Help ROR Ficus bring sexy back, guidance/input please.

[AlexoftheCastle]

Inherited my dads ROR ficus approx. 11 y.o. with the tree left to grow freely.
Fear of killing the tree its been Semi-neglected the last 4 years, it's been great practice learning trees habits, and basic bonsai techniques(Thank you bonsainut community!)
The lack of balance and unruly growth is disrupting its serenity.

Before I'm ready to make the big decisions, i want to explore different perspectives from the community. Your input will be in the life of the tree. In advance, Thank you.

1. What styles would you consider?
Tree has little movement, uneven, tall, and leggy. About 3ft from trunk base.
2. What do you determine best of the Air layer positions a, b, c (Or?)
3. How would you take this on?
My only concern is having an bare nub left at the cut. Growth and back bud tend to be ununified.
4. Not the best pictures/angles. I can adjust if needed.

 

[19Mateo83]

Welcome to the nut house!
If it was mine I would be looking at doing something like this leaving as many branches on the bottom half as possible. It will also leave you with a decent size twin trunk to play with. Definitely a cool ROR ficus!

 

[AlexoftheCastle]

Welcome to the nut house!
If it was mine I would be looking at doing something like this leaving as many branches on the bottom half as possible. It will also leave you with a decent size twin trunk to play with. Definitely a cool ROR ficus!

Much obliged.
I appriciate the reminder, fortunately here the learning process has been more forgiving. Bare branches evident to the importance of maintaining branches close and low to the trunk.

Similarly to air layer a/b, your marks close to the same cut off area.
I forgot to mention there's two trees here grown together the varigated has its own trunks/roots. I'll post a photo during daylight.

 

[BrianBay9]

I was going to ask about the two types of foliage. Decision 1, do you want to keep both. That would be very unusual, but if you don't, you probably want to go with the standard foliage. If it were mine I would air layer it off a the first division of the standard trunk, very close to the rock. I'd also take air layers high, where you suggest, but I'd want to highlight the rock and roots in the final design of this one. You're in Hawaii for gods sake. Hard pruning should result in tons of branches popping everywhere.

 

[MHBonsai]

Cool tree and project! You can do a lot with benjaminas, they are super fast growers and respond predictably when you know what you have. This is a big one that I've been messing with for a while, it's a long progression thread.

Big Benjamina Freebie

This is the big cutting from a few posts up. It’s going to be a good year in the tent for aerial roots! The big tree is also throwing massive amounts this year. Ive got it set with more light and less heat this season.

www.bonsainut.com

The strength of your tree is the cool roots and rock. To me, the long tall trunk doesn't bring a lot of interest. Your climate you can do a lot with these year round. I'd chop the trunk at the lowest branches, and begin making a low flat tropical umbrella shaped canopy. The two foliage types could be very cool double trunk tree!

 

[MHBonsai]

And take big cuttings! You can chop the trunk down into interesting pieces, plan them in pumice/soil mixtures and keep them humid in bags and they will self root. Benjaminas make great cuttings from big material, no need to air layer often times.

 

[AlexoftheCastle]

Big Benjamina Freebie

This is the big cutting from a few posts up. It’s going to be a good year in the tent for aerial roots! The big tree is also throwing massive amounts this year. Ive got it set with more light and less heat this season.

www.bonsainut.com

The strength of your tree is the cool roots and rock. To me, the long tall trunk doesn't bring a lot of interest. Your climate you can do a lot with these year round. I'd chop the trunk at the lowest branches, and begin making a low flat tropical umbrella shaped canopy. The two foliage types could be very cool double trunk tree!

That thing got GiRTH!!! Beautiful setting for a show! I'll be scrolling through for inspo. Thank you for sharing with me. Did you cover with a bag trian them aerials?

I appreciate your input. It's difficult to visualize training the foliage. The varigation controls a lot of focus. I was thinking it could act as a highlight to guide/hold interest.

The purpose for considering Air layering was just for nebari training and theoretically chances of surviving are higher right? Feel more confident the Tiny cuttings have rooted. Hmmm...

I was going to ask about the two types of foliage. Decision 1, do you want to keep both. That would be very unusual. If it were mine I would air layer it off a the first division of the standard trunk, very close to the rock. I'd also take air layers high, where you suggest, but I'd want to highlight the rock and roots in the final design of this one. .

Unusual is the interesting way to say unique. It'll fit the persona well.

This picture shows what we're working with trunk/base wise.

Ps. Should I start a progress post? Wasn't aware the edit button dissappear. Excited to interact not very much thought went into the title...

 

[rockm]

FWIW, you have a grafted tree. The variegated branches at the bottom look as though someone did a thread graft and planned on using it as the primary tree. That complicates on how you may want to proceed. I think the intention was to use the main more vigorous trunk as the sacrifice, with an aim to remove it completely once roots had formed, in favor of the grafted variegated portion.

The two will always have different foliage and the main portion will always be dominant at the expense of the graft. That means over time, the variegated section is going to wither away over time as the dominant section uses most of the resources. I'd decide which you want to use and remove the other foliage completely and keep it that way.

Variegated trees aren't my cup of tree (see what I did there ) anyhoo, I'd remove that and trunk chop at the red line in mateo's post. Don't worry about stubs, as those can be refined later as new branching comes in. Growth should be pretty quick given your climate.

 

[Maiden69]

FWIW, you have a grafted tree. The variegated branches at the bottom look as though someone did a thread graft and planned on using it as the primary tree.

I forgot to mention there's two trees here grown together the varigated has its own trunks/roots. I'll post a photo during daylight.

 

[AlexoftheCastle]

FWIW, you have a grafted tree. The variegated branches at the bottom look as though someone did a thread graft and planned on using it as the primary tree.

Both are nursery stock trained together over the rock. Not intentionally grafted, it does seem some of the roots overlap, 69% sure some may have fused. Notice the single variegated leaf on bottom right growing out of the non.v.
I like that the dark green and variegated foliage contrast eachother.

We will see how its growth decides to react throughout rejuvenation.

Stay tuned. I'll update here.

 

[AlexoftheCastle]

Happy Setsubun! (節分 "seasonal division")
5 days earlier,
Mother nature: *wet, heavy breathing.
She called me back this morning,
told me I should get checked.

Adenium;
soot/aphids/ants treated 3 days prior.

Ficus expected quality time dedicated to growth.
Treating for scale now.

Healthy leaves/petiole/ends actively growing.
Mointoring carefully defoliate&treat accordingly

Intially going in blind,
fortune presents a time of clarity.
Hopefully this didn't set me back to far.

 

[AlexoftheCastle]

Seams to be recovering well from the attack.
After contemplating crazy, crazy it is.
Attempt at an approach graft(correct?)

Not sure if this will hold... I'm aware the graft is right behind the source... will this be a decent crown? Great learning experience even if it fails.

Is that jbweld?
What do I do with this? There was no methodology applied here, cut to form and seal. Hope for the best.

I did the chop higher than intended, as my first attempt at any of this. This is a learning experience aimed to strengthen the foundation for both the tree and me.

 

[AlexoftheCastle]

Tropical weather has its benefits, especially for easy to root cultivars. Popped these in wherever they could fit. Made a little cluster.