Rubber Tree, Ficus b. - Culture, Propagation, Pruning, Problems
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
15 years ago
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greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
13 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Question about Ficus - Rubber Tree
Comments (12)Hi, Scotty. First, I'll be talking mostly about repotting. What the person in the video did was not a repot. He very simply potted up, which means no part of the root congestion you saw went away, it simply remained hidden in the center of the root mass where it continues to rob the plant of a great deal of it's potential in terms of growth, vitality, and likely appearance. If I was repotting that plant, the first things I would have done is snip the bottom 1/3-1/2 of the root mass off and bare-rooted the plant before finishing the root-pruning and returning the plant to the same pot in a fresh medium. Potting up) can actually be done at any time of the year with little in the way of consequences unless the root system of the plant being repotted is sickly and the step up in pot size is appropriate, but June is the best month for both potting-up and repotting, even though potting up is a half measure. I would guess, over the course of the next year, the plant he potted up will be denied well over half of its potential for growth/vitality because he didn't remedy the root congestion. Repotting in early spring after a plant's winter of suffering low light and often low humidity conditions (increases the rate of respiration) means the plant's stored energy reserves are, practically speaking, nil. Houseplants for the most part don't go "dormant" in winter, they are unable to grow because they are usually hovering somewhere just above or below their LCP. The light compensation point occurs when the amount of energy consumed during respiration is equal to the amount created during photosynthesis. When a plant is using all current photosynthate/ energy production to maintain its existing viable parts, it has no energy left to grow, so repotting in early spring when length of day/night is about equal leaves the plant at a serious disadvantage from both the perspective of current energy production and it's inability to draw on depleted energy reserves. Repotting in late spring (June) will have allowed plants well taken care of to accumulate carbohydrate reserves in roots and cambial tissues; and, plants will be moving toward peak ability to create food from the sun's energy. Whereas it might take a month or more for plants repotted in March to show new growth (depending on the plant and its level of vitality and natural vigor), the tropicals I've been repotting for 40 years are typically pushing new growth before 2 weeks and in most cases, less than a week. So, while anyone is free to do as they choose with their own plants, my experience after thousands of full repots is that almost all houseplants and a large fraction of succulents are best repotted in the weeks before the summer solstice. Those growing fruit-bearing trees (citrus, avocado, mango, coffee, ..... indoors will usually want to repot earlier. Al...See MoreFicus Trees in Containers IV
Comments (329)The first bend in the trunk is result of a previous pruning. I noticed that when I was looking at the first images. Looks like the trunk bifurcated (split to form a 'Y') at that point and one side of the bifurcation was pruned off. In mid-June, the lowest branch marked in yellow should be cut back to 4 leaves. The long branch moving left/ marked yellow in the image above, and the branch moving right/ marked yellow should also be pruned back to 2 leaves. The leader, above these 2 branches and marked in yellow, should be pruned back to a leaf that points in the direction you want the leader to grow. This is called 'directional pruning'. Example: With the above pruning cut made, the new branch (shows as a leaf only, but it's a new branch) in the axil of the leaf on the right will want to grow to the right. If you wanted the new leader to move left, you would prune lower, to just above the leaf on the left. A cut above the leaf attached to the severed part would give rise to a branch growing away from the grower. Because there are other forces in play, like phototropism (tendency for plants to bend toward the brightest light source), there is no guarantee the branch will grow where you wish, so you might need to encourage the new branch that forms in the axil of the leader's top leaf to grow where YOU want it to. I mentioned this already, but I'll reiterate that your tree will respond to pruning with a much higher degree of enthusiasm if you do the pruning A) while the tree's energy reserves are highest, and B) when the tree's current ability to carry on photosynthesis is peaking, both of which will occur during the summer solstice (21 June). 'Father's Day' is easy to remember. If you intend to repot, do it at the same time you prune. While you could probably remove a little soil to cut through (2 cuts) the kinked root that emerges from and returns too the soil, I would do it at the same time you prune the top. Reason: Pruning the top decreases the volume of foliage the roots must work to keep hydrated. It also makes it less likely that a branch on the same side of the tree where the kinked root is attached will die. When a tree is unable to keep certain parts hydrated, it sheds those parts. Unfortunately, they seem to always choose to shed parts the grower feels are essential to the o/a composition/ shape/ style of the tree. Some trees, like junipers/ yews/ arborvitae/ .... , develop a dedicated relationship between individual roots and branches, such that damage to a particular root will kill a particular branch. Notice the live veins connecting roots to individual branches below: This tree ^^^ has 4 branches and 4 live veins. Other trees lack the direct relationship between particular roots and branches. For the genus Ficus, the relation is moderate, but the lower a branch is (and the shorter the tree is) the greater the likelihood that death of a branch or root will result in the dieback of it's counterpart on the opposite side of the root to shoot connection. When serious about earning a green thumb, the largest step a container gardener can take in that direction will come from understanding how water behaves in container media and what that means to the health of your plants' root systems; this, because issues with root function and/or health cause the most problems by far, with some of them seemingly unrelated to root health. Two examples that lend support to the later contention are infections by disease pathogens and insect predation due to a less than robust metabolic rate, caused by limited root function or poor root health. A healthy plant will remain forever elusive unless and until we are able to maintain root systems in an elevated state of vitality (health). Al...See MoreTrimming/Propagating Rubber Tree
Comments (186)Rach - Sometimes, the greenhouse will stick (an actual horticultural term) several individual propagules in a single pot; and sometimes that will stick a single propagule (cutting) in a single pot. Because there may be several nodes on a propagule, and each node is place from which branches often occur, you won't really know if you're dealing with multiple stems from a single propagule or several propagules, unless you dig around in the roots a bit. If they're separate propagules, you can separate them at repotting time. If they're all attached to the same propagule you can remove as many stems as you like by cutting them off flush to the main stem. You can then try to root each propagule individually or in a 'clump' arrangement. You can often tell, if the plant isn't too root-bound, if the stems are all part of the same propagule if you hold one stem and move another around a bit. Sort of like, shaking one limb of a small tree makes the whole tree move. Jontte - F elastica doesn't make a good bonsai subject because its large leaves don't respond well enough to leaf (size) reduction techniques to keep it's leaves in proportion to the size of the tree. There ARE many ficus trees that have the same cultural wants as your rubber tree, but have smaller leaves and much shorter internodes./ There are several varieties of benjamina that are suitable. Also, salicifolia/nerifolia, retusa, microcarpa, are all good. You can also train F pumila to an upright position and get some really nice looking weeping style bonsai with little more skill than it takes to ensure the tree's good health. Al...See MoreAny Pruning Advice for Ficus Lyrata (Fiddle Leaf Fig)
Comments (14)Hi, Jocelyn. I'm happy to see you came back to share the progress and offer the kind words. Your tree has changed quite a bit from the first images you posted - strong work! "...... now branches A and B are growing a lot faster than the others bc they are closer to the sunlight which is a skylight. Branch D is moderate grower, E and F are toward the wall and not growing much - I think A and B may be shading them. Branch C has no leaves anymore. It used to have a couple but they fell off. That branch is totally shaded. My question is how many branches should I prune? All of them or only A and B, the big growers? Do I prune all the way down to two leaves again? Also, when I prune, is there a direction or exact placement of the cut I should do to encourage branching in one direction vs another? Just trying to figure out how to prevent shading of other branches...but maybe that’s due to the sunlight direction? And would you just cut off Branch C since there are no leaves, and if so, where do I make the cut? I'll try to go through and answer in the order your questions were asked, though I'm sure I'll get overzealous about one question and in expanding on it I'll likely answer other of your questions. I guess that's why the phrase "see above" was coined. As far as how many branches should be pruned, I think all that are growing strongly need pruning to force energy to the weaker branches. The branches growing moderately should be at least pinched (tip pruned to stop extension and force hack-budding. I would prune everything back in bounds.To establish where the boundary is, imagine a giant soup bowl, upside down, and settled over the trunk. Anything sticking out beyond that outline should be cut back to the outline, more specifically, to the leaf that is closest TO the outline w/o extending beyond it. This should produce back-budding in at least the 2 leaves closest to the cut. If the distal leaf heads in the wrong direction, which would be the direction where it will receive less light, you can cut back to the next proximal leaf (1 leaf closer to the trunk). If it was my tree, I would have no problem doing the following: Prune back to the outline as described above, then tip-prune every branch you didn't need to prune to keep it in bounds. Then, remove every leaf on the tree except the last (most distal) leaf on each branch and move the tree outdoors as soon as temps allow. Give it a week in dappled or open shade, then move it where it receives sun for a half day for a week before moving into full sun. This strategy will force lots of back-budding - just be careful not to over-water because transpirational water loss (due to reduction of the canopy) will decrease significantly. If you aren't using Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 regularly, the plant will show its appreciation if you do. If we didn't discuss that previously, we can do that. Oh - keep after the pinching, too. You can see by now, I would guess, how much difference pinching can make. Al...See Morejane__ny
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)Original Author