Ficus Root Fun

[JesseKane]

I brought in my ficus for the winter in October and about three weeks later I noticed that it started pushing out an aerial root from about 2/3 of the way up the trunk, way up in the upper foliage. The tree seems to be loving the warmth of the south facing window and increased humidity from sitting on a pebble tray with water. Now here's the question: what to do with the aerial root? I would love to find a way to develop it further, but I find it hard to believe that it will extend the 12 inches down that it would need to reach any soil. I want to dramatically reduce the height of the tree, it currently has more of a pine shape than a tropical. Would I be able to air layer the top a couple inches below the aerial and kill two birds with one stone? The roots at the base have been growing like crazy as well, with a few escaping the container and heading for the pebble tray the tree sits on. That makes me think that even with it being the end of fall, I may be able to get an air layer to take. Or, do I just chop the trunk and dunk it in some rooting compound and rely on the ficus's rigorous root production power?

 

[Carol 83]

Or, do I just chop the trunk and dunk it in some rooting compound and rely on the ficus's rigorous root production power?

That's what I would do. I have little clear domes I use to cover the pot when taking smaller cuttings. Just use a plastic grocery bag over it to increase humidity, checking to make sure its not staying too wet and give it some air. I cut some of the leaves off and cut the big ones in half.

 

[Shibui]

Most Ficus root really easy as cuttings so you could probably chop the top wherever you like and pop it in as a cutting. Success would usually be around 99%, even without a root started if you use similar technique to suggested above. With the aerial root its much closer to a sure thing so chopping the top is certainly an option.

Humidity is the key to developing aerial roots. I've heard of growers using drinking straws to maintain humidity and guide aerial roots down to the ground but misting regularly should be enough to keep yours growing if you want to try to get it down to the soil. They can grow quite fast given enough warmth and humidity so might only take a few months to hit the ground.

 

[JesseKane]

I went ahead and chopped the tree this weekend and took several cuttings.
Before:


After:


I then cleaned up the cut for the top half, applied powdered rooting hormone, and planted into 90% perlite 10% coco coir. Also cut back to inner buds and reduced leaf mass in general to slow transpiration.


And then of course I BROKE the areal root that spurred all this work haha. It was a partial tear and I put some cut paste over it, so we'll see if it heals and continues to grow! The gallon zip-lock bags fit perfectly over the pots and are keeping it nice and moist in there.

Finally finished up by wiring the potential new leader up a bit to encourage growth. Lets see if these take! Still noticing a lot of growth on the rest of the roots before this operation, including new adventitious root "buds" popping, so I'm optimistic. Either way, working towards a more interesting tree.

 

[JesseKane]

After about a week I'm seeing continued growth on the root I damaged as well as a new areal root starting! The long one is almost touching the soil already. Was getting a little musty in the plastic bags so I snipped a corner off to get some airflow but keep things humid.

 

[JesseKane]

Touchdown! Root made it to the surface and is about 1/4" deep. Other roots are starting to take off on the cutting as well. This top piece dropped most of its interior leaves, which I did expect, and the fresh ones at branch tips are looking strong.



Main tree is healing the cut and throwing out another root from about 8 inches up. Going to give the straw trick a try and see what happens. Loving how much growth I'm getting after bringing everything in for the winter. Makes me wonder if they were too dry outside this summer, might try and use a humidity tray and more wind blockage next summer.

 

[Colorado]

Touchdown! Root made it to the surface and is about 1/4" deep. Other roots are starting to take off on the cutting as well. This top piece dropped most of its interior leaves, which I did expect, and the fresh ones at branch tips are looking strong.

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Main tree is healing the cut and throwing out another root from about 8 inches up. Going to give the straw trick a try and see what happens. Loving how much growth I'm getting after bringing everything in for the winter. Makes me wonder if they were too dry outside this summer, might try and use a humidity tray and more wind blockage next summer.

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I think the problem with trops outside in summer here is the nighttime temps being chilly even in the peak of summer. I don’t really know, but that is my hunch. My buttonwood didn’t really grow at all outside this summer, and since i brought it in for the winter it’s growing like crazy!

 

[KateM]

I noticed when we had a week of near freezing temps and the house heat was running my ficuses started to actively grow all of a sudden.

 

[JesseKane]

Oh that's interesting, maybe I'll experiment with a way to even out the temp swings. Thermal mass at least, but maybe even pulling the trigger on a little greenhouse.

 

[JesseKane]

Main tree decided to abandon the root I put a straw up for, but it still slowly producing other areal roots. The big cutting is doing great, though! The first root is bifurcating like crazy and the two new roots are just about touching the surface.

 

[JesseKane]

It's been a couple weeks and the roots have continued to grow like crazy. Interesting observation was that as the first of the pair of roots hit the substrate, the tree transitioned it's energy into that root and has stopped pushing the other. Both of the aerial roots in the substrate are now bifurcating and spreading well. I'm seeing roots sprouting from the main trunk right at the surface as well, so all signs point to great success at the chopped off top surviving.


It's even starting to push out new buds and foliage growth. Going to take off the humidity bag for a bit and get some airflow going.



The several branch cuttings I took are also doing well, with new growth pushing and one even setting fruit!