Guess what under the soil line!

[kvan64]

My newly acquainted bonsai mate sold me a tiger bark fig he has been growing quite a number of years for a very small price (almost a give away). He said it comes with a special surprise.
I am very curious about what he said and can't wait to see what it is. I guess it must be under the soil line and there are only 2 possibilities that I could think off.
1- a huge base with fused roots
2- a huge rock with fused roots over it.
What else do you think?

[Gerard]

Is the mortein a clue?

[dansai]

Looks lie a rock may be poking its head out a little there

[kvan64]

Is the mortein a clue?

Haha, I hope not. The Mortein is just a size reference.

[kvan64]

Looks lie a rock may be poking its head out a little there

There is no rock poking out. Just roots. No visibility of rocks at all.

[Bush bunny]

Did they bury their dead budgie under it. Good compost. LOL. Go on and probe a bit.

Cheers and good luck.

[cre8ivbonsai]

That larger pot, my money's on a rock

The fused trunks and roots are a good omen though

[kvan64]

Well guys, you are right. There is a big rock there. The problem is now the roots system is too fused and dense. You may be correct Bush bunny. Dead budgie would make good fertilizer This is now difficult as I can't remove the rock and if I want to keep the roots over rock design then I will need to trim a lot of roots to review the rock.
Appears to be a hard decision!

[Boics]

Interesting.

From what I can see it looks like the roots and tree has taken over and the ROR design mightn't be convincing now anyway?

I'd be looking to force the root base higher, remove the rock and keep working on the rest of the tree?

[MoGanic]

I think the best option is to prune away roots until you can see the rock more clearly. More importantly, to check how well the roots have fused to the rock. It is definitely possible to have the rock as a feature and it adds a lot to this tree.

-Mo


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kcpoole]

Can you selectively remove some of the roots?
this wild and unruly tree reminds me of Ankor wat and the way the fig roots have taken over the ruins.
you can only see partial rock and that looks awesome.

if you could expopse just a small section of the rock might be enough

Ken

[kvan64]

Thanks Ken and Moganic. I did that I it looks quite good. I will update photos soon.
DK

[Ces]

Hey kvan,

Really nice specimen mate. Another option might be to do a little bit of root selection and then plant it back pretty deep. Let some sacrifice branches grow long, attempting to fuse the roots. I think some of leong's big figs at bonsai south started this way and there are some impressive trees there with massive bases.

anyway, I look forward to seeing what you do with this baby.

cheers,

ces.

[kvan64]

Here are the updated pics. I guess the pot is too big (75cm in diameter) but it would be good for the tree's recovery.

[Isitangus]

I'd still be clearing out a few more roots-especially some of the "bulbus" type so you can see more rock but also end up with more attractive roots