AusBonsai

Another tree, another thread.

This is my Benjamin fig that I have recently decided to bonsai.
Not sure as to what direction I'm going with this one, just letting it grow out for now.

Wish I got some snaps before chopped it and repotted. The tree was taller than me and I also believe it is older than me (it was my mothers haha).
Hopefully something nice can come of it.

a couple weeks growth

As of now
Coming along nicely after a month or so

.

hi ben,

how long ago did you make the chops?
i have a very similar one that a posted about 2 weeks ago, and its not put out any new growth yet.

Hoping you keep this post updated, thinking it would serve as a great point of comparison to mine.

bryce

I think I did about a month to a month and a half ago.
At first it didn't do much, but after the 3 to 4 week mark it started to get moving.

I had to cut the root ball in half too, it was massive.
To be honest I was expecting it to die.

Definitely will keep posting.

Update
Lots more foliage haha

Maybe an idea for you Ben a twin trunk...the final image is just a roughie and would not be as stiff as drawn and you would of course put some branches/pads out the back for depth.

Anthony

Thanks for you idea Anthony, I like it.
I need some direction with this one as it's my first fig.

I plan on selecting some branches and trimming this weekend so I will post the results.

Not much to report on, just a trim
Going to leave the top part of he big trunk for now

This one has changed a lot since I last posted.
Started to get the branch structure happening.
I would like to layer this one to get rid of the ugly roots, I was told that these can just be chopped and replanted. Is this the case?
Or what would be the best way to do so?

Have you considered splitting the tree between the trunks? IMO The long straight rear trunk takes away from the movement of the front one, would be a much nicer tree on its own. Hard to tell from the photo where they have joined so not sure if it's possible, but may be worth considering.

Cheers,
Pearcy.

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

I haven't considered it, I thought the twin trunk was kinda cool.
I think if I was to split it I wouldn't be left with enough branches to complete the look.
Any ideas on the layering?

In my experience these root really easy from cuttings large or small. I'd recommend the layer though to be safe. I did some air layers on a Benji a year or so ago and they had rooted well after 5 or 6 weeks.

Cheers,
Nigel

Cheers Nigel