Collected fig, where to cut?

[sheepdawg]

Hey everyone, I collected this fig towards the end of November and it's starting to shoot

I was unsure (and still am) of how tall I should be keeping each "trunk".

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This will be the approximate front because the "back" was attached to a tree, so it's flat and slightly damaged on that side.

It looks like trunks "1a" and "1b" were once two separate branches but are fusing into one. I want to try take advantage of this and use it to get some taper going, so I'm thinking of cutting off 1b at the yellow line.

Trunk "3" is the most forward and leans slightly forward, so to me this means that it must be the shortest. So I was thinking of cutting this at the yellow line, but I was even thinking of going lower. Because trunks 2 and 1a/b have fused nicely at their bases, so chopping trunk 3 lower could make the plant look more like a double trunk than a tripe trunk, but this will also make it shorter and wider (which I won't mind).

As for trunk "2", I think I will only chop off a very small amount to fix the original, rough chop.

Thoughts?

Also, when can I start fertilizing it without being concerned about long internodes near the trunks?

Thanks for any advice

Here some more pics

[AnneK]

Hi Sheepdawg,

All the usual experts seem to be asleep; it's unusual for me to get in sixpennoth before they do

You seem happy to cut your find down and grow it wider: I therefore say go down further than your yellow. The growth in figs is tremendous you will get taper to enjoy in couple of years whereas if you cut where you are suggesting you are looking at at a tall tree.

Hard to tell by your pics; but I would suggest topping up the soil level too! By at 2-4cm.Ctreating roots nearer the surface. With subsequent repotting each year and gradually removing lower roots so that eventually your tree will fit in a fairy shallow bonsai pot.

Regards, AnneK.

Now watch the sleepy fall in.

[GavinG]

A few more ideas:

I agree with cutting lower - the trunks are straight and there's not a lot of interest in them. There is some taper, yes, but you can get taper and angles and movement if you cut lower, then grow one or two shoots only, very long and thick, then cut back next year the same. Five years should do it.

It's always a good idea to cut the trunks to different heights - they are all cut at near the same level now. Cut the thicker trunks longer, and the outside trunks probably shorter as a good first principle. Where the cut is, is where the first angle or change is going to happen, and you don't want them all lining up neatly on the same horizontal level.

Best of luck, keep posting.

Gavin

[shibui]

I can't get a very good 3D idea of how these trunks relate but I'd consider cutting 1a as low as possible and growing the new branch/trunk from 1b. You have already pointed out that 1a and 1b are joining together as they thicken. Figs do continue to thicken, even in a bonsai pot, so I believe you will have the same issue with 1a and 2 in the future if you leave them both - the gap between them will close up and the fork will move higher each year. I have experienced this in my figs already.

I can't tell how far forward 3 is coming. How would the tree look if trunk 2 was eliminated? It seems to be a long way to the rear. Tilt the result back a little to make 3 the primary trunk? Remove 1b and grow 1a as the primary trunk with 3 as a smaller second trunk?

[sheepdawg]

I got some more pics. Still unsure of what to do. I was thinking of cutting 2 down to the "v" but making sure there's a branch shooting off to the side. Then cutting 1b down to the join. And then removing 3 completely. I was thinking this because it will give me a nice tapered single trunk tree after some recovery, but I'm unsure of how it'll look.

But I'm most likely going to leave it for a little while longer, then take it out of the pot and get a really good look at the base and roots. I'll probably do the toothpick method to get roots growing where I want them because cutting roots away isn't the best idea at the moment. I limited myself to the current front because I didn't think I'd get shoots in certain places but I have, so I want to re-evaluate the whole thing again.

[shibui]

Is 3 actually a part of the tree? Looks like it may not be joined at the base. Just wondering if this may be a clump of seedlings that have grown close together an have started to join up.

Removing the trunks you suggest should give a well tapered single trunk tree but I would probably go slowly. Remove the trunks a bit at a time to give the sap flow a chance to realign from roots to the trunk you are leaving. Sometimes removing a large trunk all at once will kill the roots that were feeding that trunk.
I notice the back of the tree is hard against the back of the box - not very conducive to developing surface roots at the rear. I guess it has strong roots at the front that have forced you to plant like that but I would recommend a larger box as soon as possible.
1B is bigger than it looks in the first photo (a fair bit hiding behind 1A) so it should probably be removed. 1A is too close to 2 for a good long term twin so if you'd like to try for twin trunk I'd probably choose 1A and 3.

[sheepdawg]

Thanks Shibui

I'm pretty sure 3 is part of the original tree. I wish I had a picture of it still attached to the tree I removed it from so I could show you the base

And yeah, it's been slowly leaning backwards. I think it's a combination of roots pushing it backwards and just the weight of the trunks slowly shifting it. It's another reason why I want to take it out of the box.

How devastating would it be if I took it out of the box now? The potting soil is a mix of bagged potting mix and perlite, so the small roots should get some protection from damage from the perlite.

I'm seriously tempted to take it out of the box as there's a few benefits 1) I get a good look at the base which will help with design, 2) I can drill some holes for toothpicks for roots, 3) I can fix the tilt, and 4) lift the plant higher and add more soil. I also don't think I'll kill it or even cause any dieback, but I'm still apprehensive

[shibui]

From your initial post this was collected only 2 months ago. That probably means there are lots of fresh new roots that will be really fragile. There are a few things in your favour for transplant now - 1. It is a fig and should be very resilient; 2. It is in potting mix which should fall off without too much damage to the new roots; 3. Figs recover from transplant best in summer.
Repotting now will certainly provide some setback to its recovery but I think it should survive if you handle it carefully.

I wish I had a picture of it still attached to the tree I removed it from so I could show you the base

Does this mean it was growing in the fork of another tree or something?

[sheepdawg]

It started pushing roots out the sides of the styrofoam box, so I decided to take it out so I could get another look at it and plant it a bit higher in the box. Here's the pics:

Front

16409100_1180189272036906_870496243_o.jpg

Left

16409727_1180189298703570_2013552282_o.jpg

Back (left)

16409777_1180189318703568_87231452_o.jpg

Back

16442775_1180189305370236_120255826_o.jpg

Right

16444028_1180189245370242_499215952_o.jpg

[sheepdawg]

16833255_1198366893552477_219468516_o.jpg

This plant is growing like crazy now and I can't wait to start training it. I think I'm going to go with a simple ficus "broom" style, where it's twice as wide as it is high and full of dense foliage. I think this will probably give me the quickest bonsai and I love that look too. I'm going to let it grow out for the most part, I might wire a little movement into the shoots that are already there though.

But I do have a question. Should I slightly reduce the height of the thinnest "trunk"? I'm thinking I should because 1) it is the thinnest so naturally it would be the shortest and 2) it's right in the front of the plant so reducing it's height will help add depth. I would only remove 2 or 3 nodes if I do chop it. Here's what it looks like:

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