braided ficus benjamina?

[Squeaker]

You want it to grow! You need all the branches you have for it to grow faster. You dont want it to back bud now...you want it to grow. You cut it, you will slow the growth and fusing...Let it grow! IT IS OK THE WAY IT IS.

Okie doke, ill leave it alone for now and let it grow for a while. Im kicking myself for chopping off some branches that were in the way when i braided it, the tree wouldnt look quite so scronny, i may have jumped the gun a bit

Edit: how about fertelizing it? I have some 7-9-5 liquid fertelizer, would that work and should i dilute or or make it stronger or follow bottle directions? And should i fertelize it now?

 

[KennedyMarx]

Sooooo, even though it looks super goofy at the moment, should i let it grow out for a bit or shorten up the branches now leaving one or 2 leaf sets on each branch? Would shortening them up encourage more back budding closer to the trunk? Im kinda stuck in the middle, im embarrassed of it right now, but im not sure which would benefit the tree more.

The faster it grows the faster those trunks will fuse and the best way to ensure that is to allow all of the branches to grow without any pruning or cutting. Ficus can thicken up much more quickly than a lot of other trees used for bonsai. I haven't tried to fuse any of my ficus yet, but I'd imagine the trunks would be fused in two or three years if you just let it grow out. Maybe do a repot after a while so the roots will have more room to grow and drive that top growth.

 

[Squeaker]

The faster it grows the faster those trunks will fuse and the best way to ensure that is to allow all of the branches to grow without any pruning or cutting. Ficus can thicken up much more quickly than a lot of other trees used for bonsai. I haven't tried to fuse any of my ficus yet, but I'd imagine the trunks would be fused in two or three years if you just let it grow out. Maybe do a repot after a while so the roots will have more room to grow and drive that top growth.

Yuck, sounds like its gonna be ugly for quite a long time lol, 2-3 years with the green tape on the trunk and those funky super long branches? Anyone want a ficus? Lol, patience grasshopper

 

[MrFancyPlants]

Here is my braided benjamina. I can't recommend the style, but it is a nice enough house plant. Since i inherited it, ive done lot of practice with the pruning, chopping, repotting, air layering and so on. Maybe I'll try bagging the trunk to see if I can cover up the braid with some air roots?

 

[Squeaker]

Here is my braided benjamina. I can't recommend the style, but it is a nice enough house plant. Since i inherited it, ive done lot of practice with the pruning, chopping, repotting, air layering and so on. Maybe I'll try bagging the trunk to see if I can cover up the braid with some air roots?View attachment 30100

Thanks for the reference pix. This one is my experiment ficus too. Ive taped up the trunk and it looks silly at the moment with the super long branches, but we shall see... im sure ill try out different things and see what they can handle before i go chop and train my big ficus.

Have you seen the old thread about how to get hundreds of arial roots in just a few days? I just found it yesterday. Search "hundreds of arial roots" and it should come up. Pretty amazing results this guy gets. He does it on a ginsing ficus, but id immagine it would be the same.

 

[Squeaker]

http://bonsainut.com/forums/showthread.php?5826-Hundreds-aerial-roots-on-Ficus heres the link in case youre interested

 

[PSchaff]

Ficus Fusing

I've been fusing ficus for a while now, and from my experience it takes about a year to get branches to fuse together. Even then, depending on your technique, you can wind up with seams where the branches meet. If you want to build a bigger trunk base you can try fusing 50-100 of the same size plants that you've started with to get a massive trunk in a short amount of time. (And when I say short, I mean 3-5 years.) As you live in CA, when the low gets above 50 degrees you can put the ficus outside for more light. You won't believe how fast they grow compared to growing them indoors.

Good luck, and keep up the patience. Learning beneficial neglect is the toughest part of bonsai.

 

[Squeaker]

I've been fusing ficus for a while now, and from my experience it takes about a year to get branches to fuse together. Even then, depending on your technique, you can wind up with seams where the branches meet. If you want to build a bigger trunk base you can try fusing 50-100 of the same size plants that you've started with to get a massive trunk in a short amount of time. (And when I say short, I mean 3-5 years.) As you live in CA, when the low gets above 50 degrees you can put the ficus outside for more light. You won't believe how fast they grow compared to growing them indoors.

Good luck, and keep up the patience. Learning beneficial neglect is the toughest part of bonsai.

Thanks for the temperature tips. Im not going to try fusing any cuttings right now. Im doing it with this one because this is my experiment ficus... thats what i bought it for, so i think ill just try it out on this one for now, eventually i might work on sizing down ans training my big ficus (depending on how i do with this one). Any tips on getting very strong trunks to come closer together for fusing? Is it a gradual thing or can it be done at all?

 

[GrimLore]

My Wife uses Natural Raffia Ribbon and honest she is the one who does tropicals here. All I know is that it is really inexpensive in 25-100 rolls and natural has no dyes, etc...

 

[Squeaker]

My Wife uses Natural Raffia Ribbon and honest she is the one who does tropicals here. All I know is that it is really inexpensive in 25-100 rolls and natural has no dyes, etc...

For what trunk fusing? That sounds like a pretty good idea cause this green floral ribbon around the trunk is a bit of an eyesore lol

 

[GrimLore]

For what trunk fusing? That sounds like a pretty good idea cause this green floral ribbon around the trunk is a bit of an eyesore lol

Yes, she saw it some years ago at a demo done at a bonsai club. I don't know the guys name but he was some highly respected dude from Japan years ago.

 

[KennedyMarx]

A lot of times raffia is used to wrap branches when doing extreme bending as well. It prevents the wrapped branches from snapping.