[Tutorial] How to Develop Dynamic Figs Quickly

[Matthew]

Steven heres 2 shohin size port jackson figs grown in simular ways. First one is only a few years old and the sacrifice has been there for 12 months but what a differance it has made. Lets see how tall i can get it and what happens to the base. Its buried deep for root development atm but will be lifted next repot and planted into a wider shallow grow contaniner. tree has been defoliated recently as im happy with branch thickness and height its about 8 inches.

fast grow method PJ.JPG

sacrifice branch.JPG

second one is older and grown almost identical to your method ecept all branches were out of proportian and placement was bad so ive regrown them. one has been grafted. cut back recently to begin secondary growth, ive included a pic of were the sacrifice was cut,i need to recut it and seal it again to roll over. pics are bad but im out the door, height around 10 inches its in a cheap plastic pot for now.

another shohin PJ.JPG

sacrifice chop.JPG

base.JPG

cheers

[damo19]

Wow, thats awesome, I'm now looking forward to having a crack next spring

Thanks guys

[BirchMan]

I'm not gonna wait, gonna take some cuttings and try now! Hopefully it's not too late.

[Steven]

I'm pleased that this information has been of use and I really look forward to seeing what everyone creates.
Thanks very much Noah for posting your examples mate, they sure are developing nicely.
Cheers for the feedback and praise guys but all kudos belongs to Pup and D. Susan who provided the information, I just pulled it together.

Here's what I got up to last night;

PJ ficus before.jpg

PJ ficus after.jpg

PJ ficus cutting.jpg

PJ ficus cutting bottom.jpg

PJ ficus cutting sand and clonex.jpg

PJ ficus cutting potted up.jpg

Also, for a different technique to creating fat figs with aggressive taper, read Dave54's post on Developing Figs - Trunks and Bases.

Regards,
Steven

[alpineart]

Now this is very interesting When i discussed the trunk splitting/slashing methods i used on redwoods and Swamp cypress , did i cop some stick .Well here again are my sticks in pots ,yes 19mm sticks , the 2 smaller bases were trunk slashed and the middle tree was trunk split and slashed . Here are the result of the test work , no trickery just good honest proof that the method Steven has posted works and works well .If i'm not mistaken these are in thier 2nd year in my care and were 1 yo tube stock when i purchased them .They have been severely root pruned and repotted each season ,if they were left un-pruned no doubt they would be quite a bit larger in the base and trunk

100_6748.jpg

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.Well i was convinced of the benefits way back when now judge for yourself .I currently have 9 2yo whips which i trialling , no doubt in 12 months time i will have some different results to post . Happy chopping , hacking , splitting and slashing .Cheers Alpineart

[Steven]

So, has anyone else been busy with ficus cuttings? I'd like to see what you have been up to!
S.

[Glenda]

Is it possible to split the trunk of a smallish seedling that already has roots to increase the taper? I have some figs with trunks around 5 cm but with no basal flare. Can I carefully split the trunk without damaging the existing roots?

glenda

[Pup]

Is it possible to split the trunk of a smallish seedling that already has roots to increase the taper? I have some figs with trunks around 5 cm but with no basal flare. Can I carefully split the trunk without damaging the existing roots?

glenda

Yes Glenda just be careful when you do it, making sure that the splitting of the trunks, is all the same thickness and length.

[LZRD84]

good stuff.

[skinny]

Sometimes in life you go thru a "Penny drop" moment. This thread has been one, thank you to the authors.
And Hi.

Skinny

[boom64]

Hi All,
Steve ,i see your tutorial has popped up again.I was one of many who went out and attacked some figs, I know these as tiger bark figs .Here are the results, the growth has been slow but it is happening. The only thing is there are no roots showing through the bottom of the pot
I have been feeding with a weak solution of Power Feed.Looks like i will have to wait for next spring to continue on the program.Sorry about picture quality,done inside on the quick .
Regards John.

[Pup]

John if you fertilize at full strength with a propriety brand fertilizer, and do it all year round in your area, you will get the results.

Also on Ficus, Dynamic lifter placed on the top of the pot at about 1 cm, thick and replaced every 4 weeks works.

Pup

[Ash]

This is a very interesting topic that I have been following but hadn't posted yet. After seeing the thread last year I pruned my in ground Green Island figs and took 72 cuttings. Half of them I split the bases as shown in the fig guide and half were left as flat base cuttings. My intention was to show the differences between root flare in three or four years time. Each cutting was soaked with root hormone and planted in cleaned diatomite in a separate pot. I labelled my two treatments and then placed the pots as randomly as I could into nursery trays and placed the trays in my propagation house with automatic balance arm controlled micromist. I noticed over the months that their was a high attrition rate. I have been pulling them up and checking the bases and now three quarters of the split cuttings have died (there are only seven left) whereas only two of the normal cuttings have died (there are 34 left). I attribute the cause of death to rot on the split surface. Where the split cuttings have survived they have produced roots above the split area rather than at the cut. No callous formed at the cut. The handful remaining have grown much more slowly than my other cuttings. Has anyone else had this experience? I am not sure if my propagating medium and misting is too wet for this treatment? I very much like the idea but was wondering if anyone has had the roots form on the edge of the cut and form the root flare as shown?

cheers
Ash

[boom64]

Hi Ash,
I to, took two types of cuttings,half split base,half the normal way.I used rooting powder mixed with water and then placed in propagatting sand mixed with a small amount of Peat Moss,just so it holds together a bit better.I kept them in a small greenhouse and mist twice a day.
I lost about 2/3 of the split style and just a few of the normal way. However the later split ones did have a small amount of roots coming from the root flare .
Dont know if this helps ,but this is how it panned out for me .
Regards John.
Hi Pup,
I will start with full strength fert and get onto the dynamic lifter straight away.
Many thanks John .

[hugh grant]

I have been doing the split base cuttings for about 2-3 years and have never had a failed cutting. But with just normal cuttings I have had a less striking rate. The roots have formed all along the split area all the way to were the split starts. So I havnt really had Any problems with this technique, I did this with all my ficus cuttings this year and had great results! I can't wait in a few years time to see the outcome.

Hugh