AusBonsai

Hi Steven,

There are still a few months of growth for it. Pretty soon you will the roots come out of the drainage holes

Cheers.

Ok, So here is the plan and let me know what you guys think.

As mentioned I am currently liquid feeding about every 10-14 days also woth crushed dynamic lifter over the whole pot to tencourage stong and qick growth. I want to give it as much energy as possible, in the meant time I will be tip prunning till growth slows down.

Now my idea for early defoliation is as follows and let me know if you think it will work. I was going to keep the tree in a well orientated position (north wall) and create a partial greenhouse to try and increase the temperature to encourage earlier growth and nutrience absorbtion. This way it will have a bit ore energy for when I defoliate around late September? What are your thoughts, do you think it will help?

G'day,

This one has been growing nicely with compact growth and small internodes.
I removed all the unwanted growth and have wired the remaining branches. I'll continue to tip prune as needed to achieve a nice shape.

G'day,

This little fig has powered on lately with he warmer Sydney weather and I gave it a bit of a trim yesterday. Here are the before and after shots;
I'll be working on growing and shaping the secondary branches from now until the end of the comp.

Regards,
Steven

Looking good Steven. Nice trunk.

I reckon if you pot it and defoliate it about 6 weeks before the end of the comp you could be on a winner there. Will come back with all nice small leaves just in time for voting.

Tony

With a little over 5 weeks left until the end of the competition, I'm turning the final corner with this entry and heading down the home straight.
I've defoliated and will put it into a bonsai pot in the next few weeks. I'll add a little more wire also to tweak a couple of the branches.
Regards,
Steven

G'day,

This little ficus has come a long way since I plucked it from a drain about 3 years ago.
Growth has been pretty good over the period of the competition and it really only stopped growing for 6 or so weeks in the middle of winter. I've been really impressed with the leaf size as even when it has been powering on with a mountain of fertaliser, the leaves have stayed reasonably small.
Moving forward I'd like to grow a lot more secondary and tertiary branches to achieve a dense canopy of twigs. The apex will move over to the right a bit so it is more above the centre of the trunk.
Some more up and down movement in the main branches would be nice and I'll probably do it at the next defoliation when I rewire the tree.
I had considered chopping off the bumps on the trunk but I've grown to like them and think it brings a bit of an aged look to an otherwise young tree.

In another 12 months it should be looking pretty good

Current height: 160mm from top of pot to tip of foliage
Pot: by Vic Harris from Erin Bonsai
Regards,
Steven

And again !!!

Love that pot! Great progression.

Its looking great, nice worth with the defoliation timimng as well

Thanks for the kind words guys.

Regards,
Steven

Nice progression steven, and in the flesh this is a lovely tree too

This tree along with your Cas, really goes to prove that for a comp like this, you must start with a decent trunk and base. No point starting with a stick in the pot as it will never develop in time. Even with a fast growing tree liek Ficus, All you really hope for is to regrow a Canopy on the existing structure.

Ken

Here's my update...

Current height is: 160mm
I'm looking to refine it further by rewiring the tree, lowering all branches and increasing the height slightly. Looking for a full, rounded canopy as seen on mature ficus.

Regards,
Steven

Last years wire was removed and all branches have been rewired (in the opposite direction).
I've lowered the branches and am hopeful of achieving a look more in line with a mature ficus.
The leaves have stayed about the size of a finger nail due to the constant tip pruning.

Hi Steven,
My sentiments are the same as Andrew. You could have chosen any size pot or contain. Whatever you first put it in is most probably not going to be the final pot.

Andrew Legg wrote:I have no issue with this. I don't see the different between putting it in a bonsai pot or in a small plastic bag or small grow box. In my opinion there is no reason to disqualify this entry.

Regards Ray

Sorry Steven,
I jumped the gun when I first saw this post. I'm a little behind in my comments. Sorry for this.

Regards Ray