My IKEA Ginseng ficus.

[Eckhoffw]

Before I really knew what bonsai was, I purchased this ginseng ficus from IKEA. I believe it was winter of 2017.

I spent a lot of time picking my favorite one, as they went for $30 - which seemed like a lot.
I wish I had photos from time of purchase, but I wasn’t photographing my plants then.

A week after I got the plant home, it dropped all its leaves.
Not Knowing the nature of ficus-especially in a Minnesota winter,
I figured the plant was dead. I went back to IKEA to return it. but since it was nearing Christmas, the wait for a return was like an hour long.

I turned around and excepted the loss.
When I got home I repotted the thing in a bigger dish. Probably a bad idea. But,
Sure enough, weeks later, the ficus started pushing new growth.
Damage was done, and it lost a lot of branches before recovering.

Fast forward to present, and the tree is starting to take some shape.
The canopy is now about as large and healthy as when I bought it.
Ive done some carving away at the graft point, and it’s starting to blend in.
Still, long way to go till it’s descent.

 

[Eckhoffw]

QUESTION!!
So, I’m thinking of cutting the tubes off this one. But I plan on keeping some of the root stock.
Here are pics.
Yellow line is where I’m thinking.
Would you air layer this off?
I’m thinking this is a little big to treat as a cutting.
Thoughts?

 

[canoeguide]

I think that will work fine as a cutting in well draining soil.

Personally, I think you might pack sphagnum moss around the trunk (as is) for 6 months and see if you can get aerial roots to start covering up the tubes. It could make for a nice base/trunk that way.

 

[19Mateo83]

If you were to cut the tubes I would go lower than your yellow line. You can take advantage of the top portion of the bulbous roots to end up with a flaring wide base.

 

[giventofly]

Sorry, but what are the tubes?

 

[Eckhoffw]

Sorry, but what are the tubes?

Just the bulbous root stock that the top is grafted upon.

 

[luvinthemountains]

I’m thinking this is a little big to treat as a cutting.
Thoughts?

You can definitely root it as a cutting, but you may need to use a humidity chamber. That is how I did this one...

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

@Eckhoffw - great idea to root this as a large cutting or to air layer it to get it off the fat roots (tubes) - but seriously, you are in Minnesota. You should have thought of this in May or June. September is the wrong time of year. Wait until next May. You will want the increasing day length, heat and humidity to trigger vigorous growth. If you are windowsill growing your Ficus you really should wait for early summer. Ficus are WARM WEATHER trees. They want daytime temps above 80 F and nights above 70 F for good vigorous growth and good root growth. Done in September the tree is likely to sulk, be slow to respond or possibly fail entirely. Ficus are tough, death is unlikely, but it will likely sulk all winter and die back some before vigor returns in May or June.

Now if you have a high intensity LED light set up, bright enough to bring in a crop of chili peppers or marijuana and warm enough for the chilies, above 80 F during the day when lights are on, go ahead and tackle the chop. But if you are in a windowsill, I would wait until early next summer, late May early June.

 

[Eckhoffw]

@Eckhoffw - great idea to root this as a large cutting or to air layer it to get it off the fat roots (tubes) - but seriously, you are in Minnesota. You should have thought of this in May or June. September is the wrong time of year. Wait until next May. You will want the increasing day length, heat and humidity to trigger vigorous growth. If you are windowsill growing your Ficus you really should wait for early summer. Ficus are WARM WEATHER trees. They want daytime temps above 80 F and nights above 70 F for good vigorous growth and good root growth. Done in September the tree is likely to sulk, be slow to respond or possibly fail entirely. Ficus are tough, death is unlikely, but it will likely sulk all winter and die back some before vigor returns in May or June.

Now if you have a high intensity LED light set up, bright enough to bring in a crop of chili peppers or marijuana and warm enough for the chilies, above 80 F during the day when lights are on, go ahead and tackle the chop. But if you are in a windowsill, I would wait until early next summer, late May early June.

Thanks Leo! Yeah I’m going to wait.
I thought about doing it now and rely on the new green house to aid in recovery. However, I’m In no hurry really.