AusBonsai

Hi all,

this is my first post on this forum so I've decided to share with you all my two Port Jackson figs that I've tries to develop over the last 8 years. I purchased them as potensai styock from two bonsai nurseries in Perth (both of which have sadly closed down).
Fig one (the last picture) was on the discount table as a sad looking stump with only two stubbie branches and yellowing leaves, it had some kind of black spot but I liked the look of him and bought him, chopped him back and have been just using the clip and grow method (no wiring at all) on him since I bought him.
Fig 2 was a taller ficus that I cut back and have kept close to it's orignal shape, just using the clip and grow method on him. I defoliate them every year and only feed them osmocote. They get full sun and watered daily in our hot Perth summers and they thrive! I once went on a month long holiday where my house mate didn't water them at all (this was in the middle of summer) and they still survived with very minimal shrivelling!)
I highly recommend these hardy figs,will absolutely thrive on neglect (though I actually do take good care of them. I would love to develop aerial roots on them soon.

Thanks for reading and I hope you like the pics, more to follow!

-Sarah, bonsai enthusiast in training

good stuff, i could just imagine how they would be with a regular feeding regime aswell, they would have a lot more structure, if you have had them for that long, in your climate it should only take a couple of years and three or four defoliations to get the strucure


jamie

ps. figs are one of my favourite trees


edit- by the way welcome to the forum you will find lots of good advice here and the people friendly

Hi Sarah, I agree with Jamie's comments about the fertalizer regime. Your trees look good. I followed the same clip and grow, osmocote regime as you and had similar results. After reading about the heavier fertilizer regime on this site I followed the advise and have had a growth explosion on my figs which have required two heavy prunes this growing season and I am toying with idea of doing another.
Figs are like kids - always growing and eating