15 year old Bonsai need advice - ramification?

[Pharmacisticus]

Hi All,

I have a 15yrs old Pt Jackson Fig (I'm told) I still can't believe it lasted so long!

I want it to sort of dome up the canopy, but am unsure what I need to do...

I'm also worried it is just getting taller and wirier.

Can someone more knowledgeable please set me in the right direction?

I sometimes wonder if I shouldn't cut it of at the trunk and start again!!?

Also, I'm a complete novice so will need very clear instructions

Thanks in advance,

Josh

Bonsai 2.jpg

[shibui]

Hi Josh,
welcome to Ausbonsai. I was going to say welcome to bonsai but you have kept your ficus alive for 15 years so technically not a beginner although ficus are very forgiving so even with little knowledge and skill they stay alive.

Pruning is what will give you more ramification. Fastest way to get there is to let the branches grow to around 4-6 leaves long then cut back to 1 or 2 leaves. New shoots grow from the base of leaves so where there was one you will have 2. Eventually this build up a canopy.
Faster growth will give more opportunity to prune and build ramification even quicker. Growth is fueled by nutrients ie fertilizer so feed often and plenty. Ficus love their food and it is almost impossible to give too much. I'd suggest fertilize weekly in warm weather. No mention of where you live which makes it hard to be specific about times of year and further care for ficus. Being sub tropical they don't like cold winters so care in southern areas is very different from North.

Our native ficus are very good at new buds after pruning so you can even cut long branches back to bare wood and they will almost always produce new shoots.
They are apically dominant so if you prune lower branches but leave upper branches intact the lower branches may not bother to shoot. Always prune top branches more than lower ones.

Ficus respond well to defoliation so cutting leaves off is another way to get new shoots but it won't usually solve the problem of long branches. Always remove the tip buds when defoliating or it may just unroll new leaves at the tip instead of back budding.

In short, Feed well, keep it warm and prune regularly.

After that it is just a matter of time.

[Pharmacisticus]

Thanks so much for your reply.

I live in Albury-Wodonga so it's very cold here right now.

I've just done a root trim and changed out the soil as it was a bit bound up. It seems to have taken it well without shock.

Is there a particular time to prune?

Lastly, could you recommend a fertiliser?

Thanks again,

Josh

[shibui]

It appears you are a neighbour Josh.
Down here we don't usually repot ficus until the weather warms up. They don't do well with winter root pruning but are pretty tough so hopefully this one will manage. Prime time in this area for both repotting and pruning is late October through to January when the trees are more active and seem to recover better.

Any fertilizer can be used for bonsai. I've never met one yet that can read the packet. All they are interested in is the nutrients and all fertilizers have nutrients.
I use osmocote in the potting mix at repotting, Thrive, Powerfeed or similar liquid fertilizer every few weeks through the growing season and occasional sprinkles of chook poo pellets but whatever you have access to and feel comfortable about will work.

Albury Wodonga bonsai society meets 4th Tuesday each month, border restrictions and meeting numbers permitting. You could PM me for details or contact our secretary through the club facebook page. We'd be very happy to offer support and encouragement if you want any help.

[greg27]

Is there a particular time to prune?

Probably worth leaving it alone until late spring / early summer. I use Charlie Carp (fortnightly in spring/summer) and Rooster Booster on my plants, including PJ ficus, which seem happy enough. You can literally layer on the Rooster Booster pellets on a ficus.

Definitely hit Shibui up for details on the club. Down here at the SA club there are so many experienced members who are more than happy happy to sit with a newbie and dish out the advice, and I'm sure it'll be no different at the Albury Wodonga club. And even better if they do club digs

[tgward]

(If it were mine)in the warmer weather I would trunk chop just above the lowest v then feed feed feed

[Eric]

One thing most seem to ignore about our native figs, if you create the right environment you can grow and prune at ANY time of the year. I grow native figs indoors, from seed, ALL year-round.

[shibui]

One thing most seem to ignore about our native figs, if you create the right environment you can grow and prune at ANY time of the year. I grow native figs indoors, from seed, ALL year-round.

By all means 'IF' you can create the 'RIGHT' environment for figs all year round then you can also trim and repot all year round too but for many of us the environment we can create or choose to create is less than ideal so we have learned to also modify the times we do certain work on our figs.

As well as the artificial modifications to environment there is also local climate. I'm sure north Queenslanders scratch their heads in wonder when we southerners talk about only repotting in warmer weather.
I believe minimum night temps of 10C is regarded as suitable weather for working on figs. That will occur at different times at different locations and indoors v outdoors.

[Eric]

You would be surprised just how simple it is to create the "RIGHT" environment for our natives, in particular Moreton Bay, Port Jackson, Rock Figs and to some extent the White Fig as well. I only added the info if anyone was interested in doing the same.I'm in Melbourne and happy to pass on what I have learned.

[Eric]

After re-reading the post I'm getting the feeling people here aren't interested in anyone else's ideas, so I will move on.