first ficus and growing on driftwood..

[sydney_newbie]

Hello all,

I am just new to this forum and totally new to bonsai as well. I have just started getting into it and with my 3 yr old daughter, we went and collected some ficus from anzac pde in syd, as wll as from some gutters in the houses nearby.

i got one out which was about 30cm high and has a root system of about 1 metre. I instantly though about doing a root over rock thing.

fig_tree.jpg

i know it's ambitious, but i'm keen to give it a go. i have read about wrapping in grafting tape, burying and leaving for a year or 2. Have also read about using cling wrap (which i wld prefer to do). Any opinions if cling wrap will be just as good, i imagine it would be easier.

also, as you can see from the dodgy pic i posted, there seems to be too much space between the soil-level and the bottom branch, any ideas?

my other question, i recently was given a heap of ficus obliqua seeds and was thinking about getting some driftwood, drilling some small holes and propagating from either driftwood, or from an old dead tree to achieve that 'strangles' look you get in nature. anyone done this and does it work.

if i have 2 obliquas growing together and the roots mix with eachother, do they compete, or do they form one tree?

if i have an obliqua growing in a pj fig, will one kill the other, and also does that look silly down the track.

i'm sorry, i have so many questions and have already searched the forums.

ok so:
1) cling wrap vs graft tape on root over rock/driftwood
2) growing obliqua on driftwood/dead tree
3) do 2 obliques fuse into 1 tree or do they compete
4) mixing pjf with obliqua - do they kill eachother and does it look okay?
5 oh yeah and finally (i promise) i have a worm farm. do figs like a bit of worm wee?

thanks again guys...

[rch003]

There is no picture mate D:

I use grafting tape and wire on mine, but if you have good roots, i had one that had thick roots in a circle and put the rock in there, 2 years later it looks great (didn't use any tape, just placed it and buried it).

either way, they all work the same

[sydney_newbie]

sorry champ,

i can't figure out the forum. it's in my gallery already but i don't know how to put it in the post

EDIT - ah i figured it out now.

[rch003]

When you write a new topic or a reply, do your text then go down the page to where you see 'Upload Attachment'. Click on that and it will open another section below. Click on 'Browse', go to the photo you want on your computer and click on it. Then click on 'Add the file'. When it's added the file, directly below the text box where you are writing, there are two options: 'Place inline' and 'Delete file'. Put your cursor where you want your photo to appear, click on 'Place inline' and you'll see a string of code. If you want to post another photo, do the same again - and you can do that for as many photos as you want to put into a topic. When you submit your topic or reply, the photo will be displayed.

[sydney_newbie]

thanks mate - pic is up now

[Taffy]

I'll have a go at answering your questions S_n

1. Grafting tape and wire would give you a better result because you can pull the roots in tighter to the rock. You can also use pieces of Styrofoam to push a root into a hollow then bind over the top with tape or wire. It will also allow better watering of the roots. Glad-wrap won't allow any water to get to the roots - where you need it.

2. Obliqua and driftwood. Don't see why it wouldn't work. Have a go - sounds interesting.

3. Yes two trees of the same species will definitely fuse together - no, they won't compete.

4. I think growing two figs together could cause you problems, but depending on how close Obliqua and Rubiginosa are related, they could possibly fuse together. I'm not a botanist so I wouldn't know how close they are related.

5. Yes, Ficus will soak up just about any fertilizer you can give them, and then come back and say 'more please'. Worm juice is good, but make sure you water it down. I think it would be too strong to use neat.

Hope that goes some way to answering your questions.