Tortuous Fig Prgression

Mbunro · Post by **Mbunro** » February 7th, 2017, 12:20 pm

This little fig was one of the first trees i bought. Apparently called a Tortuous fig. HAvent really been able to find any info on them but i believe it is pretty much a benji with different growing habits.
i very quickly came to dislike the design, and the pot so I've spent the last year slowly reworking it..
just thought id post a little progression of how its going.

new.jpg

this is not long after i bought it... its the only photo i could find of it... i was told not to wire it so i went home and wired it ha

defol.jpg

cut back most branches and moved it into this pot mid last year but took no photos at the time. i let it be until early December and gave it an almost complete defoliation as you can see in this photo.

now.jpg

and this is as it currently sits about 8 weeks after the defol. forgot to take a scale picture but its slightly taller than a bic lighter.

although it has its faults i think its definitely an improvement to the original design.
going to give it another week or 2 for the new shoots to harden and i will cut back all branches to twin leaves.
any suggestions or critiques are most welcome

thanks for geezin

Kevin · Post by **Kevin** » February 7th, 2017, 10:17 pm

Looking good Mbunro,

Personally never heard of this variety before.

if you develop an apex into your design using that isolated little branch at the top.

Just a thought.
Please post future progressions on whatever you decide.

Kevin

Mbunro · Post by **Mbunro** » February 8th, 2017, 9:14 am

thanks kevin...

yeah iv seen a few of them over here, ive heard them called tortured fig, tortuous fig and tangled fig.
they are almost identical to a benji but they naturally grow all twisted and contorted and are about as fragile as a tree can get, tiniest knock and by bye branchy

And yeh i agree about that small branch at the top... it doesnt look right being there at the moment but i couldnt bring my self to cut it off as i think it could definitely be used in the future to improve the tree.. Thinking i could possibly try bring the main foliage clump back in closer to the pot, making it more of a full cascade and this would leave that small branch directly above the canopy.

Mbunro · Post by **Mbunro** » November 17th, 2018, 1:02 pm

Update..

This one was going well but I was struggling to keep up with the water on such a small pot so it got some bigger shoes in February this year.
Have had nothing but trouble since then.
I haven't touched it since, but It has died back to the trunk twice this year, with this photo showing its third set of leaves in 8 months.
This set is further along than any of the others before the die back so fingers crossed these are here to stay, for the summer at least anyway..

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MJL · Post by **MJL** » November 17th, 2018, 8:10 pm

I hope it settles back down Mbunro; this is an interesting plant and with time could develop beautifully. Interesting pot too - where was that made?

Bonsai teaches me patience.

Mbunro · Post by **Mbunro** » November 18th, 2018, 11:47 am

Hi mjl
I got the pot from a bonsai nursery in the Netherlands. The owner was pretty sure it was made in the Czech republic.. it is signed 'song' underneath but have never been able to find anything else about the maker... Probably more suited as an accent pot but I think it works as a semi cascade too.

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Deleros · Post by **Deleros** » November 24th, 2018, 11:14 am

Mbunro wrote:Update..

This one was going well but I was struggling to keep up with the water on such a small pot so it got some bigger shoes in February this year.
Have had nothing but trouble since then.
I haven't touched it since, but It has died back to the trunk twice this year, with this photo showing its third set of leaves in 8 months.
This set is further along than any of the others before the die back so fingers crossed these are here to stay, for the summer at least anyway..

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Hi Mbunro..

I've read that before transplant you were defoliating your fig every ten weeks, this is it? That's not good. To have new leaves requires a lot of energy so I think your fig was exhausted when you decided to transplant. And this is very compromised work for the tree, that sustains itself whith the reservations while it creates new roots..

If you expect to transplant a tree, ZERO works the previous year.

I think your fig will do well - they are really resistent - but I don't know if the amount of water is correct..
What kind of substract did you use? Akadama? Pomice?

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Mbunro · Post by **Mbunro** » November 25th, 2018, 2:52 pm

Hi deleros.. I think you may have misunderstood...

The branches have died back twice this year taking the leaves with them and as a result this is it's third set of leaves since the repot... I have not removed anything intentionally in that time..
Before that it got a defoliation in early 2017 it then went untouched for 12months until the repot early 2018... definately wasn't defoliated every 8 weeks the year before...

As for substrate it is a mix of 2mm river sand, pine park and organic soil..
Probably a few people that disagree with that mix but for me it's simple and seems to work well...

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boom64 · Post by **boom64** » November 25th, 2018, 7:46 pm

Hi Mbunro ,
I have a very similar fig to yours .A mate grows fairly big ones and sells them at our local markets ,people like the smaller tighter growth of these trees for patios .He calls them Benji Nana and has a pretty big old tree at home. I have grown a few of these .They are a bit touchy and always seem to drop a branch or two over winter. Never defoliated as leaves are pretty small ,and growth is pretty tight. Good luck with yours maybe just one of those touchy plants. Cheers John.

AusBonsai