That's not the only way to propagate actually. My parents own a microbiology laboratory. Plant tissue culture is a way to grow just about any kind of plant from just a singular plant cell, though the most commonly used type of cells in this process are meristematic tissue such as the root tip and axillary bud tips. All plants have this kind of tissue. To have such a narrow-minded field of thought is a detriment only to yourselves. Tissue culture is actually better anyway, so you don't have to destroy an entire bud and root tissue is always plentiful. It also has a higher success rate than when you just try to propagate at home. The tissue culture process can easily be replicated at home as long as a sterile environment is provided. All you really need is a medium to suspend the tissue culture in such as agar, in a temperature controlled environment. Though the suspension medium differs greatly from what kind of plant is being produced. Orchids, for example, require higher levels of malto-detrixin and banana powder to successfully grow. Since there's not much tissue culture done of Ficus lyrata, it would be necessary to find the right suspension medium that yields the highest rates of cell division.

We have to recognize that it's always ok for the grower to do whatever he wishes with his plants because they're his plants, but when we look at various procedures from the perspective of what's best for the plant, we'll find an emerging pattern that takes advantage of the plant's increased energy levels and tries to minimize the effects of low energy levels. For most houseplants, the highest rate of increase in energy occurs between Memorial Day and July 4th, and the plant's highest level of reserve energy would occur in August, so any significant work (hard pruning, root pruning, full repots) are best done between Father's Day and Independence Day. Potting up (as opposed to repotting), minor pruning - removing a wayward branch or two or pinching, can be done safely whenever the tree is healthy. If you were removing more than about 10$ of any one of the tree's foliage, it would be best to wait until early next summer. Foliage is where food comes from, and your plant needs foliage to meet current energy demands and minimize demands on energy reserves so the tree isn't playing catch-up when late spring rolls around. 1) Why would I want to slow the trunk's thickening? Is it just to encourage an attractive taper? It was just a notation - a tip you could use if you found 1 trunk being inordinately fat when compared to the others as being unpleasing to the eye. For bonsai artists, it's important for the lowest branch to be the thickest, and for branches to grow subsequently thinner as they occur closer to the apex. Since trees are usually apically dominant, they want to concentrate 3/4 of their energy in the upper 1/4 of the tree, so it's up to the grower to slow the top down so the tree is forced to channel energy into the lower branches. The same principle applies to slowing down one of the trees in your grouping. Remove some of its foliage - some of its ability to make food - and growth slows in that trunk only, allowing the others to catch up. 2) How would I direct a branch to vertical? Everything about this plant suggests verticality. Below, you'll see a picture of a maple with an obvious sacrifice branch. In this case, the branch will never be a part of the composition. It's there only to thicken the section of trunk immediately above the 'chop' because the taper is too pronounced. You're looking at the back of the tree, so when that fat, unrefined branch is removed, the scar won't be seen from the front. The small secondary branch emerging upward off of the fat primary branch and has been directed to vertical (initially by wiring it upward) is the future moneymaker. BECAUSE it is growing vertically, the plant will funnel an extra measure of growth energy into it and it will thicken the primary branch faster, which in turn will thicken the trunk faster. Refinement on the rest of the tree will continue as usual, & the primary sacrifice branch along with the secondary branch will simply be removed when the desired measure of trunk thickening has occurred. Al

I use lime but just enough to help adjust the ph form the peat. I never use fertilizer when rooting cutting but I've found superthrive works wonders. just 1 cap per gallon of water, a small bottle last me all season. another thing is start them in pot not bags as others may suggest because they had luck with it. As a beginner you'll struggle not to break roots when you pot them up. Trust me the break easy. Use deep pots, the deeper the cuttings are in the pot the better the roots will form. roots form mostly from nodes and they could be spaced 3 inches apart, the more nodes underground the better your chances are. just be sure to face your cuttings upward and leave a node or 2 above ground as well, an upside cutting won't survive.

You're welcome Gracin. You'll probably want to use material at least #2 pencil thickness (if available) so they'd be ready for budding this season. You should disbud them before wrapping, leaving only the top one or two buds per cutting. Using material further down the cane than the growing end should also help with your success as it is harder, more dormant. Watch the moisture level in the paper. If you can squeeze out any more water, it's too wet. And, watch the temperatures you hold the wraps under. My initial ones this winter were too cold. The cuttings were in perfect shape, absolutely no deterioration at all, but there was very little callus. I potted them anyway as they'd been in the wraps for the full two weeks. So far, nearly two weeks in soil and partial day sun, they all still look fresh. The newer wraps I'm holding in the sunken living room where the temps shouldn't exceed 68 (thermostat setting and lowest part of the house). Last year, our evening temps seldom dipped below fifty. This year, we've gotten nearly to freezing with many nights in the low forties, so the traditional place in the garage remained too cool for callus formation. It really does generate more efficiently in the 60's F range. I know Fortuniana works with the wraps as they were some of the first I tried two years ago when I first read the method on the RHA. Good luck! Kim