QLD small leaf ficus banyan style progression

[Jamie]

hi craig

yea I am pleased with it, this tree was one of the turning point trees in my bonsai career, as this tree has developed I feel I have along with it. the past year has been a big change for me and the way I look at growing, working and styling trees I also look forward to spending many years with this tree in my collection, It is one that I could never sell now, this one is the fig that got me right into figs. dont know why I wasnt into them before but I just wasnt into figs as much as I am now

jamie

[craigw60]

Are you going to get it into a pot soon ? If you plan on only working on roots and ramification then it could be an advantage to have it in a bonsai pot, particularly for developing fine twigs.
Craigw

[Chris]

the collander is from a $2 type shop, they arent actually collanders but are food outdoor food covers, I removed the centre handle (where you can see the mesh in the undershot) and I have had them outside full time for the past 10-12 months they are getting a touch brittle but I had expected that. while they are still holding together there doing the job

$2 for 12 months is a good price to pay


the tree is looking great jamie

[Jamie]

hi Craig

yes I would love to get it in a pot soon but unfortunately what I want for the tree right now is beyond my means finacially, even though this tree is small I want a round shallow pot made for it along the lines of this, it will need to be comissioned and made specifically for the tree and I cant afford it.

pot for fig.jpg

this is a tony remington pot from over in the UK, I love his work, I have shortened the height of the pot signifigantly in the picture, normally to pot is twice as tall, for the size I need it will be around 50 pound plus postage which to be safe with insurance is around 20 pound, so In Australian dollars its around $115 all up. Im not concerned about that as I beleive the tree will be worthy of the pot in time, but right now just cant afford it.

virt for fig.jpg

(the back ground I had for the tree didnt allow for a very clean virt.)
quick virt of the pot/tree combo, I havent done the nebari on that as I want to document and write details info about it all as I develop it. but gives an idea of what it would look like. I also want it round and not oval as I feel a round pot works much better with this tree than a shallow oval, unglazed chocolate colour pot I have had it in which just didnt work quite right.

thanks for being so interested in this tree craig

cheers chris

jamie

[craigw60]

Jamie, every time I want to pot a tree I never have the pot I want for it. You just have to compromise and use what you can get and afford. It may be one day in the future you will be able to get it into the pot of your dreams.
Craigw

[Jamie]

very true there mate

the thing is I dont really have a pot for it at all that is the right size for it at the moment either. thats not a prob though, with a bit more patience and development I can keep working him and one day get my dream pot for it maybe might even make it myself maybe

jamie

[Matthew]

Jamie i have quite a few tony reminton pots. I know of this one. His work is brillent . I also have a few erin pottery and john pitt. Gorden duffet is amazing but i have no lucky getting in contact. Tonys packaging is extremily well i reckon i could bounce the packaging off the floor. I have only bought small shohin pots off him. I hope some spare dosh comes your way for a pot like that

[Jamie]

hi mate

yea Tony's work is top notch, I had one of his pots but moved it on not that long ago, shouldnt have but the person that has it, really loves it to

this one I want for the tree I am really excited about, but need to put my pennies away!

I havent heard of gordon duffet will have to check him out, erin pots are crazy awesome. will check out john pitt too

jamie

[Dario]

Hi Jamie, had trouble sleeping so I read this thread...very nice fig mate! Are you able to post some current pics of it?
Would really like to see how it has come along. Hope you are recovering after your recent back op!
Cheers, Dario.

[Jamie]

gday Dario

yea this one is coming along really well the ramification from the last shot has improved. I need to get some more wire on it but have let it grow out some as I did a trial defoliation through a colder spell to see how the tree will react. it did what I expected taking a lot longer than normal to start leafing out (generally this one takes around 2-3 weeks to have the first buds break and open) this time it took around 6 weeks which is fine too, but in doing this during a cooler period it has responded with smaller leaves than can be expected normally.
I tried this after seeing Grant do something similar with one of his! I would only recommend doing this to a healthy, solid growing tree that you are looking at finer ramification and smaller leaves. doing it while the tree is in a grow on stage will slow progress down.

I will get a pic up in the next day or two, I want to get some more wire on the tree and that will give me the time to go get a new USB cord for the phone to put pics on

cheers for the interest mate

[Dario]

Glad to see that you are continuing to update this great and informative thread Jamie!
I forgot that you mentioned that you had to purchase a new usb cord for your mobile in order to post current pics.
Interesting stuff re defoliating your healthy fig and as a result achieving smaller than usual leaf size compared to when defoliating in warmer months..
By the way what sort of average temps/humidity levels constitutes a "colder spell" up in your neck of the woods? I'd like to be able to compare to Melb for reference.
Do you have any pj figs in your collection mate?
Cheers, Dario.

[Jamie]

gday Dario

cheers mate! I will be going for the usb cord today I hope, gotta get out of my chair though lol. I actually found a digital point and shoot in the shed last night, just need to get a new battery and charge it up.

a cooler spell up here in regards to temps and humidty would be around the 20-23degrees through the day and it has dropped down to actually around 4 degrees at the coldest part of the night, this doesnt last a long time though, I think it was around two weeks at that cold. being not far from the mary river it does cool a little more than usual. on average it is around 10 degrees at night through the cooler parts. humidity isnt there a great deal at those temps. through the day it might be lucky to be 50-60%
so it probably is a lot warmer than melb still for a cold spell. generally the cooler period up here is around for a month maybe two depending on the year, the rest of the time it averages 25-30 degrees with 75% + humidity during the days, and around 19-20degrees min at night.

and yea I do have some pj in my collection, one is up to a reasonable standard and the others are really on a grow on stage. I have one that is a biggish root over rock that is gonna have some crazy taper and I dont think the rock will last that long as it is quickly getting enveloped in trunk and roots.

will get some pics asap

[Dario]

Sweet Jamie, thanks for the temperature info...I am jealous of those warm summer nights! Look forward to the pics!
Dario.

[Jamie]

as promised here is a couple of pics

I have pruned out all the larger leaves. left the smaller ones, I will do a complete defoliation come spring, so should be good I still plan on getting a new pot for it like the one up the top!

qld small leaf before.jpg

qld small leaf.jpg

cheers

[Dario]

Looking great Jamie!!
I really like this fig!
I went back to look at the first pic of it at the start of this thread, and I have to say that you have achieved a whole lot in a short time...so well done mate!
I am glad you have a camera again.
Keep up the ripper work and I look forward to seeing this one during and at the end of this growing season.
Yeah, it does deserve a nice home/pot and I also look forward to see what you choose when the time is right.
heers, Dario.