florida strangler fig

Do these propagate well by cuttings. Do they back bud on old wood. Do they really form root over rock type plantings much better than retusa? and how much faster/bigger do they grow than retusa?

Interesting questions. I don't know of anyone growing these on purpose, don't they have fairly large leaves?

Isn't this Ficus pumila? It has very small leaves, but it would take a while to get a trunk large enough for more than a mame bonsi.

JimLewis wrote:Isn't this Ficus pumila? It has very small leaves, but it would take a while to get a trunk large enough for more than a mame bonsi.

I don't think so, this one has a fairly large trunk quickly as it climbs the trees, mostly seen on Palmettos from Melbourne south.

its ficus aurea. I cant find images of them as bonsai. I know they are large leaved trees, which I was hoping would mean aggressive growth and then I will thread graft microcarpa onto them once they are large. Eric weigert does it. Even if i dont graft it Im curious what kind of leaf reduction I can get. I guess Im mostly curious if Im wanting to get a giant plant with roots that thicken quick when wrapped around something, if this would be a better option than the microcarpas (which I already have) It just seems that the microcarpas even with good sized growing boxes and zero pruning just dont put on growth quickly enough to form those large banyan spreading limbs and the roots when against rocks really are not thickening up much. thanks. Do these strangler figs grow crazy quick like a willow in the ground would, or do they have growth rates similar to other ficus like the benjimina. Is is possible ficus aurea is what david fukumato uses? Thanks.

I can't answer your questions. I am about 50 miles north of their range and only observe then when I get south, but have not looked at growth rates.
My daughter own a home in Melbourne that she rents out. I did see some strangler on trees at her place and advised her to have her yard people get them down before they killed the trees they were on.

wow, if they are that invasive, I dont think the pencil thick rooted cutting on the internet should cost 15 dollars plus 10 dollar shipping. Maybe Ill have my brother (lives in between fort lauderdale and miami) try to track some down. Even if he hacked a chunk of one with a hatchet it would root if they are anything like microcarpa probably. Does anyone know if they tend to be around canals, shoreline, construction sites? I guess they probably dont sell them in nurseries?, it would be like a nursery up here selling potted kudzu. thanks

They seem to favor Palmettos and I have seen them along South Tropical Trail on Merritt Island north of the Pineda Causeway, this is along the west shore of the Banana River Lagoon, but my daughter's house is maybe a mile inland. I would suspect they root from cuttings quickly like most Ficus, but they must also produce viable seed based upon where I have seen them growing, probably birds move the seeds around.

New England Bonsai has one for sale for $295. Remember, many of our Ficus bonsai species can be strangler figs in the wild, including microcarpa.
Iris

Its a fair bet that the one at NE Bonsai may very well have originated from Wigerts as Eric sells a lot of tropical stock to Bonsai nurseries up north. Best bet for getting hold of a few is to e-mail Erik and Andrea and ask if they have some pre-bonsai stock, more than likely they do. Thats where I would look first to get one.
-Jay

hi, i use them for bonsai, the leaves only go down to 1 inch, but they grow like crazy. i,v got 1 a foot thick that,s from a cutting , i just chopped out a nice piece from a big tree and it grew. i,v got a lot in my garden as garden trees and all i did was cut off 1 inch thick branches 2 meters long and pushed them in the ground . because there nature is to grow around large trees and eventualy smother them i used that and tied some to dead yamadori and they just grow around it and send out air roots that will cover the old tree, no need to cut a groove like for tanuki, they do it themselves. they will never make classic bonsai but they are fun. you can thread graft ok but for some reason you cannot make union grafts. regards john

bucknbonsai wrote:its ficus aurea. I cant find images of them as bonsai. I know they are large leaved trees, which I was hoping would mean aggressive growth and then I will thread graft microcarpa onto them once they are large.

bucknbonsai,

Although compatible, grafting Ficus aurea with Ficus microcarpa will not produce a pleasing result because the difference in bark patterns. This will also happen with at least one of the trees Erik Wigert grafted (the Ficus microcarpa he grafted melon seed ficus onto). Once the graft has taken and grows, the difference in bark/skin will be quite distracting.

On another note, if you can look past these details, I guess it will be ok.

Kind regards,

Jose Luis

john5555leonard wrote:hi, i use them for bonsai, the leaves only go down to 1 inch, but they grow like crazy. i,v got 1 a foot thick that,s from a cutting , i just chopped out a nice piece from a big tree and it grew. i,v got a lot in my garden as garden trees and all i did was cut off 1 inch thick branches 2 meters long and pushed them in the ground . because there nature is to grow around large trees and eventualy smother them i used that and tied some to dead yamadori and they just grow around it and send out air roots that will cover the old tree, no need to cut a groove like for tanuki, they do it themselves. they will never make classic bonsai but they are fun. you can thread graft ok but for some reason you cannot make union grafts. regards john

I found a small ficus aurea in my yard, and I was thinking about using it as well. Do you think if I was tie it against a large rock, that it would eventually grow roots around it?

yes, sometimes with root over rock (especially aggressive rooted things like figs or tridents) in time the roots will completely engulf the rock and it looks like an ugly chunk of wood, other than restricting growth, im not sure how to avoid this inevitable problem that will one day come. There was a bonsai today article that showed a pine having to be peeled off its rock because over the decades the tree grew to much and the rock stayed the same and they were no longer to scale.