TBF cuttings. Best way for future fat trunk, difficulty Michigan.

[Michigan Tree Murderer]

I have three TBF cuttings from @Carol 83 kindness that I received last fall. I kept them in my grow room since then, and they've done quite well, as ficus do when they get enough light. They came in 3" pots & I had to repot in Feb because they kept falling over. (top heavy) I put them in bonsai soil and now I'm thinking I should've used potting soil instead. I just repotted no root work. Now that they are more established, and summer isn't far away, what's the best way for me to fatten the trunks? Should I just let them grow? Chop the trunk? Both? Here are pics of the biggest two.

This one is 19 inches tall.


This one is 14 inches tall


I resisted the urge to wire for trunk movement... so far.

 

[Carol 83]

You could take a whole bunch of cuttings off of those, if you want more. They root super easily. Glad they are doing well for you.

 

[Michigan Tree Murderer]

You could take a whole bunch of cuttings off of those, if you want more. They root super easily. Glad they are doing well for you.

I wish I would've taken pics when I got them. I do have the same question for the Bougies you sent. They're still in the training pots you sent them in. Should I put them in bigger training pots?

 

[Shibui]

Ficus Thicken well even in small pots but definitely faster in larger pots. For maximum thickening I'd pot into the largest pot you can manage given the indoor setup and feed heaps for a year or 2.
Root pruning won't set them back much and is worth any loss in growth to set up better nebari. Given they are cuttings they probably already have good lateral roots but may have bends from the previous small pots. If you have not already arranged the roots to horizontal, radial I would do that this summer before they thicken up past the point of flexibility.
You will still need to do some occasional pruning to manage the trunk a little. No point having a great thick telephone pole trunk when you really want something with lots of taper. Regular chops may slow growth by a year or 2 but you'll more than save that when you start developing branching and a final apex.

You have 2 to work with so you could do as I did years ago and use different methods on each. I planted one into a large grow box to develop a larger bonsai and kept the other in a small 3" pot to try for a shohin sized tree. Both ended up great trees but I always appreciated the smaller one more.

 

[Cadillactaste]

I prefer styling the intended cutting while on the mother plant. Then severing... that way I get movement and what not.

So...train a section...with intentions to make a cutting later. The larger tree allows it to grow at a quicker rate...and thicken as well.

I don't have a current image. But this was once it was transferred to a bonsai pot after it rooted.

 

[Michigan Tree Murderer]

Ficus Thicken well even in small pots but definitely faster in larger pots. For maximum thickening I'd pot into the largest pot you can manage given the indoor setup and feed heaps for a year or 2.
Root pruning won't set them back much and is worth any loss in growth to set up better nebari. Given they are cuttings they probably already have good lateral roots but may have bends from the previous small pots. If you have not already arranged the roots to horizontal, radial I would do that this summer before they thicken up past the point of flexibility.
You will still need to do some occasional pruning to manage the trunk a little. No point having a great thick telephone pole trunk when you really want something with lots of taper. Regular chops may slow growth by a year or 2 but you'll more than save that when you start developing branching and a final apex.

You have 2 to work with so you could do as I did years ago and use different methods on each. I planted one into a large grow box to develop a larger bonsai and kept the other in a small 3" pot to try for a shohin sized tree. Both ended up great trees but I always appreciated the smaller one more.

That's a good idea, I do like shohin size. I'll have to remember to arrange the roots horizontally when I do repot. I think I'll try that, one in a big pot and keep one in a smaller pot. I actually have three, I just didn't post a pic of the third one. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Michigan Tree Murderer]

I prefer styling the intended cutting while on the mother plant. Then severing... that way I get movement and what not.

So...train a section...with intentions to make a cutting later. The larger tree allows it to grow at a quicker rate...and thicken as well.

I don't have a current image. But this was once it was transferred to a bonsai pot after it rooted.

That's a really good idea. You end up way ahead of the curve that way. Yours looks good.

 

[Cadillactaste]

That's a really good idea. You end up way ahead of the curve that way. Yours looks good.

Thanks...and yes...indeed ahead of the curve.

 

[Paradox]

Agree with Shibui.

If you want a big trunk, up pot and feed.
I grew a willow leaf ficus from a pencil thick trunk to over a 2 inch base in a few years doing that.

If you want a shohin, you're going to have to chop it at some point and earlier might be better than later to avoid very large scar

 

[Maiden69]

I have all my ficus in inorganic Bonsai Jack bonsai soil. If you want to fatten them up, don't prune this year. Once I decide to start developing, I move them into akadama and I water normally with a humidity tray when it is very hot outside.

So much to type, so cliff notes on my experience, keeping in mind that I am in Texas on a zone 8b.

• I keep the pots of the ficus that I want to fatten between a quarter to half way submerged in water, you don't have to, but you may want to water them more often.
• Feed them every two weeks, including the famous now 5:2 Humic / Fulvic to Kelp mix
• Plenty of sun.

My thread to my Tiger Bark trials - https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/ficus-tiger-bark-progression.51173/

This is my 2 year cutting now in a pot for training - https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/maidens-shohin-ficus-tiger-bark.59246/

 

[BrianBay9]

Also, outside, full sun, all summer.

 

[Moraito]

Does Ficus benjamina also tolerate full sun?

 

[Carol 83]

I do have the same question for the Bougies you sent. They're still in the training pots you sent them in. Should I put them in bigger training pots?

I would wait until it's warmer, bougies like to be repotted when it's hot. Repot them in regular bonsai soil.

 

[Michigan Tree Murderer]

I have all my ficus in inorganic Bonsai Jack bonsai soil. If you want to fatten them up, don't prune this year. Once I decide to start developing, I move them into akadama and I water normally with a humidity tray when it is very hot outside.

So much to type, so cliff notes on my experience, keeping in mind that I am in Texas on a zone 8b.

• I keep the pots of the ficus that I want to fatten between a quarter to half way submerged in water, you don't have to, but you may want to water them more often.
• Feed them every two weeks, including the famous now 5:2 Humic / Fulvic to Kelp mix
• Plenty of sun.

My thread to my Tiger Bark trials - https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/ficus-tiger-bark-progression.51173/

This is my 2 year cutting now in a pot for training - https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/maidens-shohin-ficus-tiger-bark.59246/

I'm familiar with the first thread as I've seen it before. Never saw the second thread despite all my searches for exactly that type of thread before I created this one. Thank for sharing your experience and knowledge.