A fig on the way up!

Hi All,

This is what I believe is a Port Jackson Fig (Ficus rubiginosa). It is starting to get close to the shape I am after.

My question is whether they are suitable to defoliate to reduce leaf size? What time of year is best? Any tips to remember when doing it(requirements of water, light, fertilizer etc)?

I'm in Melbourne, Oz. Summer has just started and it looks like being a wetter than usual summer.

Heeey

It looks really nice indeed:)
how long do u have this in training? and how old is it

ps. i dont have knowledge about the ficus, only things i read
but i'm sure there will be more people to respont:)

Nice looking ficus indeed

What are you using for growing medium?

Thanks for comments.

The tree is about 8 years old. I bought it as a seedling, I have had it for about 7 years. The trunk is about 7 cm diameter

It is growing in a premium potting mix with 20% gravel mixed in to give good drainage. Nothing special. I have put some sugar cane mulch on top for the first time this year.

PS. I didn't know gandalph was into bonsai. I must have missed that with all the hobbits, orcs and rings and whatnot.

Off topic, but he was clearly against the orcs which were chopping down trees. Doesnt that say enough?

THOMO,,, that is a nice tree you have started...have you thought about pruning the two lower branches on the right to show more trunk??? take care john

I have a Port Jackson that could almost pass for the twin of yours Thommo, looking good.
My experience with these ficus is that they respond very well to defoliation. I've just finished doing mine, now that the first flush of growth has hardened off a little.
Good luck with yours.

Mark

I have considered chopping the lower branch obscuring the trunk, just haven't made up my mind yet.

I seems that defoliating is an option. The next question is how to do it?

Do I...

1. Cut all the leaves off
   
2. Cut most the leaves off
   
3. Cut all the leaves in half?

Then let it recover in a partially shaded position and feed after a couple of weeks?

Hi Thomo, I would make sure that the tree has been fertilized well for a month or so and kept in full sun. In the hottest time of the Summer remove all of the leaves. They should bud out in about two weeks. I keep all of my ficus in full sun, this helps to keep the leaves small.

Ken

Thomo wrote:Thanks for comments.

The tree is about 8 years old. I bought it as a seedling, I have had it for about 7 years. The trunk is about 7 cm diameter

It is growing in a premium potting mix with 20% gravel mixed in to give good drainage. Nothing special. I have put some sugar cane mulch on top for the first time this year.

PS. I didn't know gandalph was into bonsai. I must have missed that with all the hobbits, orcs and rings and whatnot.

Bonsai are baby Ents

Righto, thanks all.

It seems defoliating in summer is fine. I"ll make sure it is fed up and then cross my fingers and chop it! What could possibly go wrong?!!

I finally decided to do the defoliation.

Below is a pic post trimming. Hopefully it regenerates fine.

Now is a good time to prune the tree way back to make it more compact.
Ken

Do you think it is a bit leggy?

After i took this pic I did take off one small branch close to the V on the lower left. I also trimmed off any long straight green branches.

Hi,

I am stepping in a little late as I can see, now that you are done with the defoliation. Well for ficus you can defoliate them twice a year which is what I do and no it is not an option (IMHO). Unless regularly defoliated, ficus will not develop to its full potential. Once the tree has achieved the desired shape, you can then defoliate it once a year or even once in two years.

For leaf size reduction it is important to cut the terminal buds as well otherwise the leaves that come after defoliation tend to be the same size as they were before at worst or a little smaller at best. Cutting the terminal buds reduces the leaf size considerably. So the next time you defoliate..... keep this in mind.

Your tree is good looking and I am sure you are on your way of creating a very good bonsai. All the best with this tree..

Ravi

Hi Ravi,

Thanks for the comments, never too late.

I took off most of the terminal buds. I only left the odd leaf if it was already small enough. If there are any terminals left I will chop them too.

I will play it by ear to see if two defoliations are possible here in Melbourne. I imagine in Bangalore that they just grow all year round. In Melbourne they slow down or stop in winter. The shorter growing season might mean that defoliating twice in a year is too much.

I have had problems with them losing branches after pruning and I suspect this is because I did it too early in spring, before the tree was really growing strongly. I was treating it a little like a deciduous tree. This year I have waited until it was growing strongly and well fed before any pruning. I have tip pruned it once in early summer and now defoliated it.