MHBonsai
Chumono
Back in March of 2019, watching the facebook auctions I stumbled on this. Labeled as a Ficus Exotica. Never heard of it...but found this article from Jerry - so I jumped on it. Very similar to willow leaf Ficus salicaria - but slightly thicker/shorter leaves.
The thickness of the base trunk and the massive first branch/second trunk caught my eye. I ended up getting it delivered from Wigerts for about $80.00 door to door. Excellent vendor btw.
I immediately repotted, and found what I was hoping for...a really thick 3"+ base hidden under that soil. Unfortunately I took zero pics of the early repots. It appeared really healthy, so I went hard. Nearly flat cut the roots down to stubs and a few little feeders, and chopped both trunks down to just a couple inches long. Chopped it at the blue, and wired the shoots circled in red for a new trunkline and first branch.
I let it grow all season, extending the new apex and first branch and re-growing the root mass. I let it run and grow into about a 24" bush of large leafed extensions. The leaves got really big, like 4"+ long.
End of the second growing season, I had a nice second section of trunk built, some transition of the first thick branch, and a running second/third branch thickening up.
Rinse and repeat. I can defoliate it twice a year, re-wire and let it grow. Very vigorous growth. The worst thing about it is that it seems vulnerable to scale insects, and I'll have it totally infested if I don't stay on top of it over the winters in the grow tent.
Summer of 2021:
And last summer, I started condensing to some ramification. All branches are in place, and apex transition is good. Re-chopped the top each year to create the next section of trunk.
I get good growth during the winter. I have an enclosed grow tent that I hold at 80+ degrees and 90% humidity. Makes an incredible difference at how much work I can do to these.
This is how it looked last week...but it's covered in scale insects which is slowing my growth and yellowing some leaves.
Time to defoliate/wire and prep for this summer:
Right at 3 year's progress. I love ficus for so many reasons, they just develop soooo fast. This summer I'll shift to ramification mode. Cutting growing tips, opening up the interior and looking for backbudding on the branches. I have a show pot I'd like to get it into this summer, if all goes according to plan. Tree is about 7" tall to the apex. It'll fit in a 6" shohin pot.
The thickness of the base trunk and the massive first branch/second trunk caught my eye. I ended up getting it delivered from Wigerts for about $80.00 door to door. Excellent vendor btw.
I immediately repotted, and found what I was hoping for...a really thick 3"+ base hidden under that soil. Unfortunately I took zero pics of the early repots. It appeared really healthy, so I went hard. Nearly flat cut the roots down to stubs and a few little feeders, and chopped both trunks down to just a couple inches long. Chopped it at the blue, and wired the shoots circled in red for a new trunkline and first branch.
I let it grow all season, extending the new apex and first branch and re-growing the root mass. I let it run and grow into about a 24" bush of large leafed extensions. The leaves got really big, like 4"+ long.
End of the second growing season, I had a nice second section of trunk built, some transition of the first thick branch, and a running second/third branch thickening up.
Rinse and repeat. I can defoliate it twice a year, re-wire and let it grow. Very vigorous growth. The worst thing about it is that it seems vulnerable to scale insects, and I'll have it totally infested if I don't stay on top of it over the winters in the grow tent.
Summer of 2021:
And last summer, I started condensing to some ramification. All branches are in place, and apex transition is good. Re-chopped the top each year to create the next section of trunk.
I get good growth during the winter. I have an enclosed grow tent that I hold at 80+ degrees and 90% humidity. Makes an incredible difference at how much work I can do to these.
This is how it looked last week...but it's covered in scale insects which is slowing my growth and yellowing some leaves.
Time to defoliate/wire and prep for this summer:
Right at 3 year's progress. I love ficus for so many reasons, they just develop soooo fast. This summer I'll shift to ramification mode. Cutting growing tips, opening up the interior and looking for backbudding on the branches. I have a show pot I'd like to get it into this summer, if all goes according to plan. Tree is about 7" tall to the apex. It'll fit in a 6" shohin pot.
