Hello! Newbie here with some ficus :)

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AlBooBoo

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I am pretty new to bonsai but i have found that it is something i really wanna use a lot of time and effort into doing.

So i am posting some pictures of my ficus benjaminas along with some questions and thoughts and hope to get some advices from the more experienced :)


I have been experimenting a bit with the soil part and for the plants that i have putted in bonsai pots a few days ago i have made a mix of lots of perlite some spagnum and a little bit of cactus soil mixed with worm soil compost.

I have my plants indoor under 14 hours of artificial lights (will get growing lights)
and placed them inside growing boxes with stones and water in for getting more humidity.
I really want those aerial roots to grow :)

IMG_1988.jpg
This is my 1 year old plant that started it all.. all ive done with this is removing the top layer of soil so far and repotted it yesterday. But i really want the trunk to thicken more.

IMG_1984.jpg
About a month old and one of 2 plants i bought and cutted down hard.
Repotted yesterday and pruned the roots a bit as well.

IMG_1974.jpg
The other one of the 2 nursery plants.
Still in nursery pot and new shoots are coming all over.
Trying to wrap in plastic for getting those aerial roots.

And here`s just a few pictures of the bench and some cuttings.. what is the best way for taking cuttings of ficus? straight in soil or water first ?
IMG_1980.jpg
IMG_1982.jpg

So some questions:

1. Am i doing something wrong?
2. What should be my next steps? (really want those aerial roots and thicker trunks)
3. Is there a rule of thumb on how often a ficus can take some stress? (like pruning, leaf reduction etc)

What are your thoughts? :)

All help will be appreciated :)
 
Judging by the health of the trees, I would say you aren't doing anything wrong. The only thing that I would say is that even though you can grow ficus indoors you would see a big difference if they had an outdoor period in the summer. Can you fill out your profile with your location? In terms of what they can take, ficus are very resilient. I would say however that at the moment it doesn't appear as if you need to do any pruning. I would let them grow stronger first.
 
I live in norway.. even tho we have had a really good sommer so far the temperatures at night can still be a bit low.. temperatures can go from almost 30 celcius at day to 17 at night..
wouldent that be a bit too big difference?

Do you have any tips on the aerial root development as well ? :)

Thanks for answering :)
 
Any nights 11 Celsius or above seems to be fine for all of our Tropical types. I don't see 30c as being to hot for ours either but they only get morning sun. If they were out all day full sun it would require a LOT of watering here. Keep in mind that is how it works at my location and I am certain others do different things ;)
 
Will try to put them outside for some sun in a day or two since i just repotted them :)
 
AlBooBoo said:
Will try to put them outside for some sun in a day or two since i just repotted them :)
Click to expand...

Make sure they don't go from indoors to full sun. Leave them in the shade for a few days, then slowly introduce them to the sun, a few hours a day or so.
 
will do :) have kinda little sun outside my door so it wont be sun there all day long either.

do you know the best way for making the aerial roots grow ?
 
ok :) i tried to fill the mini greenhouse with rocks and water under the pots.. but it looked like it was so humid that the soil layer started to rot :/
 
AlBooBoo said:
ok :) i tried to fill the mini greenhouse with rocks and water under the pots.. but it looked like it was so humid that the soil layer started to rot :/
Click to expand...


Your soil looks (and sounds) like it holds too much water. If you made your soil more porous your trees would probably be happier and your soil wouldn't get moldy.
 
they have been repotted for 3 days ago :) into a mix of about 70% perlite and 30% worm casting compost and spagnum.
 
AlBooBoo said:
they have been repotted for 3 days ago :) into a mix of about 70% perlite and 30% worm casting compost and spagnum.
Click to expand...


I see, but if you stick the trees into a humid environment and the soil molds, there's something wrong with your soil :p

I grow most of my trees in humid environments, and I get zero mold on my soil.
 
havent tried it after i repotted tho.. so will try again :) just thought it maybe would happen anyways if the humidity was too high..
 
and so the plants where back in the humidity :D

do you have any ficus your self? maybe some photos ? :)
 
Do you think it will work out fine to do cuttings and put them directly into the soil next to the trunk on a allready larger ficus and then wire them in close together?
Im thinking like maybe 3-4 cuttings around the one bigger plant

Been thinking this might will be an option for getting a thick trunk faster..

I know there is a search option on the forums but id rather ask and get a more direct answer to my guestion :)
 
For me, to develop aerial roots, I would apply a shallow cut at the position i'd like to have my aerial roots. After that, i would wrap a wet piece of cloth around this cut, and always make sure that the towel is moist. In my experience, aerial roots sprout around the wound in a few weeks. Then i choose the root to keep and cut the rest. To raise the chosen root, i place the root inside a small pipe filled with wet moss. When the root is long enough I break the pipe and bury it into the soil.

Hope it helps.
 
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