Ficus kinmen progression

dorothy7774 wrote:Update from yesterday, after pruning:

Beautiful progression!
Thank you for sharing it with us.

It's really coming along nicely, Dorothy. I appreciate you sharing your progress.

It reminds me of the big, fat, wonderful satsuki I saw in Japan. You're really going to have something special when you finish!

R

This is gonna be (it is already) top class tree.
One of the reasons why I'd move to Florida is that figs grow there like weeds.
I love your work Dorothy!

Great Job Dorothy!!!! I'm coming to Ft Myers in late December, I hope I can see this guy in person. If the owner permits that is.

Have a great week!!!
Sam

Outstanding work.

Update please

AdamJonas wrote:Update please

Sure,

Last month:







This morning:


Best,
Dorothy

Dorothy, it's a super progress! I have a similar one (maybe a little bit different because of the tripple trunk ), but at the beginning of the road. Unfortunately, in Poland ficuses grow very slowly due to climate
What kind of soil do you use?

Hi Dorothy
Thanks for sharing this progression.

Cosmos

Ficus Kinmen "journey" update    -Dorothy

woww,impressive

hungbonsai wrote:woww,impressive

Thanks! It took quite a while to add character and movement to the tree. It was achieved by growing aerial roots that fed sections of the tree (top first) and "pulling" the tree into different directions (movement).



Now is the time to finish up branchstructure and to start ramification. One brick at a time.

Do you have the name of the book?

Jkd2572 wrote:Do you have the name of the book?

One Brick At A Time. by Dorothy Schmitz  

Ha ha. I was talking about mr chengs book you referenced at the start of the thread.

Jkd2572 wrote:Ha ha. I was talking about mr chengs book you referenced at the start of the thread.

I know. Here it is:

http://www.sidiao.com/index_e.htm

Best,
Dorothy

I have both of them. Great books. Mine even came with a cd with even more pics. I thought you were talking about a book about ficus.

wow Gnarly ficus!!! I love it.

dorothy7774 wrote:... ...It took quite a while to add character and movement to the tree... ...One brick at a time.

This is exactly what we beginners have to learn by heart!
Thank you Dorothy!

Hi Dorothy

Are you planning to take out fat branches?...now they have given the movement you wanted?

Kind regards Yvonne

Yvonne Graubaek wrote:Hi Dorothy

Are you planning to take out fat branches?...now they have given the movement you wanted?

Kind regards Yvonne

Yvonne, no, the fat branches in the top and middle portion of the tree are going to stay. The lower part of the tree is now going to grow and catch up quickly. Remember, that was the hard part, to grow the upper part into mass. Otherwise the top would never catch up. Ever seen those ficus which have a rather slim top trunk? With Kinmen that can become an issue. It is way easier (for me in my location) to start with a "cylinder" ficus than with a strong tapered one. It sounds like a contradiction, but it is not. Keep in mind the grow season we have here and the dominance of the branches in ficus.

Thanks for the question.

Best,
Dorothy

Look forward to follow your Work  

Kind regards Yvonne

Hi Dorothy,

Your tree is awesome. I'm a fellow Floridian trying to learn more about growing ficus. You mentioned a book of Mr. Chengs that anyone wanting to grow ficus should have. Is this the same book linked to on page 3 of this thread? Could you specify the title?

Thanks!

Clever wrote:Hi Dorothy,

Your tree is awesome. I'm a fellow Floridian trying to learn more about growing ficus. You mentioned a book of Mr. Chengs that anyone wanting to grow ficus should have. Is this the same book linked to on page 3 of this thread? Could you specify the title?

Thanks!

It's Volume 2.

Best,
Dorothy

dorothy7774 wrote:

Yvonne Graubaek wrote:Hi Dorothy

Are you planning to take out fat branches?...now they have given the movement you wanted?

Kind regards Yvonne

Yvonne, no, the fat branches in the top and middle portion of the tree are going to stay. The lower part of the tree is now going to grow and catch up quickly. Remember, that was the hard part, to grow the upper part into mass. Otherwise the top would never catch up. Ever seen those ficus which have a rather slim top trunk? With Kinmen that can become an issue. It is way easier (for me in my location) to start with a "cylinder" ficus than with a strong tapered one. It sounds like a contradiction, but it is not. Keep in mind the grow season we have here and the dominance of the branches in ficus.

Thanks for the question.

Best,
Dorothy

Dorothy, this was an intesrestig post. I have also has issues with thickening the apex on what I suspect is a kinmen tiger bark ficus. Granted, I live in the northeast so they don't grow as quickly.

Can you please tell me you schedule for increasing ramification of your ficus in general? My tigerbark is really struggling to ramify.