AusBonsai

Hi,
Ive seen the little Sumo figs for sale and display around the forums, but how do you do it? Ive tried trunk chopping larger root stock, but there is always an ugly scar to grow out/work around. Ive got some small seedlings off a mate, but how do I encourage them to get fat? Can anyone help me?


Please?

BB

buddaboy,

I am no expert on figs but in your climate you should be able to achieve the results quickly. The advice I have had on Figs is to feed heavily. I also fill a tray with zeolite then with water and place the pot on the zeolite.I allow the roots to grow into the tray over summer then trim them in autumn and bring them inside for winter ( you would not need to bring inside ). I also clean the tray and repeat the process over winter inside.

Obvisously you would have the growing season all year round.

Hope this helps

Peter

Hello buddaboy,I am not sure what you mean by sumo figs but i think you mean the specimens that show large bulbous shaped surface roots. In my limited experience this seems to happen with cuttings. at the moment I am achieving good results with a batch of about 30 seedlings (about 15 months old) they are showing good taper and are about as thick as my thumb at ground level.Height ranges from about 75 to 300 mm, I am not sure if they are Port Jackson or Moreton Bay figs. I have repotted twice so far and have spread the roots out to try encourage good nebari shape.As an experiment I have planted them in various configurationssuch as 3 trunk twisted together,twin trunks,bent, straight etc. I have not trimmed the peaks of any yet but have root pruned all of them.The leaves are huge and i have still to learn about leaf size reduction. I have grown all of them from seed, the trick i use is to soak the seeds in water after the fruit is broken open, they ferment and stink this I believe replicates what happens to a seed as it passes throught a bird. I hope this is helpful, Glenn W Melbourne.

Glenn, There is a thread on here showing Sumo figs. It appears that they are as wide at the bottom as they are tall. I may have asked the wrong type of question, Ill try again: How do I stop the top growth long enough to fill out the base. I have some little figs from a mate up the road due to "Those bloody fruit bats flying over", so thats not a problem as such. If I pot a cutting here in summer, I have to step back so I dont get hit in the face as it grows. Last year I had transferable roots in three weeks from cuttings. Do I just keep lopping the tops off, or is there some other control system.

Thanks
BB

aye budda how can you avoid scars when having to grow on to get fat enough to be sumo? take ya pick 1 trunk = 1 big chop/scar or multi trunk various smaller chops/scars. 6 of 1 1/2 dozen the other. multi trunk gives you multi options for a final trunk line. also lets all rember how fast ficus fatten up and heal scars, especially in your climate

Thanks Anttal,
I can get your point here, I just thought everybody else might have some ancient oriental secret I havent heard about. Ok so I let it get big and them get out the chainsaw . The reason I asked is that Ive got about 1/2 dozen singles all chopped back (30-60mm trunks) and I have 5 little seedlings, so I wanted to check in case I needed to start with smaller stock than I have already chopped.

BB

looks like grow and chop grow and chop is ya answer mate

you got it jamie. chop and grow various times to achieve the width, taper, movement and branches you wish for. 5-10 yrs i reckon, depending on the articulation in the design.

anttal63 wrote:you got it jamie. chop and grow various times to achieve the width, taper, movement and branches you wish for. 5-10 yrs i reckon, depending on the articulation in the design.

the 5-10 years mate, i take it thats from a starter tree yes? or would that be from a small cutting, i suppose it depends on what ya climate is like too. with mine and buddas we could possibly get it there a bit quicker?

5 on the short 10 on the long 5-10 smaller- bigger. there abouts. remember im not certified just opionated

cool mate, theres nothing wrong with that lol. was just curious

What I like is that if someone has the same questions as me I haven't made a complete idiot of myself.

buddaboy wrote:What I like is that if someone has the same questions as me I haven't made a complete idiot of myself.

lol... we can look like idiots together

all good though. if ya dont ask ya dont get, and that comes down to questions, questions and more questions till ya get the answers