Fused Tiger Bark Fig

[Nate.bonsai]

I've always loved the look of those big fused trunk figs.

I've been propagating Tiger Bark Fig whips from cuttings for a few years and finally decided to use them.

The whips were grown from cuttings and packed in tight into regular plant pots (e.g. 20 cuttings into a single pot). I packed them in so that they would all grow straight up and none would grow too thick. The whips were between 1-3 years when I kicked the project off.

First pics are April 2019, when I bundled the whips into their future trunks. I was going to throw them all into one trunk - but I have a problem with large trunks (i.e. I naturally gravitate towards them and everything I have is large and heavy). So, I decided to go for a multi-trunk setting.

To form the large trunk, I bundled groups of, say, 3-5 whips together and then bundled those together. I wanted to avoid putting everything into one bundle and then tying multiple wires along the outside, which would later scar the new tree in a really uniform and unnatural way. I am hoping that my way varies the placement of the wire and means that the scars from where the trunks grow over the wire are less obvious.

I planted in one of those massive 'roll under the bed' storage tubs. Over the year, the roots grew right through the holes that I had drilled and the whips grew to about 80cm-1m and thickened up well.

Next pics (in a bonsai pot) are November 2020. The smaller and medium trunks were pretty much fused. They still look quite distinct in the pics, but are fused on the inside where the whips touch. The larger had about 4 (now substantially thicker) whips that hadn't fused. I used very fine wire to bind (to reduce scarring), but some of it snapped as the whips grew through the year - so I think this was why some trunks remained separate. I've re-wired those ones in, with slightly thicker wire this time.

I probably should have planted in the big tub on the ground again and let them have another year of rampant growth to really bring them together. But, I've just had new bonsai benches done and am trying to make the area look less 'abandoned nursery' and more of a feature, so I potted into a bonsai pot. If they really slow down in growth this year, I'll chuck them back in the storage container next year.

Overall, I think there has been good progress for just over one year. Will still need a number of years before the whips really grow together in a blended way, but a good start.

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[Matt S]

Great post Nate. Love the bark on those trunks, it'll be interesting to see how the pattern looks when they fuse more. I've seen people use cling film to bind the trunks really tightly with no resulting wire marks, the roll is cut into shorter lengths so the cling film is easier to use.

"Abandoned Nursery Look" - Ha, I've been guilty of that too.

Matt.

[Pat.G]

Haha yeah my missus hates the black pots everywhere. I’ve had to pot some up abit early too.

Loving the look so far anyway!

[Matthew]

I donated a large retusa to the Arbortorium several years ago that I believe was fused grown. If leigh has time he may have a picture of it somewhere . It just never got use to my conditions here even in a hothouse winter time . It has some of the tightest nodes and smallest leaves ive seen .