AusBonsai

Long time lurker l, first time poster.

Just bought my first stock.

Any tips an suggestions on what should I do with this.

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They are quite forgiving and a great species to begin and learn with . What part of Aust are you in. if you experience any frost in your area it will need winter protection . I have 4 all around 60-100 years old (collected from the mountain ranges in SE NSW). Fertilise heavy coming into the warmer months. The little guy should grow fast in that pot . what are your plans .......grow out so the trunk etc increases in size then cut back or keep it compact .

Matthew wrote:They are quite forgiving and a great species to begin and learn with . What part of Aust are you in. if you experience any frost in your area it will need winter protection . I have 4 all around 60-100 years old (collected from the mountain ranges in SE NSW). Fertilise heavy coming into the warmer months. The little guy should grow fast in that pot . what are your plans .......grow out so the trunk etc increases in size then cut back or keep it compact .

Hey Matthew

Wow thats some old trees. Any photos?

I live in south west sydney, what sort of fertilisers should I use?

Im not exactly sure what Im doing with this but maybe perhaps grow it out nice and fat.

Maybe eventually something like this...

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Al-Bonsai wrote:

Matthew wrote:They are quite forgiving and a great species to begin and learn with . What part of Aust are you in. if you experience any frost in your area it will need winter protection . I have 4 all around 60-100 years old (collected from the mountain ranges in SE NSW). Fertilise heavy coming into the warmer months. The little guy should grow fast in that pot . what are your plans .......grow out so the trunk etc increases in size then cut back or keep it compact .

Hey Matthew

Wow thats some old trees. Any photos?

I live in south west sydney, what sort of fertilisers should I use?

Im not exactly sure what Im doing with this but maybe perhaps grow it out nice and fat.

Maybe eventually something like this...

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Figs will fatten in pots over time . Ground growing while the most efficient can produce very heavy roots if not controlled. I would just let him grow freely and lift him every year or two to check those roots to cut any heavy downward ones and promote a more radial spread . Fert is a personal choice . Some guys use dynamic lifter cause its faily cheap. I'm using Alpaca manure because I have it and its quite fine to put on fresh . I also use slow release and a liquid fert when I remember. You mainly want a bigger trunk at the moment so free growth will speed the process up . The beauty of figs is you can cut any heavy branches off and chances are you will get several new sprouts to choice a new branch from .

In regards to my trees this is proberly the oldest . That wart look takes some time to get .

Matthew wrote:

Al-Bonsai wrote:

Matthew wrote:They are quite forgiving and a great species to begin and learn with . What part of Aust are you in. if you experience any frost in your area it will need winter protection . I have 4 all around 60-100 years old (collected from the mountain ranges in SE NSW). Fertilise heavy coming into the warmer months. The little guy should grow fast in that pot . what are your plans .......grow out so the trunk etc increases in size then cut back or keep it compact .

Hey Matthew

Wow thats some old trees. Any photos?

I live in south west sydney, what sort of fertilisers should I use?

Im not exactly sure what Im doing with this but maybe perhaps grow it out nice and fat.

Maybe eventually something like this...

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

Figs will fatten in pots over time . Ground growing while the most efficient can produce very heavy roots if not controlled. I would just let him grow freely and lift him every year or two to check those roots to cut any heavy downward ones and promote a more radial spread . Fert is a personal choice . Some guys use dynamic lifter cause its faily cheap. I'm using Alpaca manure because I have it and its quite fine to put on fresh . I also use slow release and a liquid fert when I remember. You mainly want a bigger trunk at the moment so free growth will speed the process up . The beauty of figs is you can cut any heavy branches off and chances are you will get several new sprouts to choice a new branch from .

In regards to my trees this is proberly the oldest . That wart look takes some time to get .

rsz_mountain figs 2.jpg

rsz_mountain figs.jpg

Beautiful trees, thanks for sharing.

I'd love to have a wide range of trees like yours one day.

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Put a bit more potting mix in the pot to cover the widest part of the trunk. That's where you want new roots to grow from and they are more likely to grow under the ground. Figs can't read so they are happy with any fertiliser but they are greedy buggers so make sure you fertilise often.
You'll find lots of threads here on Ausbonsai with hints and techniques that others have used to grow figs. Use the search function to find answers to all sorts of things.

shibui wrote:Put a bit more potting mix in the pot to cover the widest part of the trunk. That's where you want new roots to grow from and they are more likely to grow under the ground. Figs can't read so they are happy with any fertiliser but they are greedy buggers so make sure you fertilise often.
You'll find lots of threads here on Ausbonsai with hints and techniques that others have used to grow figs. Use the search function to find answers to all sorts of things.

Thanks for that. Ill be sure to cover the widest part on the weekend.

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shibui wrote:Put a bit more potting mix in the pot to cover the widest part of the trunk. That's where you want new roots to grow from and they are more likely to grow under the ground. Figs can't read so they are happy with any fertiliser but they are greedy buggers so make sure you fertilise often.
You'll find lots of threads here on Ausbonsai with hints and techniques that others have used to grow figs. Use the search function to find answers to all sorts of things.

Good advice Neil. ft

Does anyone know where about they originate from. I know there’s heaps around my way in southern Sydney but was curious where they grow in the wild.

Ficus rubiginosa natural distribution: Mostly coastal, from near Vic border right through to Far north QLD.
The wide distribution explains why there are quite marked differences in some strains of this species.

shibui wrote:Ficus rubiginosa natural distribution: Mostly coastal, from near Vic border right through to Far north QLD.

What Neil said with pictures
https://bie.ala.org.au/species/http://i ... i/2894530#

Based mostly on herbarium records but also observations. Unfortunately, the link to the occurrence records appears broken at this time. It happens sometimes when they update stuff.

My figs came from Cambewarra mountain range just off Nowra South coast NSW. There was one patch high up were literally 40 trees were collected over time by myself and Wade . These all made great material with great trunks and shallow root systems .

Matthew wrote:My figs came from Cambewarra mountain range just off Nowra South coast NSW. There was one patch high up were literally 40 trees were collected over time by myself and Wade . These all made great material with great trunks and shallow root systems .

Be any left? I'm not far from that area! Going to hunt out some pines in the highlands too in winter hopefully.

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Mitch_28 wrote:

Matthew wrote:My figs came from Cambewarra mountain range just off Nowra South coast NSW. There was one patch high up were literally 40 trees were collected over time by myself and Wade . These all made great material with great trunks and shallow root systems .

Be any left? I'm not far from that area! Going to hunt out some pines in the highlands too in winter hopefully.

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couldn't tell you its been 15 years since Ive been up there. There are a lot of PJ figs growing is this range its just this one particular spot has a shallow shale base so roots never were deep and forced to spread out and the trees never got over 6-8 feet.

If you happen to get back there anytime soon could you take some photos. I would love to see what they look like growing in the bush. I read their natural habitat is around Botany Bay which is where I live but the trees I find are usually in landscapes areas.