Trying to save a mallsai....

The Ficus Guy · Post by **The Ficus Guy** » March 6th, 2013, 1:00 pm

Hi everyone,

Picked this one up at the local box store today. I felt bad for it and it just looked really sad

. I walked up to the lady at customer service and asked if I could get a discount on it due to its sad appearance. Her response? "No, I think they're supposed to look like that at this time of the year." Well....I tried. Anyways, the poor thing has a total of 4 leaves on it and I thought it'd be a fun project to play with, so I brought it home.

Here is the poor thing when brought home:

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However, I noticed that the tubers were beginning to rot out....oh boy.....

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So I took it out of the soil and realized it had no roots whatsoever:

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I then decided to saw off the tubers:

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Added rooting hormone:

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Potted it up and placed it in a bag under the lights:

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We'll see what happens.

Jason · Post by **Jason** » March 6th, 2013, 1:29 pm

lol sorry, but I have to say your progression gave me a laugh. I can't beleive it had no roots at all! My local shed has just stocked up on mallsai, and I've been very tempted a few times... but kind of glad I didn't get one now!

Really hope it pulls through for you mate! Good luck

The Ficus Guy · Post by **The Ficus Guy** » March 6th, 2013, 1:32 pm

DENAz wrote:lol sorry, but I have to say your progression gave me a laugh. I can't beleive it had no roots at all! My local shed has just stocked up on mallsai, and I've been very tempted a few times... but kind of glad I didn't get one now!

Really hope it pulls through for you mate! Good luck

Shoot, laugh away! It's a sad, sad looking creature

. I couldn't believe it had no roots either. I assume it was probably due to the rotting of the tubers.

I hope it pulls through too, but if it doesn't I won't be too surprised or saddened.

Jason · Post by **Jason** » March 6th, 2013, 1:46 pm

The Ficus Guy wrote:
DENAz wrote:lol sorry, but I have to say your progression gave me a laugh. I can't beleive it had no roots at all! My local shed has just stocked up on mallsai, and I've been very tempted a few times... but kind of glad I didn't get one now!

Really hope it pulls through for you mate! Good luck

Shoot, laugh away! It's a sad, sad looking creature . I couldn't believe it had no roots either. I assume it was probably due to the rotting of the tubers.

I hope it pulls through too, but if it doesn't I won't be too surprised or saddened.

lol I would have taken it back and asked if the roots were sold seperately or something

Isitangus · Post by **Isitangus** » March 6th, 2013, 1:55 pm

Discount...it should've been free! Fingers crossed it survives

The Ficus Guy · Post by **The Ficus Guy** » March 6th, 2013, 1:58 pm

DENAz wrote:
The Ficus Guy wrote:
DENAz wrote:lol sorry, but I have to say your progression gave me a laugh. I can't beleive it had no roots at all! My local shed has just stocked up on mallsai, and I've been very tempted a few times... but kind of glad I didn't get one now!

Really hope it pulls through for you mate! Good luck

Shoot, laugh away! It's a sad, sad looking creature . I couldn't believe it had no roots either. I assume it was probably due to the rotting of the tubers.

I hope it pulls through too, but if it doesn't I won't be too surprised or saddened.
lol I would have taken it back and asked if the roots were sold seperately or something

Isitangus wrote:Discount...it should've been free! Fingers crossed it survives

You're telling me

lackhand · Post by **lackhand** » March 6th, 2013, 3:56 pm

That's funny Ryan, I was just at the big box here locally and saw a few of these. Now m glad I managed to resist the temptation! Good luck, hope it makes it.

Ray M · Post by **Ray M** » March 6th, 2013, 4:56 pm

Hi Ryan,
Good cut. Hope it pulls through. Give it lots of drinks of Seasol.

Regards Ray

Andrew F · Post by **Andrew F** » March 6th, 2013, 7:30 pm

Good work as always Ryan, like me, I cant help but wanna save every lowly looking ficus. Hope it pulls thru for you mate.

Boics · Post by **Boics** » March 6th, 2013, 9:51 pm

Interesting I've ended up with one of these I'm sorry to say "ugly" guys as a gift many moons ago..
Now I presume this to be a banyan fig?

Is it possible / has this practise (straight tuber chop) been done before - successfully?

If not how would an air layer go instead?

Personally I think a chop and use of the tubers would make for a more attractive base..
I've noted that a wrap in sphagnum encourages roots out of the tubes.

I'd like to hear some additional thoughts here.
Reason I mainly ask is that as the big roots are a feature of this styled tree I had always thought they would re-develop some how?

Cheers,

The Ficus Guy · Post by **The Ficus Guy** » March 7th, 2013, 1:44 am

Thanks everyone!

Boics wrote:Interesting I've ended up with one of these I'm sorry to say "ugly" guys as a gift many moons ago..
Now I presume this to be a banyan fig?

Is it possible / has this practise (straight tuber chop) been done before - successfully?

If not how would an air layer go instead?

Personally I think a chop and use of the tubers would make for a more attractive base..
I've noted that a wrap in sphagnum encourages roots out of the tubes.

I'd like to hear some additional thoughts here.
Reason I mainly ask is that as the big roots are a feature of this styled tree I had always thought they would re-develop some how?

Cheers,

This does appear to be your typical Green Island grafted on fugly roots.

As to whether or not this will work, you've got me. I'm interested in seeing what happens because I've never really seen this done. I am also interested in seeing whether or not the roots that form (if any form) eventually grow into the typical big ugly ones.

We'll see...

Andrew Legg · Post by **Andrew Legg** » March 7th, 2013, 4:39 am

Hey Ryan,

In South Africa we call those Ginseng Figs. Not sure if that's a real name or just a brand kinda thang, but you can check it out.

Cheers,

Andrew

The Ficus Guy · Post by **The Ficus Guy** » March 7th, 2013, 4:50 am

Andrew Legg wrote:Hey Ryan,

In South Africa we call those Ginseng Figs. Not sure if that's a real name or just a brand kinda thang, but you can check it out.

Cheers,

Andrew

Oh yes, we call them that here as well. Ugly little things.

The Ficus Guy · Post by **The Ficus Guy** » March 7th, 2013, 4:56 am

Here's actually a site showing how these things are created:

http://ficusweb.com/ficus-microcarpa-ginseng.html

The Ficus Guy · Post by **The Ficus Guy** » March 12th, 2013, 2:22 pm

New leaves are sprouting and it hasn't even been a week:

AusBonsai