Ficus rubiginosa [lost and found]

[Jerry Meislik]

Steven,
Very, very nice tree. Good progression over time.
Jerry

[bodhidharma]

I love it when a tree gets people talking. That means it is worth talking about. Everyone will always see it differently but it gets us involved. Good one Steven, you have a tree worthy of discussion and the building blocks of it, one day, being a masterpiece

[Steven]

Thanks for the interest, discussion and feedback!

Ash, thanks for the compliments. To answer your questions;
* When defoliating I normally remove the apical bud unless I want a particular branch to gain vigour. If the apical [or terminal] bud is left that branch will dominate the others in elongation and girth but not with new shoots. I also cut the leaves off rather than pull them and leave the petiole [or leaf stem] behind.
* When tip pruning I try to cut back to an appropriately facing bud but don't always worry about it. They tend to get so many buds forming at the end that you can always fine tune it later.

Jarryd, I see what you mean about the pads looking flat in the picture. I'll see how it fills in with leaves and make some changes next defoliation if needed.

Pup, I've thought about removing the aerial roots but the trunk is pretty boring underneath. At this stage they aren't causing any swelling of branches but if they become a problem I might just try your suggestion of grafting them to the base. I do love a good ficus with a fat nebari

Regarding the RH side branch, if it were to go I think it would leave a bit of a pom-pom on top I do appreciate the discussion and in particular the virt and photo grabs by Taffy - thanks mate! I'll have a close look at it when I get time regarding shortening that branch as per the suggestions.

I love it when a tree gets people talking. Everyone will always see it differently but it gets us involved.

Me too mate! Discussion and constructive criticism will help us all improve our skills - like iron sharpening iron. I have really enjoyed the discussion about this tree, thanks very much to everyone involved.

Regards,
Steven

[Steven]

G'day,

Updated picture taken today. Now there is some foliage, I'm interested to hear what your thoughts are on the much discussed second branch.

2010 December 7.jpg

Regards,
Steven

[Steven]

Here's another update for those interested.

Firstly fully clothed in fresh leaves;

2010 December 29.JPG

and secondly nekked after the second defoliation this season.

2011 January.jpg

I'd like to do it once more this season (in early March) and see how it goes.

Here is a montage of the progress approximately every 6 months since mid 2008 till now.

Six monthly 2008 July to 2010 December.jpg

Regards,
Steven

[MattA]

Hey Steven,

Was having a total aversion to figs at the time you posted the original progression and so I missed it & the discussions. What a fantastic progression and a great little tree in the making.

One suggestion, 1st left branch ends up level with the second on the right. If it was lowered the back branch could be moved to the left filling some of the space and creating some on the right between 1st & 2nd.

Now I will go & dunk my head.

Matt

[bodhidharma]

Ahh, the controversial Fig again Beautiful with leaves and something not quite right without them. This is the problem i had with Literati. Always, something not quite right. Time will work it out i guess, that and some subtle branch changes.

[Ash]

It is making good progress Steven.

Beautiful with leaves and something not quite right without them

Bodhi I agree- I would only formally display a fig with all of its leaves because I consider shoot pruning work and leaf reduction one of the qualities of a good fig bonsai. It has become very common to exhibit or post photos of figs without their leaves in which state they never look quite right. Has this custom arisen to prove that the leaves of your fig 'hide no evils?'

Back to your tree Steven - great progress in a short time. The panorama progression is a great way to show it.

regards
Ash

[kcpoole]

Nice tree steven and even nice recovery from its lost state

When nekkid, it just looks too busy on the upper right hands side ( or not busy enough on the left) Cannot decide!

Love the progression shots in the last post too

[Steven]

G'day,

Here is an update on this one.

2011 May.jpg

It lost about 40% of its leaves at the end of winter and has grown a flush of new foliage since.

2011 November 8.jpg

I defoliated last night and gave the twigs a trim. The wire was put on pretty loosely last year and still hasn't cut in so I have left it in place for now.

2011 November 9.jpg

I'm hoping to increase the twigs considerably over this growing season and will probably change the pot when I next repot.

Regards,
Steven