AusBonsai

hey there,just purchased a port jackson fig for a bargan from bonsai south it is in a traning pot has been shaped stands about 6o cm high has been previously shaped will post pics soon,i did pay a fair amount for this tree still lol,but just a few quick questions the first is it doesnt have a lot of new lush growth and a slight yellow to the leaves,at the shop they say said it needs a good hit of dynamic lifter and a good trim which brings me to my next point of cutting back,at the shop they said to cut back to the second leaf,but some of the branches are really long with just a leaf or two at the end,and some have really long internodes,but what do i do? im scared if i cut back too hard i will kill the tree..
And also one of the main branches had died at the tip and just fell off, this hurts the overall look but wondering how this is fixed,is it fixed by cutting back and waiting for a shoot to grow and wire that as the new tip?
And also i think it had been neglected for a bit and has some wire marks and then closer inspection i found some wire where the tree had grown over it and you can get it off,will this kill the tree or will the bark juast grow over ity? hope you can help guys and girls. griffo

Hey Griffo

A bargain at Bonsai South? Leong must have been in a good mood

If it is that unhealthy I would feed it up good and get it growing well first before cutting back. It's a Fig, so if healthy you will not kill it by cutting it back hard.

After it recovers, hit it hard. Cut it back to wherever you wish on the branches and keep it in plenty of sun and the tree will respond with many shoots. Just let them grow for a while after that to build strength, and then you can make decisions on whet to keep. One of these new shoots will be able to be used for the new top. Pics would be good.

The embedded wire is not preferred, but the tree will continue to grow over it and grow freely.

Hope this helps.

Tony

I worked out a new method of defoliation and ramification for my big ground growing figs. Load the ole' ryobi up with line and hit them with the weed wacker.
I'm serious.

I do not recommend the above method on worked trees, these are just figs growing out.

It's always a bit of a gamble, I look at the strength of the individual branch and decide if it looks sickly that a total defol of it, will generally cause it to die back. If it is a healthy growing branch with good foliage, then I'll knock all the leaves off and growing tip is we are happy with the length of branch.

Great advice Tony. I know figs are meant to be indestructible but I have lost the odd smaller one over the years. It always seems to be in wet mixes and the trees seem to suffer root death after leaf fall. This seems to contradict the "Fast growth Method" I have been experimenting with from here
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=3173&p=69739&hilit ... tem#p69739
It does seem that Figs love Dynamic lifter but if these guys are sensitive of wet soil, I wonder how they grow so well in a slurry of dynamic lifter.
Maybe the trees I have lost are unhealthy from the cold or other factors using less water and that is why I blame wet soil?

Is the wet soil generally just a symptom of the tree being unhealthy in figs or is the wet soil the reason for the trees ill health?

ok,i have a cut just a few of the branches back to its seconds leafs, but do you recommend getting some dynamic lifter and letting it grow out for a bit?i will post some pics in the next half hour!!

hey this is my fig

Hi Griffo,
Figs need a very open mix. I use a 50% mix, (Ray Nescsi mix), and 50% Brunnings Orchid mix. In a bucket of the two mixed I throw a couple of large hand full's of Zeolite.

I would imagine the fig has been in that pot for some time and I suspect it will be very root bound. If you can find a foam box or make a wooden growing box larger than the pot. Take the fig out of the pot and remove about a third of the soil and plant it into the new mix. This mix will give you very good drainage. If the soil you leave is very thick and hard you may have to be careful that you don't water log the old soil or you may even find that the soil will not allow water to enter very easily. As it gets more and more healthy you could remove more of the old soil and introduce the new mix.

Regards Ray

ok i will get a foam box from the fruit shop today,just a question though can i use scoria in my mix of soil?i can get it really cheap through work as i am a landscaper...and if i keep some of the original soil is this time of year ok for the tree to put into a growing box,it wont suffer? and also once in the growing box can i then hit it with dynamic lifter? Griffo

Hi Griffo,
I am not sure what you want to use the Scoria for. Do you want to use it instead of the Orchid mix? If this is your idea I can't see why it wouldn't work. Make sure the size you use is about 10 to 15mm. If your idea of using the Scoria is to replace the stone that Ray uses in his mix, I would use anything from 3 to 5mm. When you put the new mix into the pot, mix some Osmocote into the soil. After repotting give it a drink of Seasol. After about a week give it a drink of Charlie Carp.

I use to use Dynamic Lifter but I now use SeaMunGus. It has a better balance of NPK.

I have repotted all my figs over the last 4 weeks. I can't see any problem with repotting the tree at this time.

I will take some photos of some of my figs next week to show you how they have grown.

Regards Ray

Hey Griffo

The Fig doesn't look as bad as you indicated. Potting up to a grow on pot is fine now as others have said, and Rays advice on the feeding is spot on. Don't want to use the heavy fert for a few weeks after potting at least. Scoria in your mix to bulk out is fine also and I would use around 5-7mm if you can.
Some of those branches are pretty scarred. Probably best to eliminate them later on and replace with new ones. Pot it up for now and let it grow for a bit then give it a good prune later. When you pot it up, prune any roots directly under the trunk and leave the lateral ones to improve the buttress at the base of the trunk.

Tony

Hey Griffo
Nice tree

Repot now is no drama and figs needs an open loose soil. I have mine in 2/3 Diatomite, 1/3 Zeolite. Others here use 1005 diatomite

If you had Scoria 3-7mm in size you could pot it direct into that 100 % if you wanted but the pot would be the real heavy Use whatever potting mix you want to that suits you own habits.

the yellow leaves look to me like last years one so just remove them all. The new leaves look fine and healthy to me. The long internodes just look like lower branches trying to reach out for the sun?

looks like a bit on tangled mess to me, so I would be cleaning out the unnecessary branches, and cutting the others back hard to the lenght you want them to be. They will reshoot as figs readily back bud onto old wood

This one of mine I re potted 2 months ago and cut back all branches to shorten them

Ken

Bretts wrote:Great advice Tony. I know figs are meant to be indestructible but I have lost the odd smaller one over the years. It always seems to be in wet mixes and the trees seem to suffer root death after leaf fall. This seems to contradict the "Fast growth Method" I have been experimenting with from here
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=3173&p=69739&hilit ... tem#p69739
It does seem that Figs love Dynamic lifter but if these guys are sensitive of wet soil, I wonder how they grow so well in a slurry of dynamic lifter.
Maybe the trees I have lost are unhealthy from the cold or other factors using less water and that is why I blame wet soil?

Is the wet soil generally just a symptom of the tree being unhealthy in figs or is the wet soil the reason for the trees ill health?

Hi Brett

Figs don't like a constantly wet soil that's for sure. It can be both a symptom and a cause, but most likely the cause. They prefer a very open free draining mix as do most trees, and if the soil stays wet the tree can't breath or grow roots freely. That's why it is so important to let them get dry between watering, especially after potting as the soil stay wetter for longer. The dynamic lifter or similar should only be applied to the top of the soil and this usually will not create a problem.

Tony

thanks for your help guys.. i mmade a grow box yesterday at work and gave my fig a very light root prune as it was so so root bound,i planted it in a mix of cactus and succulent mix,course sand and crushed scoria...i hope to see some new growth on it soon..just one more question can i give it a dose of seasol now considering i did a light root prune or should i hold off for a couple of weeks? i have posted some pics of my grow box..griffo

G'day Griffo. Cool plant box. Wheels will make it handy to move I'll have to remember that when i make mine one day. I'm pretty new to it all but I'd hold off with the seasol as there should be enough nutrients in the soil for a few weeks. Don't want to over feed it as it could cause it to burn the roots.

Good luck with it.
Dan

thanks Dan