Chunky Ficus - Future Banyan?

Post photo's of your bonsai under-construction for discussion and inspiration.
Post Reply
Muddy
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 59
Joined: March 8th, 2016, 5:44 pm
Favorite Species: Ficus
Bonsai Age: 2
Bonsai Club: N/A
Location: Ipswich

Chunky Ficus - Future Banyan?

Post by Muddy »

Good Morning All,
Thought I'd post some pics of a Ficus I'm hoping to develop into a banyan. Very new to bonsai, so I've decided to focus on some Ficus and try out a bunch of techniques. This victim was purchased as 2 plants in 8" pots a month ago.
Any consensus on the correct naming? Nursery said White Tigerbark Retusa. I'm calling it Ficus Microcarpa "Retusa". Can't find any references about the "white" naming?
I constructed a grow box for the little fellas while they develop.
There was a large knob on one plant where a heap of branches had sprouted & been left to grow. This was sawed off & turned to the inside. An area of bark on the opposing side was roughed up & the 2 tied with raffia.
Trunk_Close.jpg
The roots of both plants were sawed off to 1/3 & arranged to fit together. Left over roots were attached to the trunks to fill in empty spaces. Seeing how readily Ficus fuse & grow from root cuttings, I've simply pinned 2 roots to the trunks after slicing off a layer of bark & sealed with PVA. I like experiments! The root that mattered most was attached with the more accepted method of T-Cutting the bark & inserting the grafted root underneath. No cut paste on hand, so I soaked a strip of paper towel in PVA & wrapped the wound.
Graft_Root.jpg
Pinned_Root.jpg
Trimmed off what was growing in the wrong places, wired the branches out & It's been growing great ever since. Still pushing out new growth, but I guess they don't slow down much in Brisbane.
Front2.jpg
Left.jpg
Back.jpg
Right.jpg
Thanks for looking!
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Bonsai_creations
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 54
Joined: May 10th, 2017, 12:48 pm
Favorite Species: ficus-mini unbrella-jade-natives
Bonsai Age: 5
Location: Frazer coast qld

Re: Chunky Ficus - Future Banyan?

Post by Bonsai_creations »

Should turn out fine, keep up the photos
Muddy
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 59
Joined: March 8th, 2016, 5:44 pm
Favorite Species: Ficus
Bonsai Age: 2
Bonsai Club: N/A
Location: Ipswich

Re: Chunky Ficus - Future Banyan?

Post by Muddy »

I decided that I wasn't happy with the direction I was taking these two ficus. Trying to cover up the flaws of one tree by combining it with another just seems to multiply my problems :shock:
Time for a repot, prune & change of direction.
Plenty of good root growth filled out the whole grow box:
20170923_Bonsai.jpg
Top growth had been left to grow:
20170923_Bonsai2.jpg
Roots washed to see what we're working with:
20170923_Bonsai3.jpg
The two trunks pushed apart after the raffia loosened over time:
20170923_Bonsai4.jpg
New root growth has been crazy. Better sort these out before it's too late to uncross them:
20170923_Bonsai5.jpg
Failed root graft where I cut through the bark & secured the cut end against the trunk with a small nail:
20170923_Bonsai6.jpg
The root graft where I cut a flap in the bark & inserted the cut end underneath the bark. Paper towel soaked in PVA used to seal the graft:
20170923_Bonsai7.jpg
Here's the same graft with the blackened paper towel/glue mess removed. Completely fused. There is a gap where the bark hasn't joined, but I'm hoping this closes over time:
20170923_Bonsai8.jpg
Same graft, different angle:
20170923_Bonsai9.jpg
After separating the two trees, it was clear that having them together has hindered root development on one side of both trees:
20170923_Bonsai10.jpg
Trunk #1 root pruned & cleaned up, ready for it's own home. No more sharing a room with your brother :shake:
20170923_Bonsai11.jpg
That's better! Free to do it's own thing again:
20170923_Bonsai13.jpg
Trunk #2 cleaned up & showing it's good side:
20170923_Bonsai14.jpg
Trunk #2 has a bad side. No root growth at all on the side that was against the other trunk:
20170923_Bonsai15.jpg
Trunk #2 root pruned & chopped:
20170923_Bonsai16.jpg
Repotted & surrounded by some cuttings from it's top half. Hopefully I can graft one of these to fix the lack of roots on the back:
20170923_Bonsai17.jpg
It's been a fun project so far. Looking forward to getting some branches set in the next year.
Thanks for looking!
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Post Reply

Return to “Bonsai Progression Series”