L. Gayler
Seedling
I have fig trees growing in my yard. Are they good for bonsai? When would be a good time to collect them and how easy are they to care for? Any advice is appreciated.
common fig tree
- Thread starter L. Gayler
- Start date
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
Edible Figs are ficus species. Tropical ficus species make terrific bonsai. Temperate fig species not so much, Too gangly and the leaves tend to be huge. I've heard some leaf reduction is possible with them, but that leaves the gangly, stiff branching...
Zach Smith
Omono
I've seen some nice edible fig bonsai. The leaves reduce surprisingly well, though you don't get as much ramification as you'd like. They can be collected in late winter/early spring, and are easily rooted from cuttings.
Good luck!
Zach
Good luck!
Zach
Attila Soos
Omono
Ficus carica (the edible fig) makes great bonsai. The best part is the spectacular leaf reduction (about 100 fold).
The strength of the species: the powerful trunk, full of character; large nebari; the fruits are the icing on the cake; drought-tolerant; tolerates drastic pruning, both on roots and branches; develops thick trunk in a short time;
The weaknesses are: ramification is slow, you need to do a lot of drastic cut-backs on the branches, in order to create nice ramification; large leaves (but that will easily reduce in pot-culture); needs frost protection in temperate climate;
The positives vastly outweigh the negatives. They are one of my favorite subjects. It also needs to be noted that I live in So. California, so here figs grow like weeds.
The strength of the species: the powerful trunk, full of character; large nebari; the fruits are the icing on the cake; drought-tolerant; tolerates drastic pruning, both on roots and branches; develops thick trunk in a short time;
The weaknesses are: ramification is slow, you need to do a lot of drastic cut-backs on the branches, in order to create nice ramification; large leaves (but that will easily reduce in pot-culture); needs frost protection in temperate climate;
The positives vastly outweigh the negatives. They are one of my favorite subjects. It also needs to be noted that I live in So. California, so here figs grow like weeds.
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