AusBonsai

I have a Ficus microcarpa retusa, and I have a cutting from a microcarpa retusa which has not developed the characteristic fat roots of the microcarpa. Does the cutting revert to a Ficus microcarpa? What the heck do I call it?

Glenda

hi glenda,

the way i see it is that the cutting is the same as the parent plant. those sort of roots will take a long long time to develop. i ground layered one a while ago, it created a nice neat root spread, i personally prefer a neat nebari, the roots off you parent plant i dont personally like, but you may, so as i said it will take a long time to develop if it does like that.

Hi Glenda...is it possible that you may have taken a cutting from whats been grafted onto the bulging root stock therefore won't get any of the characteristics you're chasing?(hope this makes sense) you may have to try a root cutting instead! ....Dog.

i dont beleive it has been grafted... im pretty sure Ficus microcarpa retusa is considered a cultivar in itself, i dont think i am explaining this right..

Jamie wrote:i dont beleive it has been grafted... im pretty sure Ficus microcarpa retusa is considered a cultivar in itself, i dont think i am explaining this right..

I don't think mine has been grafted - I can't see any evidence of it, and others I have seen from the same nursery where I bought this one the grafts are obvious (by the way, Jamie, this is the same one that had that bad thrip infestation). The cutting was given to me by a local club member from what he thinks is a retusa but he isn't quite sure. The brown bark with lenticels and stripes on the cutting look very much like a microcarpa to me - but the retusa has them too - on the fat roots, the aerial roots and the branches. I just want to know what to expect from it - I would actually prefer it NOT to get the big roots, and I want to know what to call it.

Glenda

I hear ya Bro!! ....Dog.

cheers B-dog

ahh ok i get ya now glenda, i wouldnt be counting on getting those heavy tuber like roots, the ground layer i did on the one i had came out with nice new roots, actually, when i get a camera again i have quite an odd story to show you all

Jamie wrote:cheers B-dog

ahh ok i get ya now glenda, i wouldnt be counting on getting those heavy tuber like roots, the ground layer i did on the one i had came out with nice new roots, actually, when i get a camera again i have quite an odd story to show you all

But I still want to know what to call it! I know the scientific name for almost all my plants, and want to know what this one is too. The only other one I have is the ficusI use for my avatar - it was a collected specimen and no one I know has ever seen one like it. After growing rampantly for about 10 months now, the largest leaves are not much over 1cm in length and about 7mm wide. I have put it up on the forum before for identification, without success.
If I have to make it two without proper identification, so be it, but I would love it if I had a tag for this one.

Glenda
Edited to add picture and fix spelling

the cutting you are talking about is Ficus microcarpa retusa, thats the name of it as for this one in your avatar im quite unsure on it, it looks a little like benjimina but the leaf shape is a bit different, and the size is very small, 1cm long is excellent reduction, but i cant be 100% on that mate. that could possibly be a ficus retusa with that shape, hard to tell. i will go through my books if you can get me a pic of a leaf, top and bottom of the leaf, and a decent shot of the bark

Glenda wrote:

Jamie wrote:cheers B-dog

ahh ok i get ya now glenda, i wouldnt be counting on getting those heavy tuber like roots, the ground layer i did on the one i had came out with nice new roots, actually, when i get a camera again i have quite an odd story to show you all

But I still want to know what to call it! I know the scientific name for almost all my plants, and want to know what this one is too. The only other one I have is the ficusI use for my avatar - it was a collected specimen and no one I know has ever seen one like it. After growing rampantly for about 10 months now, the largest leaves are not much over 1cm in length and about 7mm wide. I have put it up on the forum before for identification, without success.

DSCF0480.JPG

If I have to make it two without proper identification, so be it, but I would love it if I had a tag for this one.

Glenda
Edited to add picture and fix spelling

Looks like Ficus Indigo to me. There's a big one of this variety in the council park behind my back yard.

Jamie wrote:the cutting you are talking about is Ficus microcarpa retusa, thats the name of it as for this one in your avatar im quite unsure on it, it looks a little like benjimina but the leaf shape is a bit different, and the size is very small, 1cm long is excellent reduction, but i cant be 100% on that mate. that could possibly be a ficus retusa with that shape, hard to tell. i will go through my books if you can get me a pic of a leaf, top and bottom of the leaf, and a decent shot of the bark

Far left is a benjamina, middle is a baby ben, top right is a willow leaf, bottom is ficus in question.

The leaf is as it grows - nothing done to reduce the leaf size. Has never been defoliated, and was collected as a seedling growing in the fork of another tree. Other pics coming up tomorrow.

Glenda

kvan64 wrote:
Looks like Ficus Indigo to me. There's a big one of this variety in the council park behind my back yard.

The leaves are definitely weepy like a benj, but the leaf shape is quite different. I googled the ficus indigo, but I think the leaves on this one are still much smaller. Tomorrow I will post some pictures of a cutting I have taken - the leaves emerge much lighter then darken, where the descriptions I read of the indigo the leaves emerge dark and then darken more.

Glenda

what you gotta take into accout Glenda there is an amazing amount of different cultivars of ficus, i think there are over 900+ in the ficus family. it does make identification hard as out of those 900+ there are also a lot of variations on top of that. this also includes hybrids on top which can show differing characteristics of the parents, and these hybrids although from the same to parents can show different characteristics from the offspring from one to another

if you have a natural leaf size of 10mm long and 7mm wide, get some more and send one down to me!!! that is a great leaf size to work with, especially for shohin and smaller trees!


jamie

Jamie wrote:what you gotta take into accout Glenda there is an amazing amount of different cultivars of ficus, i think there are over 900+ in the ficus family. it does make identification hard as out of those 900+ there are also a lot of variations on top of that. this also includes hybrids on top which can show differing characteristics of the parents, and these hybrids although from the same to parents can show different characteristics from the offspring from one to another

if you have a natural leaf size of 10mm long and 7mm wide, get some more and send one down to me!!! that is a great leaf size to work with, especially for shohin and smaller trees!


jamie

I have some cuttings on the go - When and if they take you are welcome to swap for something! My son actually owns the avatar tree, but I have one cutting doing well, and two more on the go. I have to sneak them without him noticing = although he is at med school in Townsville and won't get home again for about another 6 weeks . So the cuttings are small, but it does grow very quickly. The picture above was taken in January, when the plant was around 6 months from collection. The seedling was only about 4cm tall when it was taken and had about 4 leaves, so they do grow quickly. I can post an up-to-date pic tomorrow if you want

Glenda

cool glenda, happy to trade for sure, anything in particular you are after?