QLD small leaf ficus banyan style progression

[craigw60]

Hi Jamie,
I have to say I am a bit jealous of you Queenslanders and your figs. You Have done a nice job. Look forward to seeing the tree when its trunks have fused a little and the nebari is exposed. You did the right thing burying it for the while. Its amazing how much more quickly roots develop when covered.
Craig

[Jamie]

thats spot on about the roots, i have seen ficus grow a whole new system of roots from a ground layer in 2 weeks, i left it on and by the third week i took it of and the little tree is powering on, i have defoliated it once already
im sure with the right setup you could grow them where you are, through the colder months they just need protection from the cold snaps.

this little trees nebari is coming well, as it was bare rooted and root pruned i will wait a while before i do any more work to the roots, but the nebari is quite easy to work on with these. a few small cut outs and hormone gel will get the nice nebari flare sorted out

as for the fused trunks i am not sure how that happened, as this was a collected tree and grown in a pot for i dont know how long it has been like this for, but even in pot culture it will eventually blend right in

cheers mate

jamie

[craigw60]

Hi Jamie,
You are right the trunks will fuse nicely in a pot and with jobs like that its better to do them slowly so you don't get that course look that comes from accelerated growth. The roots on figs are so sweet if you have a lousy nebari you just put a new one on. As for growing them here I have some PJ figs but the growing season is very short maybe 3 months. I would have to put in a heated glass house to get any real advantage and there are heaps of other priorities.
Craig

[Jamie]

i can understand that mate. other things have to come first.
even though your growing season is only three months, you should get a little more than that really with spring and then summer, but anyway, you should be able to aclomplish some good ramification in that time, if you are at that stage, if you are at a grow on stage then i would be pumping the ferts and getting as much out of the growing season as i could, you can slowly build fert up to the growing period, this will give it a bit of a boost coming into its growth spurt.
good luck with them, i reckon they are great trees


jamie

[craigw60]

Hi Jamie,
I have been growing my 2 PJ figs for about 25yrs I was given a pot of struck cuttings when I first started learning to grow bonsai and they came from that batch. I used to own a really big one almost a two man tree I swapped it with a friend for a nice cedar. Cedars are very happy where I live.
Craig

[Jamie]

nice cant complain there, it sounds like your at the ramification stage, you could be getting at least 2 defoliations out of them this will really increase ramification, and build a good structure. plus a ficus tree needs to be defoliated at least once every 2 years as this is about the max life of a ficus leaf.

would love to see some pics when ya get a chance?

and i agree that you should grow what works well for you, that way your not going to get dissapointment and loss of trees, i love trident maples but they dont love my climate to much. so i have learnt that i cant keep them so i now look at work survives and thrives up here
as cedars would do well in your location.


jamie

[craigw60]

i defoliate once a year they are just coming back into leaf now from a late december defoliate. I would not be able to do them again as march can start getting a bit too cold in the evening. I will post some pics soon. Both my figs are relatively small trees around 25cm which suits me fine.
You are absolutely right tailor your collection to suit your climate and in the end you will have much better trees. You can spend years in this game fiddling around with trees and end up with second rate work if you grow plants outside their climate zone.
Craig

[Jamie]

to right mate, couldnt have said it better myself about going with trees that suit your climate area.
if you defoliated in spring when the tree starts pumpin again you should be able to defoliate in summer and have it back in leaf before it starts cooling down again just a thought anyways

jamie

[Matthew]

Hi Jamie,
I have to say I am a bit jealous of you Queenslanders and your figs. You Have done a nice job. Look forward to seeing the tree when its trunks have fused a little and the nebari is exposed. You did the right thing burying it for the while. Its amazing how much more quickly roots develop when covered.
Craig

Craig im bringing most of my figs down from central queensland to in the hills outside wangaratta. 500m elevation -2 to -7 in winter. Im getting a special hot house (humidity, heat control ) built for them so they better appreciate it. i cant part with them and i think they will have to spend 7 months of the year in it.

[Jamie]

hey guys

just a little update, i was looking at this tree this afternoon and as good as it is i wasnt happy with it, things werent sitting right with me, just minor stuff like branchlets not coming from the right spots and overall appearance with the heaviness of the major branches, so i decided to correct it, and in order for me to do so it needed to be defoliated, so that is what i have done, now in saying that i have made sure the tree is healthy and strong and it has been fed well for a few weeks prior to this to make sure.

once defoliated i was left with this

Qldslfdef.jpg

it looks like there is a reasonable amount to work with, i then continued to work my way over the tree, taking off the heavy branchs that werent in the right spot and looking at were i could wire out, this is what i have now.

Qldsldf1.jpg

i know it doesnt look much different from when i first done it but the tapering main branch i am happy with, and it doesnt have the heavy branch in the middle that was bent over, also the apex has been looked at and now has some taper too. the picture doesnt actually show to much of the tree so i have the top shot of the tree.

Qldsltop.jpg

as you can see there is quite a difference in the length of the branches from the front face of the tree to the back face, i will have to wait for the tree to grow out now as there wasnt much i could do but the branching is in a much better position that in turn will make a much better tree.
this tree wont go through any more until late this year, nov-dec some time, i want it to grow out strong, the only way it will get touched is if it just explodes with massive amounts of new growth which is certainly possible, but i will have to restrain myself for at least 6 months and only check the tree to make sure it is watered, well fed and the wire isnt cutting in.

cheers people

jamie

[Rod]

G`day Jamie , mate that is heaps better if I could say one thing- you need to trim the top of the rhs main branch . That will give it more taper and now you are planing too leave the tree grow ( top idea ) it will be good to let that scar heal at the same time ( saving you time ). The wiring you have done is spot on you have put some good shape in, being a small tree it more important to be doing this now. Mate looks like you can`t sleep like me. CHEERS ROD..........

[Jamie]

hey mate yea not sleeping much these days

i know what you mean about the right branch being heavy still but i am not sure where to take it back to, if i let it grow out maybe an option shall present itself. it definately needs some time to recover though, it has gone through two defoliations in a couple of months.
And like you said being such a small tree it needs the eccenuated movement put in now as when it grows it will definalty smooth out, you taught me that!


jamie

[Rod]

Mate I was just meaning reducing where you have cut the branch to blend it in. I think you have done a great job on the other side, you just need to match it. Cheers Rod......

[Jamie]

gotchya now mate, in order for me to do that it would require cutting back to here on the pic, which isnt a prob as it has a shoot there that could become the new leader, or do you think wait for a better shoot to position itself and then cut? i know if i cut now the scar will heal in less time then waiting for a shoot then cutting down the track.

Qldsldf1cut point.jpg

jamie

[Rod]

Sorry mate I should have done a virt the first time, we aren`t on the same wavelength. I was meaning more in this area (see the virt!) cheers mate, Rod

jammie figv rsz.png