My young ficus.

[thumblessprimate]

I have a young ficus that I just started training to become a root over rock style. I don't know what kind it is, but it grows very compact and contorted. The branches can be very brittle sometimes.

I cut off most of the original roots buried it in mostly pulverized granite and some peat moss and compost since the late winter (odd time yeah?). Took it out of the pot today to inspect the roots and was amazed at how much root there is. I dressed it up in this little pot.

I noticed some of the roots need more maturing so I used some plastic wrap to cover the exposed roots (not shown in the photos) with some of the mix I described above. I probably use not the most ideal materials but it's whatever I can find. Feel free to give any advice as I consider myself a novice.

No pruning or shaping had been really done to the ficus as I really just want it to grow vigorously and stick to the rock well for now. It has attached somewhat already.

 

[linlaoboo]

is that a kiki or too little?

 

[mat]

definitely a benjamina of some sort. It's hard to tell what's tree and what's rock from the pics, but it looks like it's healthy and happy.

 

[thumblessprimate]

Thanks everybody for taking a look at my little ficus.

This grew from a branch that broke off a larger older one. The "mother plant" grew to about 3 feet after approx 10 years in a green house. It seems to have sports as some of the branches that were broke off and rooted grow very straight but very compact while others contorted and compact like the one I presented to you. Some seem to be very brittle and some more flexible.

@ Mat: I see what you mean. I'll take a better photo sometime as the tree progresses. After viewing the photos several times, I thought to myself that sometimes it appears that the rock were the trunk of the ficus. If you look at the photo in the center and view it in full size, you should be able to trace the roots branching into two and four from the bottom of the twin trunk planted on the left side of the reddish lava rock.

 

[mat]

I see it better now with a second look. If it were mine, I'd just keep feeding it until it really takes over that rock. Then you can worry about the branches.

 

[BonsaiMon]

Nice planting... it's a ficus wiandi .. I call them carrot ficus. Both branches and larger roots are brittle.

 

[thumblessprimate]

I think You're right, Tom. The descriptions I find on the Internet for wiandi fits perfectly.

 

[thumblessprimate]

Root growth and development.

I wanted to share the progress of my ficus's roots.

As I mentioned last time, I wrapped the exposed roots with plastic wrap. Since then I thoroughly mist it daily and feed it once weekly with a fertilizer solution.


About 4 new roots popped out and have elongated. They'd grow along the plastic wrap and some away from the rock. So what I did was simply to arrange the roots, place some pebbles to press it closer to the rock, and keep it all retained with the white plastic sleeved wire. I'm no expert but my common sense tells me that roots grow adhering to surfaces unless there is negative space below, in which case roots would simply grow downward.


If I were to leave the roots alone, new surface or arial roots would grow outward towards the plastic wrap and begin to circle inside like roots of overgrown plants in small pots.


After my inspection and arrangement of the roots was done, I rewrapped it back in the plastic as before.

 

[thumblessprimate]

The ficus lost some branches from the tennis ball sized hail storm a month or two ago. I did some pruning. Roots developed more, and I raised up the rock a few inches. This is going in the direction of cascade or semi-cascade. Suggestions are welcomed.

 

[mat]

Looking good. Don't rush the exposure of those roots. As tough as Ficus roots are, they still would rather be underground.

 

[thumblessprimate]

@ Mat. Thanks. Yeah I got them wrapped back up with some plastic and misted again. It's in a place getting mostly filtered sunlight now.