Ficus Fotos For Prune-o-Fobes

Let me start by asking if anyone can tell me how to post two or more pictures in one text box. I'd also like to know how to add text between the photos, if that is possible. I looked diligently (I thought) for 'help' or some direction, but was unable to find it on the site.

Below, you'll see a photo of a Ficus nerifolia (aka salicifolia) or narrow/willow leaf fig. The twin trunk composition is in the mother daughter style, with the mother hovering over the lesser daughter tree.

I acquired the tree at a workshop by the Ann Arbor Bonsai Society about 5 or 6 years ago. It had recently arrived there from FL and the change in light between there & where it was kept before the workshop had caused it to defoliate almost completely, leaving less than a dozen leaves on the tree. It looked much like it does in the picture except shorter - and there were only one or two branches I kept as part of the end composition.

The photo was taken in early summer, this year, after a hard top pruning and a repot with root reduction. Scroll down the thread for the end of summer photo.

This message was edited Oct 21, 2007 10:13 AM

This is a photo of the tree as it looked yesterday on my bench. I should have removed the twine on it before the photo - sorry. I had used the tree to illustrate trunk-chop techniques in a talk for a local club and had transported the tree in the back of an open pick-up, thus the twine. I had actually reduced the top of the tree earlier in the summer, but you can see it's a little top-heavy and needs it again.

I offered the photos to illustrate that most Ficus can be pruned very hard with excellent results with some attention to the state of the tree's health and seasonal timing.

Al

Thats gorgeous! Job well done.
Sue

I love the Ficus! And your techniques....thanks for sharing with us.

Looks great!

That's a beautiful plant! Do you still have it and if so what does it look like now?

I agree, what a nice tree. I especially love the leaf shape and the style suits it so well. As for the multiple pics, I have asked that myself and everyone seems to say there is no way to have more than one per post. I found a creative way myself and that is to use power point, you can have 4 pics but they will be smaller. Still it is sometimes better than doing 4 posts.
C
an example (random)

OOps, here is the example

Wow, Newton. Could you post that pic over at the C and S forum and tell me what the lower left plant is?

My guess: Adenium obesum (common: desert rose)

Thanks for the info.

The tree is still doing well. I'm just turning the corner on about 100 repots of temperate trees. In Jun I'll be repotting tropicals & subtropicals with the willow leaf ficus being on that list for repotting.

Al

It is a desert rose.

Thanks. Gotta have one. They have ones with all different kinds of blooms on ebay.
Al, I would really like to see a pic of the ficus as it is now. Do you put it outdoors in the summer or keep it in the house all year?

Geez, why ebay when you can buy them Desert Rose at box stores for a good price?

It's in the basement under lights where it's not too easy to photograph. I'll remember to photograph it in late May or early June when I start moving all my tropicals & subtropicals outside. I don't maintain any plants indoors over the summer. They all get a vacation outdoors on the grow benches or on the decks. ;o)

Al

To get different varieties in both species and flower you need to mail order. Plus, I rarely if ever see the common desert rose for sale where I live. The one I bought from Home Depot was 3 years ago and the stores around here haven't had any since.
C

I haven't found any locally either. I check ebay first for everything. You can get ridiculously cheap plants there and I have only been dissatified one time out of probably a hundred. About the same as other mail-order places.
There is also a large variety of blooms there also.

whatever!

LOL...

For example:

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=adenium+-seeds+-seedsnr+-seed&_sacat=0&_trksid=p3286.m270.l1313&_odkw=adenium+-seeds&_osacat=0&bkBtn=

I want some that are larger than what I can get from seed right now.
http://www.snowbeltadeniums.com/index.php

More money but I want to order a few and see what they are like.
Cheryl

That search is for plants. Not seeds. Some seeds do slip through but the list is mostly plants.

I am too impatient for seeds so I want a few plants. They do have seeds on there as well and it isn't from another country.
C

Hi,

On vacation in Thailand a few years ago I took a cutting of Adenium Obesum and then planted it in a pot, within a few months it was happily flowering, as you can see from the foto. As they are tropical plants I brought it indoors to overwinter, but it died from root rot caused by watering whilst it was dormant.. I bought another one and virtually did not water it during last winter. It lost its leaves but is outside growing away furiously in direct sunlight. They seem to thrive in heat.

That is what I do here in TX. I grow it outside in the heat and sun in summer and water almost daily. In the fall I don't water and when it gets below 50 I bring it in and put it in a spare bedroom in a low light window. It is mostly dormant and I do not water til I bring it out in the spring and leaf growth restarts.
BTW there is a caudicform site here that is mostly about adeniums.
C

I answered my own question, tapla, on what was the seasonal timing of the willow leaf ficus,
http://www.bonsai4me.com/SpeciesGuide/Ficus.html
I topped off my curly leaf and planted it, it died, I didn't think of air-layering it and I'm out air-layering evergreens the last 2 weeks. Think think think.

Found a photo of the top of the curly leaf before KILLED it. The bottom part is still ok.

I must have missed your question? I didn't see it above.

If you cut your F. benjamina back to just above the lowest growth - good for you! That was an appropriate move. Thanks for bringing the thread back closer to the original topic.

Al

I'm still waiting for that pic. :-)

oh, wow, I didn't realize this thread was from 2007. Al, how is your ficus doing? You have an updated photo?

And if you remember me with the bald cypress I waited 'til February and trimmed the roots and trunk severly and they all turned out beautiful. You told me to wait or they could bleed themselves to death. Very good advice and I thank you, Nancy

It's still mashed in with the other trees under lights in the basement. I'll take more pictures before and after I repot and prune this year. It's several years older than in the pic and bigger/fuller.

Oh yeah - I remember talking to you about the cypress now. About the cypress - If you were planning a repot, I probably advised you to wait until just before budswell in the spring, but I don't think I would have said that pruning the roots at an inappropriate time would have caused the roots or the plant to suffer due to the roots bleeding. It IS inappropriate to repot deciduous trees while they're in leaf except in emergency situations, but that would be due to an inability of the roots to furnish enough water to keep the entire canopy hydrated after the procedure. I just wanted to clear that up. ;o) I'm really glad your cypress is doing so well!

Al

I said I killed it, I was going to clean out the pot today . . .

and lo and behold, new growth coming out. I still need to clean it up, doesn't look to good.

I wanted to know if I can do this. I want to cut off the top tall branch which is the main trunk. I'm just learning about conifers and I believe this is a Sand Pine.
I must be getting better because I'm inquiring before cutting.

Of course you CAN do it, and it won't hurt the tree, but may I ask you why you want to?

Al

UMmmm

Take your time. I'm patient. ;-)

Al

It just doesn't need it and if I wait to take it off a year or 2 down the road it will leave a scar or wound. If taken off there will be 5 branches to contend with. 2 will be removed or manipulated later depending on the situation.
BUT,
If the main trunk grows back or comes back double then that will be a mess.

Also practice, I have 2 larger and acouple seedlings of sand pine to practice on before the Japanese red pine, Mugo pine, Japanese black pine, Italian Stone Pine, etc start growing.

As I look at the part you want to chop off, I see you about to remove about 2/3 of the photosynthesizing mass of the tree. What that means in terms of the time it will take the tree to develop into a bonsai is a factor of 3 - that is 3 times longer than if you were to leave it on.

I'm going to talk to you as if you had brought your tree to a BYO workshop and suggested your plan to me. I would assure you it's fine with me - no matter what you decide - it's your tree & you should do what pleases you. I fully understand the need for budding artists to have a tree, or several, in pots that you can treat as your bonsai. I would explain though, that on the other hand, there will soon be a time when you'll be looking at your trees with an eye for the future. THAT eye would have you more concerned with the roots and determining the likely front for your tree, Once you figure out the view that looks good (using only the roots), you can plan your tree around that aspect. Leaving the top on your tree doesn't stop you from selecting at least the first three branches, or even just the first.

You can see what I mean by looking at the larch I bought for $10 this spring. You can see I chopped lots of branches to ensure good light to the tree I'll be using. In spring, the tree will be chopped back to the branch wired off to the right. That branch will be my first branch. The branch on the left will be a continuation of the new trunk. I'll let that grow for 2 years to catch up with the main trunk's thickness. Essentially, the trunk that is above the 2 wired branches is now simply a sacrifice branch. It won't be a part of the composition, but all the foliage above what you can see is feeding and fattening the trunk.

If you look very carefully, you can see the new leader wired upward off the branch that moves to the left. The wired branch that continues at a 45* angle moving left past the new leader is the next sacrifice branch. I will let that grow to about 1/2 the thickness of the main trunk, then cut that one off, too. I will already have the next sacrifice branch in place. In 5 years, the tree will be ready to go in a bonsai pot so I can start refining & working on ramification.

Do you see how we develop trees so they have taper & character? It's ok if you don't understand, or if you just want to have a little bonsai in a pot. I get that entirely. ;o) No problem at all. Bonsai is all about the personal journey, so make sure you're having fun. I just thought I'd flesh out the part you might not yet understand.

Al

Here you see how I cut off branches to allow light to the parts of the tree I'll be using. I left other branches I WONT be using attached to the trunk as additional sacrifice branches, They too, are feeding & fattening the trunk, and will be removed when they get to where the scars are a concern.

You needn't worry about some scarring on your pine for two reasons. The scars heal quickly on pines, and there are several deadwood techniques that you can use to incorporate the deadwood into a very natural looking composition.

Al