AusBonsai

Ficus thonningii is a native to Africa and is a type of strangler fig. There's an impressive specimen growing just outside the back gates of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens and it's the only fig I've seen that's able to grow aerial roots in Adelaide's dry climate.

This is a cutting from a cutting from a cutting that's originally from that tree. It's a fast grower and the roots are insane, quickly filling any pot and escaping in all directions. I once had a cutting with a root that went over the rim of a pot, along a concrete path then into another pot.

For this tree I took a year old cutting and planted it onto the top of a stump I had lying around. I didn't bury the stump, I just wrapped it loosely with alfoil and kept it moist, and within a few months the roots had reached the soil level and the tree took off. That was three years ago and the roots continue to wrap around the stump, so I'm assuming it will one day completely envelop it.

Today I defoliated the tree and gave it a tweak with some wire in preparation for summer. Over winter in my back yard they slow down and look a bit pale, but once the warm weather hits they darken and grow strongly.
..and yes, it needs a better proportioned pot.

Matt.

What a great tree Matt, love the character of these stranger figs. I wouldn’t stand too still around it Matt, there are some roots escaping from the bottom of the pot. They may have your name on them
Cheers
Kirky

Terrific Tree Matt ,great design love the big cascading branch and those roots are very cool. Cheers John.

Wow, fantastic outcome.

cheers Anthony

anthonyW wrote:Wow, fantastic outcome.

cheers Anthony

Yeah, a lot of interest & character achieved here. Nice going Matt!

That's a great job!

Here's an update on this beast. I haven't completely defoliated this year, just removing most of last year's leaves. Last year I potted it up into a more suitable pot but I still think I could do better.

What's interesting is the growth of straight aerial roots moving horizontally, like the tree has decided to concentrate on enveloping the stump rather than getting down to the soil. Letting this species get pot bound certainly accelerates the aerial root growth and don't forget, this is Adelaide where aerial roots are a rarity!

Matt.

Absolute stunner. Is the donor tree outside one of the gates on Plane Tree Drive? Asking for a friend who may need to wander past on his lunchtime stroll tomorrow!

Edit: never mind, found it on Street View - it's obvious once you see it!

Growing well Mat, just having a study here, I have marked in red two areas, that wondering your thoughts here, the big root left rock has grown straight as to me looked great tucked in previous image...and the other root is growing very much sideways and keeps catching my eye as it defies the norm (against the flow)...just thinking out loud no biggie mate...cheers

anthonyW wrote: ↑November 27th, 2019, 8:19 pm and the other root is growing very much sideways and keeps catching my eye as it defies the norm (against the flow)

I think it looks very natural after all it is a strangler fig, it looks very much like it is trying to do just that to the old stump.

Anthony - thanks for your input mate, always happy to hear what people think. I agree that the roots are getting messy and some of them are going against the flow. If this was a different species (e.g. PJ) I'd be carefully placing the roots where I wanted them, pretty much as you pointed out. With this one I'm hoping it behaves like the stranglers I saw in the Daintree, where the roots tangle around and fuse together and completely engulf the host tree. So in this instance I'm letting the tree do it's own thing, as messy as it is.

Is the donor tree outside one of the gates on Plane Tree Drive?

Yes it is, but for some reason it was a real struggle to get a cutting to take. Not sure why but maybe the lower branches that can be reached are less vigorous? It took many attempts but now all subsequent cuttings taken from the original successful attempt will grow readily. I have a couple of cuttings about a year old so if you PM me I'd be happy to get one to you.


Matt.

I like the left hand root. It looks like the tree is trying to stabilise it self from falling over love the roots strangling its host. What did you use as the host? It seems to have is own texture winding down n around really like where your headed with this one. Any up dates on this one Matt?
Cheers
Kirky

Today I gave this a good haircut by going over the whole tree and reducing every shoot to two leaves. This time of year the roots are going crazy and are trying to escape the pot, and it's getting harder to see the original stump the tree was planted on. A repot might be in order now that the hot weather has arrived.


Matt.

That's next level stuff Matt!