Tiger Bark Ficus Berries

[Slothman]

Ok so on the weekend I managed to get hold of a nice Pre Bonsai Tiger Bark Ficus. It isn't spectacular and will require some growing before I look at potting but it has potential.

So some general questions. The tree is in great condition. I can provide photos if needed, just have to take them

As I live in Albany, WA and I can already feel the weather changing and days getting shorter, is it too late to re-pot?? Or just wait till next Spring and go crazy on the fertilizer etc.

The Ficus has quite a lot of berries already growing. Should I remove these?? Does it promote growth?? Again timing etc?

Pretty much a general, where to from here??

I have been reading about creating large trunk flare using cuttings (will be trying next year btw), and the "aggressive fertilizer" system to boost trunk growth however just not 100% on timings due to my region etc etc.

[Bougy Fan]

They are the figs and you can leave them on a tree in a nursery pot or grow box. Other than being 3 hours behind the rest of Oz it shouldn't make any difference with figs. Feed them all year round and like any tree don't repot when it's insanely hot. Otherwise figs are bulletproof - just make sure you have a nice free draining mix if you are going to heavily fertilise.

[Rory]

Yeah, post some pics when you can. Always nice to see Tiger Barks! Green island figs are also nice, but not sure how well they grow in WA. My tiger bark fig, I have cut back to basically a twiggy stump, and it happily pushes out new growth after each cut back. Most figs you can trim all year round without any concerns. I even go so far as to repot figs regardless of the season, but Bougy-fan is spot on with the advice about not repotting on quite hot periods. However, I have repotted in quite hot weather, and all I did was trim the roots while the bonsai was sitting in a bucket of water the whole time basically. Over the years, I have only ever lost a handful of bonsai from repotting and that was because I got too carried away and cut too much root off. Personally, I find figs and bougainvillea the hardiest and overall best stock to work with for beginners, young people or horticultural sadists. They will produce a thickish trunk fairly quickly and give a great canopy in a short few years if that is the desired effect. The bark on Tiger barks is just so nice though.

[Slothman]

Thanks for the info guys.

I will give it a repot this weekend as I have to source some decent aggregate locally.

As for pics well here is all I have. It was the only one of this type the grower had, so I yoinked it I cannot remember price but other more developed Port Jacksons where $30, so I am going with that.

TigerBark.JPG

I plan on using this for cuttings and just growing and pruning to learn a bit more.