growth to feed the root you already have.
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Post  Ryan Sat Jan 29, 2011 4:17 am

Billy M. Rhodes wrote:The root is already a root, what you want is green growth to feed the root you already have.

Oh I understand. I also need the root to grow real bark so that it does not dry out. Makes sense, thank you.

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Post  Ryan Mon Mar 12, 2012 6:34 pm

I stumbled upon this old thread today and thought I'd update with how this tree is doing. Comments are welcome.

Willow Leaf Ficus 001-36
Willow Leaf Ficus 002-36

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