Michigan Tree Murderer
Masterpiece
Nice! you should trademark it as "The Tiger Bag" and sell them in late night commercials.
Aerial roots looking good.
First aerial root questions.
- Thread starter Michigan Tree Murderer
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Aerial roots looking good.
Leo in N E Illinois
The Professor
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In general, I do nothing to encourage aerial roots. When I had multiple Ficus, the couple with nice trunks, I would remove aerial roots as fast as they formed. I was going for a broadleaf tree look, not a banyan look, and it was better to get rid of the aerial roots. I have one variety of Ficus from Chiapas, Mexico that makes aerial roots in abundance. This is currently my only Ficus left. It has an unusual shredding reddish brown bark and the aerial roots develop the same bark by their second year. Right now it is in "rehab", a conventional pot, being re-started, but usually I have it in a large tray and grow it Banyan style. I summer it outdoors, where it will drop aerial roots with abandon. The next spring when I bring it out and trim it up to prepare for another summer of growth I will pick and choose between the aerial roots, attractive get kept, oddly placed roots get removed.
So the point is: Remove aerial roots if tree is trained to represent a more northern tree style. If being grown to look like a big old oak, no aerial roots needed.
If you are deliberately going for banyan style, aerial roots are a key element. Remember, they become secondary trunks. Banyan style tend to be large, wide trees. Often one will see trays over 24 inches long, sometimes as much as 36 or even 48 inches in length to hold the wide low spreading canopy with aerial roots descending from the nearly horizontal branches, each aerial root becoming a secondary trunk supporting the wide canopy.
So the point is: Remove aerial roots if tree is trained to represent a more northern tree style. If being grown to look like a big old oak, no aerial roots needed.
If you are deliberately going for banyan style, aerial roots are a key element. Remember, they become secondary trunks. Banyan style tend to be large, wide trees. Often one will see trays over 24 inches long, sometimes as much as 36 or even 48 inches in length to hold the wide low spreading canopy with aerial roots descending from the nearly horizontal branches, each aerial root becoming a secondary trunk supporting the wide canopy.
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
For me I develop aerial roots in ficus by putting them in 2" diameter plastic bag/tube filled with big chunks of bark then fill the void with bark fines. The aerial roots will then grow around the big chunks on its way in the tube to the ground. That way they won't be stick straight and have some characters. Here is how I do it step by step.Got my first aerial root today,kind of surprised as it's indoors in Michigan. I recently got the plant from Wigerts (two months ago) so, maybe it was already in the works. After searching the forum, on how to handle aerial roots, I see a few different methods of training them into the soil. Is the straw method still the preferred method? Any advice as to how to keep it would be appreciated, as I was resigned to this growth not happening because of my climate. I've kept it in a room with the door shut, under grow lights for 13 hours a day. Temps are 68-78 & humidity averages 55%.
View attachment 464686
View attachment 464688
Proud father!
1. Put root in tube.
2. Slide big chunk of bark down the tube and use a chopstick to maneuver them into the right positions, giving the root some bends and character.
3. Mix fine bark with water in a cup and pour the mix down the tube. The water will drain out, leaving the fine in the voids.
LittleDingus
Omono
To add to what Leo says:
To me, where the root forms is important...possibly more important than branch structure because they naturally become features (or why bother?)
To me, it's important the arial roots fall from the canopy...or at least high up the trunk. Otherwise it's more neagari and easier to build by those methods: basically, bury the trunk
Once an arial root establishes in the soil, it can thicken very fast! Think about it: the tree has created itself a shortcut to soil resources...why route around the long way round! I have arial roots on schefflera that have outgrown the trunk
What I have not yet tried is pruning the arial roots regularly just under the soil line...but such may be needed to keep a balanced visual. But, with this possibility in mind, it might be worth considering starting with a tree with a thicker trunk so that it remains obvious compared to the "auxiliary" trunks. That is, it is fun to get arial roots...but consider the visual impact of the composition and if it will really look like you're imagining if the roots do outgrow the trunk.
cbroad
Omono
In my area in the summer if it rains for a few days, that's usually conducive enough to start aerial roots on my microcarpas. When the weather dries up though, the aerials usually also do. I tried the straw method before but it never really worked out.
I did something similar to @hemmy. I used a plastic 1 gallon bottle to make a container around the trunks, filled with 50/50 chopped sphagnum and perlite.
Once the roots had some time to grow, I took the walls off and gently combed and positioned the roots. Then packed the sphagnum and perlite back in and wrapped the whole thing with plastic. It worked really well, and the substrate is easy to clean away.
I still have the sphagnum mix wrapped around the trunks... just looked back, it's been 2.5 years
... I'm planning on repotting the whole thing this summer, finally...
This was originally a hydroponically grown ficus, then later transferred to soil. It lives it's life now indoors under lights. Currently it's in this thread: Post hydroponic ficus finagling, and before that: Ficus Experiment
I did something similar to @hemmy. I used a plastic 1 gallon bottle to make a container around the trunks, filled with 50/50 chopped sphagnum and perlite.
Once the roots had some time to grow, I took the walls off and gently combed and positioned the roots. Then packed the sphagnum and perlite back in and wrapped the whole thing with plastic. It worked really well, and the substrate is easy to clean away.
I still have the sphagnum mix wrapped around the trunks... just looked back, it's been 2.5 years
... I'm planning on repotting the whole thing this summer, finally...This was originally a hydroponically grown ficus, then later transferred to soil. It lives it's life now indoors under lights. Currently it's in this thread: Post hydroponic ficus finagling, and before that: Ficus Experiment
Michigan Tree Murderer
Masterpiece
I was lucky enough to see this one in person. US largest Banyan (wiki link) I would love to have one on a 24 inch tray like you mention, but being new I'm just experimenting with the starter TBF I have. Living in MI I wasn't sure if aerial roots would even grow, and as you see I had to modify their environment. Thanks for the advice.
Michigan Tree Murderer
Masterpiece
Agreed it is important. I can always just cut it off early if I don't think it works for the look. Thanks for the advice, always appreciated.To add to what Leo says:
To me, where the root forms is important...possibly more important than branch structure because they naturally become features (or why bother?)
To me, it's important the arial roots fall from the canopy...or at least high up the trunk. Otherwise it's more neagari and easier to build by those methods: basically, bury the trunk
Once an arial root establishes in the soil, it can thicken very fast! Think about it: the tree has created itself a shortcut to soil resources...why route around the long way round! I have arial roots on schefflera that have outgrown the trunk
Michigan Tree Murderer
Masterpiece
Thanks Cajunrider! I've followed quite a few of your ficus posts about your own Trees. In your climate you probably need a machete when July rolls around.
Michigan Tree Murderer
Masterpiece
Cool thanks I'll check those threads out too!In my area in the summer if it rains for a few days, that's usually conducive enough to start aerial roots on my microcarpas. When the weather dries up though, the aerials usually also do. I tried the straw method before but it never really worked out.
I did something similar to @hemmy. I used a plastic 1 gallon bottle to make a container around the trunks, filled with 50/50 chopped sphagnum and perlite.
View attachment 471554View attachment 471555
Once the roots had some time to grow, I took the walls off and gently combed and positioned the roots. Then packed the sphagnum and perlite back in and wrapped the whole thing with plastic. It worked really well, and the substrate is easy to clean away.
View attachment 471556View attachment 471557View attachment 471558View attachment 471559
I still have the sphagnum mix wrapped around the trunks... just looked back, it's been 2.5 years
This was originally a hydroponically grown ficus, then later transferred to soil. It lives it's life now indoors under lights. Currently it's in this thread: Post hydroponic ficus finagling, and before that: Ficus Experiment
Michigan Tree Murderer
Masterpiece
AAAAAHHH! I've created a squid monster! 
I just took off the plastic "Tiger Tent"TM and the sphagnum moss after five days, and everything about look and placement came true! They all look bad and are in terrible spots. Time to get the scissors cut off the unwanted, and take this technique in a new direction. I scraped the moss off the trunk, and wrapped a branch in moss and wrapped it with plastic.
Glad it's working but I was not expecting this.
The dead one in this pic was the original aerial root.
I just took off the plastic "Tiger Tent"TM and the sphagnum moss after five days, and everything about look and placement came true! They all look bad and are in terrible spots. Time to get the scissors cut off the unwanted, and take this technique in a new direction. I scraped the moss off the trunk, and wrapped a branch in moss and wrapped it with plastic. Glad it's working but I was not expecting this.
The dead one in this pic was the original aerial root.
Michigan Tree Murderer
Masterpiece
I was thinking of keeping the new one on the left and cutting the established one on the right (at the red mark) after the new one reaches the soil. Just another experiment. What do you think? Also I'm going to cut the rest of them off, including the original first aerial root.
LittleDingus
Omono
AAAAAHHH! I've created a squid monster!
Glad it's working but I was not expecting this.
Lol...yeah, that was pretty much my reaction the first time I tried forcing aerial roots as well!
I lost a bunch a pictures from this era so I don't have any "in progress" pictures
But I tried creating a "straw" by wrapping some sphagnum in paper towel to form a root guide. I naively though "I'll get one single root". But, as I'm sure you now suspect! I didn't!6/28/2020
The right single aerial root formed naturally. The left twisted-cluster-fuck was what came out of my first "straw" attempt to force a root! And this is only a 2 inch drop! It was much smaller when I first removed the straw. Were I careful, I think I could have trimmed back to a single root. But I didn't.
4/16/2022
Roughly 2 years later, it looked like this:
11/19/2022
Hard to see in this one...but after just a few months more...
You can see that the aerial roots are starting to compete with the size of the trunk! Ficus will maybe not be as bad. Schefflera aren't "woody" trunks in the way ficus are...they don't tend to thicken much. But, thinking about what aerial roots do, it's not hard to imagine that they can thicken faster than the trunk. It is a short cut to ground for all foliage beyond the root. As the branch grows out beyond the aerial root, the root will support more and more foliage...eventually more than the trunk is supporting...at least for that branch.
I did this experiment to learn what I could before possibly trying to force aerial roots on a ficus root over geode planting I have in development. After seeing how this experiment has turned out, I've rethought if I will even attempt it on the geode planting!
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LittleDingus
Omono
My experience is once they reach soil and establish, they will harden and "bark up". Take the humidity away and anything that hasn't reached soil will dry up on its own.
They remind me of stalagtites in a way. If water can drip down and keep the tip moist, the structure will continue to grow. If not, it stalls and eventually dies.
amcoffeegirl
Masterpiece
Not sure if anyone asked yet- will you share a photo of the root? I’m trying to imagine a twisty aerial root.
Michigan Tree Murderer
Masterpiece
Wow! That is wild how the one on the left formed. Good to know info, and thanks for sharing.Lol...yeah, that was pretty much my reaction the first time I tried forcing aerial roots as well!
I lost a bunch a pictures from this era so I don't have any "in progress" pictures
6/28/2020
View attachment 471636
The right single aerial root formed naturally. The left twisted-cluster-fuck was what came out of my first "straw" attempt to force a root! And this is only a 2 inch drop! It was much smaller when I first removed the straw. Were I careful, I think I could have trimmed back to a single root. But I didn't.
4/16/2022
Roughly 2 years later, it looked like this:
View attachment 471637
11/19/2022
Hard to see in this one...but after just a few months more...
View attachment 471650
You can see that the aerial roots are starting to compete with the size of the trunk! Ficus will maybe not be as bad. Schefflera aren't "woody" trunks in the way ficus are...they don't tend to thicken much. But, thinking about what aerial roots do, it's not hard to imagine that they can thicken faster than the trunk. It is a short cut to ground for all foliage beyond the root. As the branch grows out beyond the aerial root, the root will support more and more foliage...eventually more than the trunk is supporting...at least for that branch.
I did this experiment to learn what I could before possibly trying to force aerial roots on a ficus root over geode planting I have in development. After seeing how this experiment has turned out, I've rethought if I will even attempt it on the geode planting!
Michael P
Omono
Really enjoying this thread, I think there is some bubble wrap laying around in the workshop. . .
19Mateo83
Masterpiece
I don’t really have a vision for my ginseng, I’m just kinda letting it go where it wants. The way I see it, the more aerial roots that I can get growing the less noticeable what’s left of its potato will be. It’s defiantly a fun tree to experiment on. Very resilient. I kinda want to just bag the whole thing and see what happens.
Michigan Tree Murderer
Masterpiece
My wifes friend brought me their "dead" store bought no drainage pot Ginseng today to try and revive it. "Give it to Michigan Tree Murder" somehow sounded like a good idea.
I might toss it in the bag.
19Mateo83
Masterpiece
JackHammer
Chumono
I have a pattern for aerial roots - wrap the base in sphagum moss, water as normal, gradually let that moss wash away. When it comes time to repot, keep washing away the soil from the trunk. This thickens the trunk and adds aerial roots as well as nebari.
