Fusing PJ trunks, can it be done

[Raymond]

I have a 11 or so small PJ's, potted up as 2 failed forests. This was done way back when I wasn't a dad and had spare time. Since joining this amazing forum I have seen things I never thought possible and I am now ready to get serious again. Some of these have fused naturally in the bottom of the pots. They range in size from 15cm to 30+cm in height and look like they could be nice trees one day. My question is, if I wrap them together will they fuse? Do I need to scrape the outside to expose the cambium where I join them?
I will hopefully post a pic later today of what I have to start with, NO laughing!!!

[alpineart]

Hi Raymond , you most certainly can fuse fig along with most otherplants .Times vary depending on species , climate and growth rate . Maples , elms and figs just to name a few that have been done here , less vigourous stock takes time so if its young and healthy it will fuse quicker .

I dont bother removing bark , although i did on some cedars and pines years ago .If the strapping is tight enough to hold them secure during the process then it works better . Plaited trunks need minimal strapping as the plait hold firmer than wound or gathered trunks .

Good luck with them .

Cheers Alpineart

[trident76]

Hi Raymond.
I agree, port jackson figs can certainly be fused together to form a single tree, in minimal time.
I use grafting tape, sometimes called budding tape, to bind the trees together.
If the individual trees in your 'forest' are some distance from each other, you may consider removing them all from their pot, washing the soil from the roots, in order to position the trees right next to each other, to then be tightly bound up together with the grafting tape.
They can then be planted as single unit in a nice big pot.
Remember to spread the roots out radially, and laterally. I often also position a flat object (piece of rigid plastic etc) under the roots to encourage lateral root growth. I often also use a small amount of aluminium wire at this stage to position the branches.

This fusing technique is excellent for figs, as it encourages them to grow as a multi-trunked tree just as they would grow naturally.

Cheers,

Luke

[Raymond]

Ok my wife kindly took some photos for me. As I said, NO laughing. These were potted about 4 years ago, and the weeds have taken hold.
4 tree forrest

I think there is 5, maybe 6 trees in this one

Next question, large pot or garden bed? Heaps of room in the veggie patch and soil has heaps of cow/sheep manure in it.
Once again, NO laughing!!!

[bonsaibeginer]

You can't beat planting them in the ground Raymond. Put them together like the guys have said above and if you have the space in the veggie patch, drop them in. Looks like nice stock to try with...

looking again at the pics they don't look bad at all. Why not keep a cpl of the bigger ones and trunk chop and start again. They don't look too small and seem to have a bit of taper already?

[Raymond]

You can't beat planting them in the ground Raymond. Put them together like the guys have said above and if you have the space in the veggie patch, drop them in. Looks like nice stock to try with...

looking again at the pics they don't look bad at all. Why not keep a cpl of the bigger ones and trunk chop and start again. They don't look too small and seem to have a bit of taper already?

Thanks for the reply mate. I was thinking of using some of the straighter ones in the larger forest for the fusion experiment and trunk chopping the rest. The smaller forest has a couple fo nice trunks in it...

[Isitangus]

I agree-in the ground on something flat,
Keep some of the trunks with movement/taper for individual plants.

[trident76]

Hi again Raymond.
Now that I have seen photos, I think what you have there are not port jackson fig, but Moreton bay fig. The indentation where the petiole meets the leaf, and the die back where pruning has occurred would both indicate this as the species.
Given the tendency for die back, I would perhaps hesitate to 'trunk chop' as suggested.
Also given the girth of each tree, it may take some time for the trunks to fuse together, however I still believe this is a good option.
Cheers,
Luke

[Raymond]

Hi again Raymond.
Now that I have seen photos, I think what you have there are not port jackson fig, but Moreton bay fig. The indentation where the petiole meets the leaf, and the die back where pruning has occurred would both indicate this as the species.
Given the tendency for die back, I would perhaps hesitate to 'trunk chop' as suggested.
Also given the girth of each tree, it may take some time for the trunks to fuse together, however I still believe this is a good option.
Cheers,
Luke

Chhers Luke. Given I have done nothing with these for 4 years, I will try and fuse them, got nothing to lose. With the "trunk chop", what would you suggest id dieback is a problem?

[Raymond]

Got busy on Saturday arvo. It took 35 mins to get the trees out of the pot, and separate them. 2 were fused naturally, so I left them joined and planted after trunk chopping and sealed with cut paste. I used several of the shoots as guinea pigs for the Dynamic Fig Quickly method. I then took 3 trees that fit together nicely for fusion. Planted all in the unused corner of my vegie patch. Plenty of sheep manure and dynamic lifter went in and Lucerne mulch to surpress the weeds and generate some warmth. I also used my Dremmel to cut a groove above the roots to try and get a new root system happening...










Sorry about the size of pics, attachments don't seem to work. I would appreciate feedback, good or bad. I'm a big boy, I can take criticism...

[Raymond]

Another question, should I put empty plastic bottles over these?

[Jarad]

Hi Raymond,

I was thinking about doing something similar (with PJ's), how are these ones coming along?

Do you have any tips?

[Jarad]

Hi Raymond,

I was thinking about doing something similar (with PJ's), how are these ones coming along?

Do you have any tips?

Raymond, you there