Ficus experiment

[cbroad]

This is more of a thread to chronical my hydroponic Ficus microcarpa experiment. Pardon the ginseng, this was the only one I could find cheaply that I wouldn't mind accidentally killing and the point of this all is to get branches thicker quicker to take cuttings off of...

I have wanted to experiment with deep water culture of woody plants for a while now. After talking with @ForrestGump and seeing his dwc culture with a citrus, I knew I had to give it a try.

So far, everything seems to be going as planned. This has been in the system since 2/13/17. For the first month and a half not much happened while the plant was acclimating, but once the roots started reaching the water it exploded with growth. The brown leaves are burnt from them coming into contact with the lights and me not raising them fast enough...

The first four pictures are from today, the fifth is from 4/17, and the sixth is from 2/13.

I'm about to wire the tallest branch to get some movement and so I don't have to keep raising the light... I think I'm going to air layer the branch pretty soon.

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• cbroad
• Jun 5, 2017

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• cbroad
• Jun 5, 2017

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• cbroad
• Jun 5, 2017

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• cbroad
• Jun 5, 2017

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• cbroad
• Apr 17, 2017
• 1

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• cbroad
• Feb 14, 2017

 

[just.wing.it]

So is that water constantly moving and being filtered, and being resupplied as needed somehow?
And is there a substrate in the pond basket?
Edit:
On closer inspection I see the balls....clay?
Does it break down?

 

[cbroad]

@just.wing.it
It's literally just a bucket of water and an air pump, no filtering or water being resupplied. Haha I do the resupplying whenever it needs more water, which is more and more recently. I went the simplest route, some people use separate reservoirs and water pumps to resupply. The air pump is made for hydroponics and is stronger than a typical aquarium air pump, it can be dialed up or down and at its strongest, pumps about 130 gallons per hour of air.

Yeah the clay balls are called Hydroton, they're more for support of the roots but also does wick moisture and I'm sure has a pretty high CEC. So far they haven't broken down, they're pretty solid so they've probably been high fired.

 

[Anthony]

There shouldn't be an problems with the fired clay balls.
See our version over at the Ficus Depository.
Good Day
Anthony

 

[just.wing.it]

@just.wing.it
It's literally just a bucket of water and an air pump, no filtering or water being resupplied. Haha I do the resupplying whenever it needs more water, which is more and more recently. I went the simplest route, some people use separate reservoirs and water pumps to resupply. The air pump is made for hydroponics and is stronger than a typical aquarium air pump, it can be dialed up or down and at its strongest, pumps about 130 gallons per hour of air.

Yeah the clay balls are called Hydroton, they're more for support of the roots but also does wick moisture and I'm sure has a pretty high CEC. So far they haven't broken down, they're pretty solid so they've probably been high fired.

That's cool man!
I wonder what gph of air translates to in psi?

 

[hemmy]

It is interesting that it grew aerial roots, which I have only seen in higher humidity environments. This must be a result of the water evaporating up through the substrate? With this system indoors, does it seem like the humidity has been raised? Do you seen water condensation on any surfaces?

Very cool setup!

 

[Anthony]

More likely a survival instinct roots being kept too wet, so grow aerial to take over as
the base dies.
Good Day
Anthony

 

[cbroad]

@just.wing.it
Thanks! I just looked, they're measures of two different things gph is flow and psi is pressure.

@hemmy
Thanks you. I'm not really sure because I don't have much experience with tropicals. I was thinking the same thing as far as moisture evaporating through the hydroton. Could also be the plant sensing enough humidity somewhere so it's following along with its natural course regardless where the higher humidity is. The room I have it in is the master bedroom and the table is only occupying a 3x6' area, so I haven't noticed higher than normal humidity up there, but the way the house is it definitely stays at least 5 degrees warmer if not more, that's part of the reason why I still sleep downstairs . There definitely isn't a super elevated level of moisture so I'm thinking it's evaporation around the stem.

@Anthony
Why are you assuming the base is dying? Everything I've posted shows that it is actually thriving, not just surviving or dying...

 

[AZbonsai]

I agree...thriving! May have to get the bucket out. I am just wondering about when it comes time to put it in a bonsai pot. How are the roots going to react? I never transferred plants from hydroponics to conventional soil or bonsai mix. Have you?

 

[cbroad]

@AZbonsai
Haha no I haven't had to do that yet, that may be the hitch in the whole thing! My original reasoning was that I'd air layer branches off and put into soil, but now I'm liking what I'm seeing and I'll probably put the layer in a new chamber.

I wonder though about a complete defoliation and very hard root pruning during peak growth/vigor, and then possibly getting it into soil with limited light exposure for a couple of weeks...? I never really intended to keep the ginseng rootstock, so if I get another mother going maybe I'll experiment on it to see how it takes that beating. I bet it will take it

 

[AZbonsai]

Maybe clip a couple of branches slap some Clonex on it and stick it back into the pot... as long as your experimenting

 

[cbroad]

I should do that, I have an unopened bottle of root tech just sitting around. I should probably have opted for the bigger net pot/lid, the store had one that the width of the pot was almost the entire width of the bucket, that would of given me plenty of room. I should probably go back there and start looking at a more pumps and stuff. They had a large pump that could run up to I think about 4 or 5 5gal. buckets, I think it was somewhere around 750gph. It took 1/4" line, that thing was noisy... But if I go that route then I have no excuse why I shouldn't buy a new light... I want to buy a dimmable 1000w MH/HPS and really start cranking stuff out.

 

[AZbonsai]

Prior to me getting into bonsai I was growing basil aquaponically, the trunks were turning very woody and almost 2 inches across. ..leaves to big for bonsai but it was interesting. Makes me think hydroponics viable option for bonsai.

 

[cbroad]

That's what I'm thinking, at least to get trunks and primary branches. I think hydroponics may cause too much vigor for ramification, and there's always the transplanting problem.

I've seen videos of huge basil with woody stems also. I'm just not sure what genera you can get away with because there's not much info about growing woody plants this way. Someone in the lab at JR Peters said I'd probably need a lot more calcium and maybe magnesium I think (I have it written down somewhere).

 

[sorce]

What's that in the light and fit container?
I think I got one. Or 5. From root cuttings!

Love the Gro-Yo!

Setup is wicked...

How to Maximize Its potential?

Outdoors?

I think you can shape and train 4-6 branches as trees for future traditional layers.
Never worrying about transferring mother plant roots.

Cool.

Sorce

 

[sorce]

On closer inspection I see the balls

Ahem.

Sorce

 

[just.wing.it]

Ahem.

Sorce

Thank, thank you very much...

 

[sorce]

Thank, thank you very much...

I had a similar moment determining the sex of aphids!

Sorce

 

[Anthony]

@cbroad ,

on our side when a ficus ends up in wet soil in nature, it usually sends out aerials.
Later the base shrivels, if the condition continues.

The wood of the ficus is also soft, and easily decays.
If you grow with too much water, it will be interesting to see how the project ages.

Try a willow leaf type, it may give better results as ramification goes.
Good Day
Anthony

 

[Anthony]

Hmm just a warning -

We see this in Fine Art, where the technique runs away and the actual painted effort is halted/ weak or the painter
just gets lost in mediums and pigment.

Please be careful, Bonsai is ultimately about a Healthy plant, that has a good Design, For admiring [ as is practiced in the West ]

Additionally, mature wood that is durable takes 35 to 50 years of slow growing.

Lastly if you are going the hydroponic way I suggest you also design pots for display.
Laters.
Khaimraj