Serious about Ficus!

[BoNZai]

Hi guys,

After getting no reply on my last post in "Wanna get serious about ficus" I want to give it another crack with a new topic!
I hope the no response was due to being overlooked rather then being ignored because a Kiwi coach cannot get anywhere with the Wallabies

Anyway, I am in awe with what you guys do with Ficus, absolutely fantastic! Also I think it would be good for me to get some "indoor' bonsai. I don't think our climate here would be any good for Ficus otdoors

So what ficus varieties are the best to get started with and where do you guys source good material? Garden centres? I don't see too many Ficus here in garden centres but maybe I should have a look elsewhere.

Any help and pointers are much appreciated

Cheers

BoNZai

[Jerry Meislik]

Some Ficus that work well are microcarpa(retusa, Kingman, Tigerbark, Green Island and many other varieties), salicaria(salicifolia, nerifolia), burtt-davyi, obliqua, rubiginosa, natalensis, and benjamina to name a few.
Good luck hunting.
Jerry

[daiviet_nguyen]

Hi,

I have a great love for Australian native one -- the Port Jackson. Although I do not think they are
indoor (?). They are very strong, and can tolerate harsh treatments, the leaf-size can be reduce
fairly easily.

Good luck with your findings.

Best regards.

[Pup]

I agree Deans is sabotaging the team please take him back.

Your quarantine laws are like oursI think, so I would you find out what can and cannot be imported.

I am sure there are plenty available though your mates here.

One that comes to mind as it is sold all over the world as an indoor plant is Ficus Benjamina. Its biggest problem is it lacks the trunk girth of the others.
I think the reason you got no reply's there was another post here about the ficus in Taiwan I think which are huge.
Hope this helps better than Deans. Pup

[anttal63]

cheers bonzai; i didnt mean to ignore you, in fact i meant to get back to you and it just didnt happen. as pup mentioned, benjamina works indoors. as far as girth goes you can easily fuse a bunch together. in my opinion they are not as much fun as the port jackson. there's plenty here if they allow to ship over there. other wise ask your local club or bonsai nursery.

[Joel]

I agree Deans is sabotaging the team please take him back.

Your quarantine laws are like oursI think, so I would you find out what can and cannot be imported.

I am sure there are plenty available though your mates here.

One that comes to mind as it is sold all over the world as an indoor plant is Ficus Benjamina. Its biggest problem is it lacks the trunk girth of the others.
I think the reason you got no reply's there was another post here about the ficus in Taiwan I think which are huge.
Hope this helps better than Deans. Pup

Pup, one at my work has a trunk more than 3 feet diameter It is very old and in the ground (of coarse).

There is also a climbing fig - Ficus pumilla, which should be able to survive indoors. It is more likely to be sold as a sort of "Instant Hedge" solution for climbing over low walls.

JayC

[BoNZai]

Gidday,

Thanks for your help guys, much appreciated.

Importing into NZ is not an option. Too much hassle and paperwork and $$$$$$

I googled what Ficus are availlable in NZ and not many match up with yours.

Anyway, I found one that caught my eye, Ficus Microcarpa. 'Micro' indicates to me that it has small leaves and would therefore be more suitable for bonsai.

I also found a pic from a nursery in Auckland that sells what he calls 'Funky Figs' I think they are Microcarpa

Funky figs.jpg

I'll keep on looking and see what I can find.

Pup, hope you guys don't give Deans a hard time, he can only work with the tools he's got and it's the boys on the field that have to perform. Something that Matt Gittau didn't do against the Scotts............even I fell off the couch when he missed that last one!

Cheers

BoNZai

[Asus101]

those are hideous.

Buy for cutting material and go.

[BoNZai]

Yep hiddious alright

I was referring to the ficus species Microphylla. Do you have any experience with this one?

BoNZai

[bonscythe]

I would agree with Asus in your situation, go for cuttings and lots of them.
Another method which might be more of a task would be to collect seed from a large specimen in your area, if possible.

P.S - I think Deans has done some good things over here, just need to 'borrow' some of your players...Russell Crowe and Phar Lap style

[dayne]

what is it with cold weather people wanting figs yes there nice but im in hot and humid hell and id kill for the pines maple and other trees i saw in blenheim recently may b we need to swap

[Shannon]

Hey boNZai, those funky figs have potential mate , a couple of years work on them and they could be quiet interesting.

P.S. See if they have any BIG stuff hidden at the back of the nursery??

[JayP]

i agree shannon they might look ugly now but the movement and nebari on those bigger ones looks pretty impressive, i can see alot of potential in them!!

[Asus101]

i agree shannon they might look ugly now but the movement and nebari on those bigger ones looks pretty impressive, i can see alot of potential in them!!

Really??

I mean really?

I gather "s" shaped elms have great movement too?

[Jamie]

i agree with asus on this one , the "s" shape in the trunks artificial, but on a different note of things, i can see potential in them...air layer potential! you could get probly 4-5 nicely shaped trees out of them, air layering them would give you new nebari and completely new styling options with trunk movement from the base then you can build new apexes


jamie