Lanky ficus...

[Qitianlong]

Hey all,
what do I do with these branches?? I've asked this in a previous post regarding long limbed figs, but if I can get some advice for this little fella then I can start experimenting...
Thanks

lanky ficus resized.jpg

[Isitangus]

Chop chop or air layer??

[k2bonsai]

If it were me you could do what i did with an old very sickly topiary that someone threw out in the council cleanup. The base diameter was about 5-6 cm but the trunk was 1m tall before going to out to some branches in less than ideal condition.

1. I chopped the base to a point where i wanted the first bend to be for taper.
2. I did some major root prunning on this base it the tree was so strangled and root bound which is why the tree was struggling hence why it was thrown out by a neighbour. I kept one root off the side with fine root hairs on it and basically flat cut all the remainder as there was nothing else i could have done - a huge mess.
3. Plant this base in a nice free draining soil/aggregate mix and let it grow grow GROW. You will find in this current time of year lots of shoots explode everywhere, well mine did.
4. I then chopped the top of the tree (flat chop), stuck it in a bucket of water while i performed all of the above actions, then i dipped it in root powder and potted it in the same mix as per above.
5. Place both trees in semi-shaded areas for a 1-2 weeks while they recover before moving them back into full sun.

Both the original base that had 1 surviving root and also the top that was just flat chopped are shooting all over the place. I will take a pic tomorrow for you.

I don't bother with air-layer for ficus as they grow roots so easily in warm weather.

So back to your plant, if it were my tree i would chop the trunk about 2/3rds up and do what i outlined above then let it grow for at least 1 year complete tamper free (ie do not prune or cut anything as this will stunt its growth). You want to let the new shoots grow crazy which will thicken the trunk etc.... My only catch to this is that if you see cross branches start appearing that get too strong this can cause negative taper so feel free to either chop one side off or simply prune these back a little so that the main leader gains dominance etc. This is what i love about ficuss, they grow fast and you are just growing trunks at this stage (unless you want a smaller finished tree already).

[Qitianlong]

Thanks K2,
looks like chopping is the key, and as I've now seen from other ficus posts... feeding with dynamic lifter!! Didn't know that.

[kcpoole]

cut back hard to remove the long lanky branching
Remove any branches going the wrong direction completely and shorten all the remining ones to generate back budding.

Ken

[Qitianlong]

will do, will post a pic if I can keep it alive!