Help: Tall Ficus Rubiginosa, creating lower growth

[Ryan1979b]

Hi All,
I am having a bit of trouble finding information on the best way to reduce the height of my ficus & increase budding & growth lower down the branched without damaging the tree. I have just re potted it but only did minimal root pruning as it is still in a fairly large training pot. It is a Ficus Rubiginosa (Port Jackson). Any hints tips or techniques to help me shape it back down would be absolutely brilliant. I have become fond of the tree & don't want to damage it. Its positioned so it gets about 3-4 hours of sun mid morning then is in the shade for the rest of the day. I have attached an image below so you can check it out.

Cheers All

Ryan Bridges

[anttal63]

cut off the terminal buds ( the end red buds ) cut all the leaves off and give it more sun, late afternoon if your midday sun is too hot. down here my figs are in all day sun getting water every day at the moment. oh some osmocote too.

[Ryan1979b]

Cheers Do i cut off all the buds & leaves in one go leaving it bare?. do I cut the leaves as if I am defoliating it or more towards the main branch?

Cheers

Ryan

[aaron_tas]

hey ryan

ant is right, and the harder you prune these things the more they will pop.

if you havent been constantly feeding this thing then now is the perfect time to start...

in your area, you should have no worries cutting all the leaves off and pruning wherever you want

she'll bounce and probably surprise you

good luck

[Ryan1979b]

Excellent, cheers mate, I think I will have a look and start planning where to prune.

Fingers crossed

Cheers

[Joel]

You might want to consider slip potting it into a larger/training pot for now. It would increase vigour, greatly increasing the amount of back shooting thus making it more likely to produce a branch right where you want it.

JayC

[Jonden]

I find with figs like this , just cut the trunk off at the lowest branch to create a new leader, pot it on an angle in a large training pot and feed like crazey. Changing the angle will create a more interesting trunk for the future, rather than a straight trunk. Once you cut the top out it will shoot everywhere along the old trunk and you can take your pick which ones to keep for branches. Let the new leader grow untill it has thickened up to form a good taper, then cut back to the height that you want. I wouldn't repot untill the weather is warmer, in summer.
Good luck,
jonden

[anttal63]

definately the best option jon! that will make the better tree long term.

[Jamie]

lindsay farr's website has some great tutorial video's on how to get more branching and aireal roots etc. on figs. should check that out.
would help i think.
the advice given is great aswell!

[Chris H]

Jonden is right. Cut back and plant on an angle. or if your really game lay it almost on its side with a fair amount under the soil in a training pot for a year or three. Then when you take it out youll have all sorts of interesting roots to build with. Then once your ready start removing leaves and training.

[shibui]

Down here we repot figs in midsummer - January is our club fig workshop and they just grow madly after. Repotting this early sets them back quite severely.
Figs love to be fed. The more feed the quicker they grow.
Pinching the growing tip seems to cause just the next bud or 2 down to grow. Cutting harder usually stimulates more buds below the cut as does taking off the tip and all the leaves below.
They can be cut off just about anywhere and will shoot new buds along the trunk/ branch below the cut. The healthier the tree the more buds you will get. I wait for warmer weather before hard pruning though as the new buds form quicker and the tree recovers faster when it is actively growing.
They do respond to leaf pruning but its probably better to leave that until you have established a reasonable structure.

[Chris H]

In Sydney where its a bit warmer we tend to be able to repot from Nov on. but you are right its better to wait till the night time temps are warmer

[Ryan1979b]

Thanks all for the advice ..Much appreciated.

I went of last night with the comments I had at hand & did a bit of pruning. I left one large leader to try & thicken up the tapper plus a few leaves to take the stress of the tree. Hope I didn't jump into this to early. My thoughts are to see what new shoots there are let them lead out while the main trunk thickens, then possibly re-angle the plant in mid summer. I won't do any root pruning at this stage just a tilt of the trunk. As you can see I have placed the cutting in the pot in hope that they will develop roots. If you have any further advice on developing the tree if I have not pruned enough or to much (a bit late...I hope not) please comment as I am still learning & am keen for feedback & advice & pointers.

Cheers all

Ryan

[Chris H]

Itll be ok. Id put the cuttings in a different pot though because you are going to want to fertilise the main tree and the cuttings probably wont want any fertiliser for a while.
or
leave them as is and tell me if they do take, Ive never tried it this way so I cant be certain it wont work.

[MelaQuin]

If it were mine I would chop it back to the naked branch... or even lower. When the new shoots come as well they will, then select what you want and start developing a small tree and as it grows you can either keep it small or allow it to get some more root room and increase. You have a nice base and figs being figs will soon start popping.

Figs are happiest when you do major work at a time when the night temperatures do not fall below 16 degrees C. If the nights are colder it will not kill the tree but figs can sulk and you can lose more time in sulking where waiting to do major work when the fig was in full growth mode would result in a tree that responded faster and better. Figs are the only species that respond best to major root pruning and branch cutting when they are in full growth mode.

But you watch, in a year or two you will have something really good in that pot. Figs can change so much.