AusBonsai

I'm personally going to try with two already established port jackson figs so no cuttings.

I'm not happy with the nebari and the foliage so I'm going to start over, I don't see why it shouldn't work with a plant with roots already instead of a cutting... I assume it would be the same no?

Mbunro wrote: only question i have is whether there is much difference between doing this to a cutting, and doing it with a plant with established roots.

I thought about this question and figured the main difference would be the size of the roots. With a cutting they will all begin life at the same time where as the roots on an established plant will be larger than the new ones. This, I'm sure can be managed by trimming pruning the ones already there and letting the new ones grow out. I'd assume it would give you a head start in that your fig will continue to grow while the new roots develop although the head start wouldn't be that much.

I decided cuttings were the better option as if I'm putting the effort in to do it, I might as well start from the beginning and have more control over the whole process.

This is just my not to be confused with experienced advice

Cheers,
Nigel

thanks nigel.

i havent got around to trying this yet but i have 1 plant in particular that i think would work great.
its about a foot high with a large sacrifice branch about 2 inches up the base,
mite cut it just above the sacrifice branch and try the top half as a cutting and the bottom as an established plant.
being from the same plant i figured it should give a good comparison.

bryce

Hi I was thinking of using this technique on this two established figs... What do think? And when should I do it? I would chop all the branches... Do you think is a good idea?






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Depends whether you want larger, fatter trunks.
Consider carefully though. Larger trees need bigger, more expensive pots and get to be really difficult to manage - repotting, turning every few days to get light on all sides, trimming, etc. I have found that figs still increase in thickness, even in smaller pots so they will get fatter without any complicated procedures - just takes a few extra years.

Definitely need to sort out which branches to keep and which can go so you can actually see the trunk under there. Really hard to provide advice when I can't even see the shape of the trunk.

shibui wrote:Depends whether you want larger, fatter trunks.
Consider carefully though. Larger trees need bigger, more expensive pots and get to be really difficult to manage - repotting, turning every few days to get light on all sides, trimming, etc. I have found that figs still increase in thickness, even in smaller pots so they will get fatter without any complicated procedures - just takes a few extra years.

Definitely need to sort out which branches to keep and which can go so you can actually see the trunk under there. Really hard to provide advice when I can't even see the shape of the trunk.

Thank you shibui! Do you think that it is now a good time to trim or is still too cold and I should wait another month?

Thank you shibui! Do you think that it is now a good time to trim or is still too cold and I should wait another month?

That depends where you are and also on your local microclimate. Still too much chance of a cold snap up here so I'll leave mine until November. Warmer in Melb but varies a lot depending whether you are bayside, north or hills. If you're in a warmer spot now will probably be ok but if there's a chance of getting cold again better to wait I think.

shibui wrote:

Thank you shibui! Do you think that it is now a good time to trim or is still too cold and I should wait another month?

That depends where you are and also on your local microclimate. Still too much chance of a cold snap up here so I'll leave mine until November. Warmer in Melb but varies a lot depending whether you are bayside, north or hills. If you're in a warmer spot now will probably be ok but if there's a chance of getting cold again better to wait I think.

Ok thanks yeah I think I'll wait till October at least


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I was thinking about having a go at this, would this be a good time of year in Vic to tackle it? I have attached a pic, any suggestions on where to cut?


Thanks guys

Had a go at this technique last year. I used a semi established little ruby rather than a cutting. I followed the basic timeline outlined in the post. But when I checked the roots in January there were little to none and they were all growing from a single qtr section. So I extended my splits further up the trunk and chopped off all the roots. Poked a heap of holes around the base with a toothpick and replanted as a cutting with some rooting powder.
Gave it a little tug over the weekend and there's now enough roots to pick the pot up by the trunk so fingers crossed they are coming from the right spot and heading in the right direction.. will lift and do some more rootwork after winter and keep pondering on how low to cut the trunk back.

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Thought id give this a guy using benjamina 'too little'

A full year behind schedule and iv reached step 7 haha..
Looking good on 3 out of 4 wedges but 1 only had a couple small roots and a big thick root heading straight down... I removed that large root and pricked some more holes in that section and applied hormone to promote some extra growth... Still awhile away from the splits fusing but feeling quietly confident. Should have taken more photos but until I set up a propper bonsai / repotting station I'm left squatting over the garden bed next to the hose Soni can never be bothered getting the phone out....

Can't decide whether to chop back to a new leader for extra movement. Or whether to let the possible new leaders just run and act as sacrifice branches to keep the trunk relatively straight but drastically tapered...

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It's still hellishly hot here in Brisbane, do you reckon it's ok to try this now? I cut the top off a F. rubiginosa yesterday...it's around 25mm across..

Cant hurt. But ild say you'd be fine. Still hot here too with nights still up around 20. Ive done some fig work recently and seem to be powering along. Including just whacking the top of a F. rubiginosa which was knocked off in a storm and left under the tree that fell on it for 3 weeks into some potting mix and it has budded out and is fairly firm in the pot 2 weeks later.

Cheers @dansai. These figs are pretty tough! Three weeks!!!