AusBonsai

Hi All,
Well I read this for the first time today and it got me thinking about some F.Rubiginosa cuttings I have and how I could accelerate their development. They are about 2 years old, not quite as the tutorial states. I thought splitting the trunks could work just as well for something with roots as a new cutting and decided to give it a go. The tree is about 25mm across at the base and I have already identified the sacrificial branch, on the bottom left from this view.
Thanks for the ideas and I hope that someone finds this interesting to read.

I did this on another cutting today. In the picture you will see that I cut the base into 8 sections, each red circle contains 2 sections. I used parts of a skewer to divide the base of the cutting. As you can see though, I was unable to get a decent flare on the cutting which prompts me to ask a question; is it the quartered sections that provide the flared base, or is it the roots that flare the base?? Thanks for any feedback.

Righty ho then people. Here's my attempt. As usual I decided to go a bit overboard, and I had this somewhat boring and marginal Ficus Natalensis just sitting there saying "pick me, pick me"! I decided it needs a good whack of taper and that there was nothing to lose! So first up, bare-root time:
The tree was about 50 cms tall and I trimmed it back, and decided to go all out on the splitting!
I opened the trunk up into 4 sections (not ideal), gave it a thorough dusting with rooting hormone powder all the way up the cuts, shoved a few sticks in to hold it open:
Next up, potted into pure clay based cat litter. Let's see how it goes! It has been a month since I took the photos and the tree seems to be OK. Its not flushed with new growth quite yet, but its leaves are still there, so can't be all bad I guess!
So, hope it works out! From this experience, one thing I can say is that if you have time to airlayer the plant first, it would make the trunk splitting so much easier as the root ssytem is likely to be more even!

Cheers

Worked on another cutting today:

It has been a busy afternoon, I set up two lots of ficus fast grows. I applied all of the tips from this thread by Steven. And also followed Gerard's advice from his thread on fast grow ficus group. I didn't take pics of the procedure as I followed the exact steps as discussed in this thread.

Ill update these pics in 12 months and 24 months

I thought this was a great thread for a beginner and decided to give it a go.....

3rd Sep 2011
This is my donour tree, it's probably a typical example of mistakes that we make. I took a cutting , grew it, whacked it into a bonsai (ish) pot and totally ignored the roots.


I apologise for neglecting to take a pic of the above prior to decapitation.....these are the bits that went on top


I'm a builder, so I went for a tool I know ( To be honest I made a total mess with the cutters)



First one in the pot



All 4 done.......Red makes them grow faster



My humidicrib




10th Oct.......I had to have a look, roots are showing


Today (approx 11 weeks)...They looking good



So I decide it was time


A new home


Quite amazed at how much can happen in such a short period of time

Today I repotted another cutting that I did this technique to, looking pretty good. Now I just need to figure out how to bring the growth closer in on the trunk

i'd cut those branches bacl to the first node, figs back bud very well

Hornet wrote:i'd cut those branches bacl to the first node, figs back bud very well

Thanks Hornet. I'm considering that. I know with Ficus s. that you can cut back to bare branches, but I don't believe you can with microcarpa, right? Microcarpa doesn't back bud as well I believe. Then again, do you think I should let the branches grow out to push the root growth, or should I go ahead and cut back to the first set of leaves now?

As a newbie to Ausbonsai, many thanks. I've already been out practicing today....

great info. you realy helped me a lot. as a new bonsai fan.

Hey, Great stuff! Thanks!
NS

I repotted a Willow Leaf Cutting today that I did this technique to:

Good one Steven. Just the sort of tutorial we need. Well done! Pity it's raining so heavily otherwise I'd be out the door.
Rain, rain go away. The bonsais have had enough. Keeps the water bill down though.

I've got a rather large Green Isle cutting that is probably around 1.5 inches thick. How exactly do you go about flaring the larger cuttings? Saw down the middle of it?