Frozen ficus

[lackhand]

I have a large ficus microcarpa/nitida (names seem to get confusing on this) growing in my front yard. We had five days of solid freezing weather a month or so back, and almost all the leaves are now brown and dead. There are some green ones, and I'm sure the tree will survive.

But what I really want to know is this. I've been planning on taking a fairly large (2-3 inch diameter) cutting to begin its life as a bonsai. Should I wait until leaves come back or would it be okay to do it now? Any ideas on how to proceed? Thanks!

[matty-j]

hey mate

ficus love warm weather and humidity!!!!
i'm not too sure what kind of set up you have going on over there but here in aus
i would wait until it warms up so the over night temp is above 14dc or 57df
with warm weather and high humidity and some rooting hormone they will have a much much higher rate of striking
i put cuttings into a pot with a propagation mix then put them inside a styro box
with gravel and water in the bottom to keep the temp and humidity high
another option is doing a "air layer" which is probably the road that i would take
if you haven't done one before read the wiki page or go to you tube and look up graham w potter
he does a great video on how to do a air layer

my experience is limited but this is what i would do
maybe if someone with more experience or know's your climate better they can give you some better advice

hope this helps good luck

cheers
matt

[Guy]

I would try it no earlier than halfway through spring-------

[bodhidharma]

My experience with Ficus is that once they are frozen they are dead. When you say freezing weather are we talking frost, snow or just cold.

[kcpoole]

I do not repot Tropicals unitl the overnight temps get above 15 Deg C.
I would not try a layer or cuttin before then unless you have indoor setup like "TheficusGuy"

Ken

[lackhand]

My experience with Ficus is that once they are frozen they are dead. When you say freezing weather are we talking frost, snow or just cold.

I suppose I should have been a little more clear to start with, eh? So the tree in question is a landscape tree. Our winters here are usually mild enough that they do just fine - only freezes about once every five years here. But this winter we had about five days in a row of freezing temps at night. I never actually saw any frost, but there probably was some. It was probably only freezing for a few hours each day, but the leaves on this tree turned black, then brown and dry, and are now just waiting to fall off. There are some green leaves that are still hanging on and even starting to put out new growth on the interior of the tree, so I'm sure it will survive, but I'm not sure the extent of damage the cold caused.

I have a cutting from another ficus that's going just fine. No fancy setup, I just bring it inside if the temp is going to drop below about 50 F. But I suppose on the frosted one, I should wait to see what's viable before I get going. Thanks!

[lackhand]

Upon inspection this morning, there are shoots coming off the tree all over, so I think it will make it. I'll let those grow out a bit and maybe think about air layering in a few months. Right now I'm just ecstatic that I don't have to remove and replace the 8 meter tall tree in my front yard.

[Tony Bebb]

Good news on the recovery

I would definitely let it grow free for a while to let it recover and gain strength before doing anything.
Wait till it is good and strong before doing the layer.

Tony