AusBonsai

I've read a few articles on Fusing multiple juvenile fig trunks together to help build a substantial specimin.

Has anyone had a good success doing this method and more importantly...any pics?

Cheers
Tech

hey petal,

interesting you have mentioned this.. i am in the process of doing this as we speak. it has been going for about a year now!
they are small autralian figs (not sure of the exact scientific name). i got them from my mother in laws yards. the trunks were all roughly 1 inch in diameter. now with the fusing process the tree trunks are coming together quite nicely(bout 3 inches overall), they are sending arieal( is that how ya spell it) roots that are wrapping around the three. so all in all they fuse really well and easy. just a matter of wrapping with raffia or string or someething of the sorts to keep them nice and close. just have to watch this so they dont cut in.
i havent got any photo's as of yet but will do it for ya tommorow!
i wish i did take them in the process but didnt have a camera. the trees were more like whips to start with around 2 foot tall. now cut down too bout 7 inches. the bud really easily and branch structure will be easy to create. a very rewarding experiment.

untill i take photos i cant help much more but will give a detailed process when i post the photos

regards jamie

Hey Jamie,

Thanks, I'll be really interested in the photos.

I'm going to try and get to BonsaiSouth tomorrow and select a number of young starters to try this with.

Did you use the multiple apexs' to help form lower branching where you wanted it?

I was thinking of getting five of six and melding them together whilst trying to get good taper and early movement.

Tech

well actually what i did was give it time to get together a bit first. bout 8 months. then where i am now i have done some major trunk chops taking off all branhing above where a want the trunk to be.
it has already started to shoot new leaders and branches once again. in my climate figs grow like crazy.
basically treated it like a trident maple trunk and took everything off to start from scratch.

what i was going for was a large taper but deep fluting in the trunk, you can use the apexes to create branching but the first thing you will want to do is to get the trunks to fuse. then i would think about branching and ramification.
make sure the saplings you get all have same leaf shape and size because any difference will make the tree look a little odd down the track.
i would look for ficus benjimina, good shape leaf and easy to reduce. you might find bunnings useful for this, there ficus b. are usually 3-4 threes in the one pot! (plastic container, not bonsai).

i am going for a "sumo" style look, with aireal roots you can get the fluting anyway.
what size saplings are you going for? tall and thin or shorter and fatter?
there is some great fig bonsai that use aireal roots for interest points! google fig bonsai and you should find some great images.
and google fusing ficus and you will find helpful hints to.
ficus are quite flexible while young so movement wont be an issue.

where's asus? go on ace show us ya picture's.

Check out the larest bonsai focus. They are doing this in bali with amazing results in as little as 3-4 years. Will take longer here compared to their growing season

anttal63 wrote:where's asus? go on ace show us ya picture's.

I'm 900km away from my tree's....
I have been doing the same thing as shown in bonsai focus like Noah has pointed out.

Asus101 wrote:

anttal63 wrote:where's asus? go on ace show us ya picture's.

I'm 900km away from my tree's....
I have been doing the same thing as shown in bonsai focus like Noah has pointed out.

good as, i would love to see it when your able.

hey petal,

sorry i havent posted the photos. i didnt have time this afternoon i have been dealing with banks and loans and stuff. will do it as soon as possible.sorry again

Thanks jamie,

Couldn't get to the nursery today to pick some out, will be very intersted to see them.


Has anybody tried scoring the inside of the connecting trucks to the cambium layer in an attempt to stimulate and assist the grafting process?

Tech

yes i tried this on the one i am talking about, it seemed to help a little but really the way these grow and fuse together any way i dont think it matters to much.
on mine all it did was sort of heal over, it may have helped a bit but nothing that was greatly useful.
what size sapplings are you thinking of using? i know it depends in the style you are going for.
if you go with a bit of a mixture, with a couple about an inch thick in diameter and then a few younger like hafl an ich you could put the larger one together in the middle then use the thinner ones to fill gaps and start branch work. this may help speed the process up of a more of "instant" look, but i wouldnt be to concerned like i said you can take all branching of and start from scratch with a trunk if necessary

still no photos sorry. got the camera back today, will have time tomorrow i knock off a bit earlier

I think I'll jump on track with the larger centre and then use various sizes between 1/2 -3/4 inch to surround. I will try and scratch down to the cambium layer to see if it helps with the fusing/grafting. I think I'll stick to the suggestion of getting them together and then looking at developing branching out of new growth after a few years and a chop or two. Hopefully it will have some taper in it from the way its put together.

Very interested in the photos.

Looked at the last issue of Bonsai Focus and it's exactly what I want to try and do, albeit on a slightly smaller scale to start with.

Asus, have you gone on the same scale as Geda Merta?

techpetal wrote:I think I'll jump on track with the larger centre and then use various sizes between 1/2 -3/4 inch to surround. I will try and scratch down to the cambium layer to see if it helps with the fusing/grafting. I think I'll stick to the suggestion of getting them together and then looking at developing branching out of new growth after a few years and a chop or two. Hopefully it will have some taper in it from the way its put together.

Very interested in the photos.

Looked at the last issue of Bonsai Focus and it's exactly what I want to try and do, albeit on a slightly smaller scale to start with.

Asus, have you gone on the same scale as Geda Merta?

i think your going the right way with the mix of sizes, i have made 3 major chops on top at different levels on mine, there getting new growth again. hope your not expecting to much as i dont have any previous photos, will have what i have now. i will go into detail of what i have done tho when i post the photos!
when you scratch down to the cambium layer make sure its a clean cut with a sharp blade and that where they are gonna join make sure you get exact line up of the cambium and make sure its tight, this will help with this process

techpetal wrote:
Asus, have you gone on the same scale as Geda Merta?

Not yet. Only small.
I need to know first if the tree is alive when i get home or if I have to restart the process.
When I do get home however I will be starting my cutting run on them, building up a large stock of cutting material.