Ficus benjamina 'Christine'

Hi everyone,


This is the second tree I bought when I visited Meehans. I like the bottom part of the trunk, which is really why I bought it. The movement is nice, IMO. The top can, and will, be chopped down to one of the branches down lower. Does anyone have any experience with this variety? I have heard it grows faster than 'Kiki'. Anyway, I'll repot this tomorrow. Thoughts?





I'll probably chop down to this:

And what do YOU see in it, Ryan?

JimLewis wrote:And what do YOU see in it, Ryan?

To be honest, I'm not 100% sure since I don't know how small the leaves get, but I'll chop it back, maybe even lower, and go from there.

Remember that F. ben. should have some green left when you prune or you might get a lot of die back.

Also you need to try for more foliage closer to the trunk.

Billy M. Rhodes wrote:Remember that F. ben. should have some green left when you prune or you might get a lot of die back.

Also you need to try for more foliage closer to the trunk.

Thanks Billy, that's why I have decided that is where I want to chop, since it will leave plenty of branches down below.

Chopped and repotted:

You need to cut that big branch on the right way back or it will overbalance the rest.
Iris

bonsaisr wrote:You need to cut that big branch on the right way back or it will overbalance the rest.
Iris

Thanks Iris, I realized that. From the other side it is actually on the inside of a curve, so it has to go no matter what. I just wanted to let it recover a bit before I chopped that off.