Port Jackson Pruning

[Emoska]

Hi Everyone,

I think it's time for me to give my Ficus a hard prune. I've had people tell me I should, but the problem is that I'm not sure what styles would work well for a Port Jackson. Can anyone help with any suggestions on styling?

This is the sumo fig that I purchased off of Dave54, and while I'm no expert, I think it's doing pretty well so far and I'd like to keep it that way

I'm a little nervous because I've not done any hard pruning yet, which is probably because I haven't decided on a style which would suit it. I've included a photo and warmly welcome any suggestions.

Thanks in advance!

[john tapner]

Now is a good time for complete defoliation, and I mean complete. Cut every stalk and if there is a growth point take the stipule and the next two leaves. This will encourage back budding and give better ramification. The tree looks healthy enough but the leaves need to be smaller. Generally you can do two complete defoliations with another late February or early March. You can if you wish go back almost to the bare trunk and get reshoots from the trunk to establish a new style, but if you are happy with your current style just a defoliation will be sufficient. Want a bigger tree? Plant it in a bigger training pot.

Cheers

John T

[Matthew]

I cut back Daves figs hard all the time (dont let dave hear me say that) if you think the branching has thickened up enough cut back to the first node or two to start secondary branching . This time of year up here is ideal i just defoliated most of mine again pruning back heavy is good once the branch has aquired the thickness you want. defoliation is for when you want to encourage smaller leaves and ramification which is a usefull tool once your happy with the basic structure.

[kcpoole]

I always cut my figs back to the 1st or second node when I am happy with the branch size.

take off any leaves that are too big all the time

Ken

[Emoska]

Thanks for the guidance everyone I had to draw up some courage and then took my shears to the tree and defoliated all of it, bar some of the tiny leaves at the base which haven't been growing well.

I'm hoping that the defoliation is done well enough, and will be looking for any styling suggestions over the coming weeks

[Jamie]

mate, you got a ripper little tree here, if i was on here when dave was selling these trees i would of snatched this tree up in less than a heart beat, what you have done will only help the tree.
from here chose which branches you wish to keep, wire them into place and let it grow out again. you have been given some good advice from the others so enjoy your tree i am very envious of you mate

very nice


jamie

[Emoska]

Oh yeah, I'm very lucky that I snatched this one up when Dave put it out as a last minute addition to the stock he was selling!

I'm definitely grateful of the guidance of everyone here, and hopefully I can ask for a little more now that the branch structure of this tree is more visible :-p It's the styling of the tree that's throwing me atm. I haven't styled any bonsai before, nor seen many well-styled Ficus', and would love some ideas if anyone is feeling creative.

[NBPCA]

Here is a design for your tree. If you look at it closely you can see it is made up of two trunks as well.

It is in a very shallow pot for the girth of the tree and the aerial roots mostly hide the twin trunk effect.

Grant Bowie
NBPCA

[Jamie]

well emoska if ya having trouble styling it, ya can send it to me and i will look after it for ya....

in all seriousness what ya need to do is to choose what branches are in the right spots and keep them and then from there you want to eliminate everything else and concentrate on all of the main branching

after that you can cut back to start to develop secondary branching


jamie

[dayne]

looks like a nice little tree one thing to do is when defoliating choose what to keep loose the rest allso if u have any small branches that need to catch up to others dont defoliate them defoliate only the larger branches and this forces the energy to the smaller branches with the leaves do this a couple of times and those smaller branches lower on the tree will catch up in no time

[Jamie]

good call dayne, i forgot to say that


jamie

[john tapner]

I notice that you have wired the branches. PJFigs grow very quickly and you will have to be very observant that the wire doesn't bite in which can happen in a few weeks. I generally don't wire and haven't in 35 years preferring either clip and grow to shape the tree or if wired it is done very loosely. The natural growth of figs is a domed canopy with the width exceeding the height so it is better to let the lateral branches grow and keep the apex restricted.

Cheers

JohnT