Another ficus

[bonborn]

As if I needed another one. I decide to buy another ficus. I have a soft spot for ficus with aerial roots. Maybe because so far I have failed to produce any on those grown by me.

I managed to detangle the roots and its now resting in seasol. Any ideas on how should I proceed to achieve a banyan style. It won't be a very low banyan as the split is a bit higher on the plant.

P_20170106_161601.jpg

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[boom64]

Hi Bonborn ,very nice material .This is what I would do if it was mine. probably wont make much sense but here go's. Get some polly styrene , break down to little shapes and gentle tie each aerial roots to several pieces. Yes every aerial root , I would use grafting tape to do this. Not to tight. Try and get some nice shapes , bends, etc . I would prepare my soil mix , place the growing ends in mix ,now with the aerial roots that you have tied up and bent , slowly place in the desired position and backfill with a coarse mix of gravel or something similar. You will probably get a few extras by next year. Feed heavily and don't cut back anything ,only interested in fattening aerial roots at this stage.
Hope that makes some sense ,good luck......Cheers John.

[bonborn]

Thanks Boom64. Why the polystyrene shapes though?

[Kevin]

Hello Bonborn,

Have a look at what John's (Boom64) done in this recent thread of his:

viewtopic.php?f=133&t=23452

Looking forward to your updates on this tree too.

Kevin

[boom64]

Hi Bonborn,
Like Kevin has alluded to ,the polystyrene will give the aerial roots some interesting shapes ,or maybe you could let them fall straight and get a curtain effect . Better still get another Tree and have a crack at both styles .
Good luck with whatever you decide. Cheers John.

[bonborn]

Thanks for the advice. I'll let it grow out this season. Next season i will prune to push back growth and see what pops out. I'd like to go with the curtain effect.