AusBonsai

VelvetSicklid wrote:Awesome ficus guy, whats the ambient temp in your ficus set up???? I dare say it wont take long to grow a new foundation

It stays around probably 32.2 C or so, however I'm afraid of it not working properly. A friend of mine told me how he whenever he tries to ground layer a Ficus, 90% of the time it fails and callus's over. So I wonder if I treat it like an air layer, if it will work better. I could surround the ring bark in moss, then cover that in plastic. Once I get roots I remove the plastic then cover the moss ball in soil and let the roots grow outward.

I think if you keep the humidity up you'll be right, in a almost lab like setting it wouldnt be hard with a hygrometer and the application of mist via a cheap spray bottle

Best of luck

VelvetSicklid wrote:I think if you keep the humidity up you'll be right, in a almost lab like setting it wouldnt be hard with a hygrometer and the application of mist via a cheap spray bottle

Best of luck

True, however after going out and doing some measurements, turns out the setups I have are a bit too short, so I'll have to work the foliage on this back first, which means it will have to stay outside, for now

I think I might pull it back up tomorrow and go the "air layer" route, that way just seems like it would be more successful. It'd get the roots I need, then be able to let them grow once sprouting.

I added moss today and will wait for it to root. I need to remove all of the leaves that have leaf gall, oh boy....

What soil mix were you using before the application of the air layer?

VelvetSicklid wrote:What soil mix were you using before the application of the air layer?

The guy I got it from had it in a peaty looking bagged soil. That's how they grow their stock out.

Just an innocent Question:
Is the "Tiger Bark Fig" an actual F.sp..?? or a variable of a sp..??
Is there a strict conformity in Bark Structure among individual sp. within Ficus... or does/can it variegate within the same sp..?
I imagine that climate and environment would influence this...

This one took a turn for the worst and dropped 90% of its leaves. The growth tips all started dying off. I have absolutely no idea why. So I did something a little drastic, I took the tree back to a stump. I figured if the tree was already dying it was worth a shot. So I cut all of the branches back, placed the tree in an aquarium, and shut the aquarium up. If the tree has any chance of making a comeback, it will be due to high humidity, so that's why it's where it's at. A hygrometer in the tank is reading 81%, so I'm hoping that helps with backbud...

It's backbudding

And today:

I had something similar happen to a fig of mine a few years back... Not sure either, fungal infection?? Did a chop back and new soil and it did survive but the internode lengths seemed longer and the general growth weaker and leggier than before.

Good to see it putting on some growth!

Yes it's very intriguing, and I have no idea why it happens either. I'm pretty happy with all of this growth though:

Nice recovery

Shoud be a nice tree soon under your lights

Ken

kcpoole wrote:Nice recovery

Shoud be a nice tree soon under your lights

Ken

Thanks Ken, I hope so

However, I still am not a fan of the big ugly mass of roots and moss at the base of the tree

Here we are as of tonight: