Green Island Fig

[bundyfisher]

Thanks Jamie
Sure right there pal ,yesterday at maroochy I grabbed 3 more of these at $3 a throw from a nursery that is closing down plus other stuff ,very keen to try the fast grow method .Will pick your brain on this and juni's tomorrow ,keeeeeen as

[Jamie]

no prob pal, can help with the juni, and to some degree the fig, shan is the man to talk to bout fig though, i am gonna be picking his brain


jamie

[Graeme]

hey tony,
this one might be a candidate for the fast growth method????
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=3173
looking forward to tommorow
jamie

Spot on mate. The Green Island Fig responds well to the "Fast Grow".
As has been said, this fig is a prostrate growing fig, sortta. I had one in the Nursery we used for stock and it ended up covering an area about 3x4 metres before we hacked it up, wont tell you what the trunk was like on that baby
It can be styled into all Bonsai styles very easily, watch the lower branches if training into an upright style as they can overpower the rest of the tree.
Leaf reduction is quick and easy, defoliation can be done 5 or 6 times a year without worry. Leaves will come down smaller than little finger nail size without trying to hard.
Great tree for Root over Rock style
Watch for Wooly Aphid and Scale, those tight rosettes of leave make a great home.
There is a third sub-species of this tree, Ficus Orkenowensis, but it isn't as feely available as the Green Island, unless you live in Darwin. Orkenowensis is identified by it's almost round leaves, but these elongate a little under Bonsai cultivation.
Well worth the effort, which with the right attention should give you a nice tree in a fairly quick time. By the way, hope you remember me when you need to offload all those Willow Leaf Fig cuttings

[Jamie]

the way, hope you remember me when you need to offload all those Willow Leaf Fig cuttings

mate, i am hoping they take first off, i think the medium i am using is staying to moist, but there will be plenty more coming and dont worry, i will be taking as many as i can

gotta get the propagation mix working, my fig cuttings havent been working aswell as i have liked lately, its a trial and error thing for me right now


jamie

[bundyfisher]

Thanks Graeme
Once again thanks for the info on the fast grow method ,I am wondering on the growth speed of the G I Fig as I have heard they are slow growing ,do they grow better in full sun ?
Cheers
Tony

[Jamie]

i reckon if ya go the fast grow method you would need full sun as it would need to photosynthesise the massive amounts of nutrients it is taking up? thats what i presume anyway. wouldnt worry bout leaf size until refinement work begins

jamie

[bundyfisher]

Is this what Dayne means "feeding like a fat kid "

[Jamie]

Is this what Dayne means "feeding like a fat kid "

yea bro, to right, feed it even more if ya have to

[Graeme]

Thanks Graeme
Once again thanks for the info on the fast grow method ,I am wondering on the growth speed of the G I Fig as I have heard they are slow growing ,do they grow better in full sun ?
Cheers
Tony

Tony. G.I. aren't that slow growing, leaf wise. They are probably a little slower than a P.J. or Morton Bay and about the same as Benjamina when it comes to putting on wood girth. Small fat G.I.'s are relativly easy if you grow them on and cut back hard. Like all developing trees they need space to grow and heaps of fertilizer. I had a G.I. Root over Rock I trained for about 10 years, most of that time in a Bonsai pot, and the trunk would have been about 2 inch across, sorry 50mm at the base and the roots around the rock were probably about 15mm each. The top of the tree was always very full with good thick branches. And yes mate, full sun, with afternoon protection is the place for them to be. They can get a little long in internodal length if grown in to much shade, although they respond well to pruning if this happens.

[bundyfisher]

Thanks Graeme Have recently purchased seedlings of these (straight rods) no movement . I had been told today they are planted by council down Bargara esplanade ,so it will be a race to hedge size ,they fertilize often with a good drink and I will be with Team Fastgrow

[Graeme]

Steve, I think we need T Shirts!
"I'm on the ausbonsai Team Fastgrow"

[AndrewM]

Hi Tony
I was just woundering how your GI went with the fast grow

Has it powered on with this method. I ask because i have a few that are small cuttings and in spring was thinking of giving it a go

Andrew

[ketutg]

like graeme said this species leaf size can be reduced quite easily as opposed to the other figs but getting girth on the trunk can take longer. to overcome this issue you can always try and graft the GI fig to another fig species e.g. Moreton Bay Fig (Ficus macrophylla) or Port Jackson Fig (Ficus rubiginosa). that way you can have a fat trunk with small leaves. I have a tree like this but i did not do the graft myself

[bonzaidog]

Hi Ketutg..can you post any pics of your grafted fig? It would be interesting to see graft height,scarring etc, sorry to Tony for the highjack....Dog.

[bundyfisher]

No worries Dog I am keen to see myself as I have not too many intermediate stages of this bonsai as for growing taper I believe that is a job for you to start and your great grandchildren to finish One of the supermarkets in bundy have used this tree to serve as ground cover/hedge ,even at 3 to 4 foot it is a tangle of poles and large scarring seems different to other figs although pruned as a hedge they seemed to fill in.
Cheers
Tony