Ficus Benjamina, my neighbor is demanding that I cut it down
rsieminski
15 years ago
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
15 years agoRelated Discussions
HUGE Ficus Benjamina help
Comments (23)great going! i've been sort of dwarfing my ficus salicifolia for years and also fusing trunks on it and also on f.benjamina. you could create a taper by twisting a few semi-wooded trunks together in the future. also i have been slowly exposing the roots on salicifolia. i'd prune some of the criss-crossing roots on the right - they could become chokers. also trim some small roots . i've been using this book for ref: jerry meislik 'ficus the exotic bonsai'. it great pics and info on fusing, grafting (that another thing you can do, if you cut off a trunk/branch - you can regraft it!). he is well known - lots of pics for ideas if you google. he works extensively with ficus....See MoreNeed advice on my Ficus Benjamina.
Comments (41)Thanks! :) Your rooted cuttings make a lovely little tree but I'm not sure it's gonna be happy in that glass for long. My plantlets haven't grown much for a good while, only they filled their pots with roots. Not sure if the same's gonna happen to yours but if they grow, there won't be enough space. And to flush the medium you need holes at the bottom. All my semi-hydro plants are in normal pots with holes and saucer/cache pot underneath. The ones in non-draining glasses are bromeliads and they only get sprayed with water every now and then. I just wondered, how come your mother plant has plain green and variegated leaves at the same time?...See MoreBranch pruning, Ficus Benjamina
Comments (10)When you have a healthy tree, it opens avenues you couldn't have otherwise traveled, so 'way to go'! Now is the best time for repotting if needed, and subsequently pruning - after the plant shows new growth as its evidence it's sufficiently recovery after the root work. You only want your tree to have one head. Right now, it has 2 or 3. The apex will be determined by the potting angle (of the trunk) and an imaginary vertical line from where the trunk exits the soil. The apex eventually should be near to straight above the point where the trunk exits the soil. Start your pruning by correcting any problem branches - those growing straight up, down, or back toward the center of the plant. Correct crossing branches by retaining the crossing component that best compliments the plants outline & eliminating branches that don't compliment it. Then, determine your apex./ That should be the tallest part of the plant. Other branches should be pruned back to a branch growing horizontal or slanting slightly downward on the lower part of the tree, and horizontal to slightly upward on the middle part of the tree, to slightly upward on the upper part of the tree. On the 'B' side, what you have circled should be removed by pruning it back to the lowest horizontal branch that is lowest on the trunk and moves left in the picture. There are actually 2 pruning opportunities for the 'B' foliage mass. Pick the one that looks the best. You should be mainly concerned with making sacrifices in appearance now that promise the best potential for tomorrow's appearance. In picture 5, the low branch moving right - the heavy nearly horizontal branch in the background should be removed back to where it joins with the smaller branch (about where it crosses the flutes in the door trim in the background. After that, you'll look for other pruning opportunities in the branches above that leave you with branches oriented as close to horizontal as possible. Roughly, you'll be trying to establish a triangular shaped profile, using the horizontal branches, and with the apex of the triangle as close as possible to directly above where the plant exits the soil. You can cut off a LOT right now ..... and that will really make the tree back-bud, which in turn will provide you with more and finer pruning opportunities that will REALLY help you get to the point you're working on FINE refinement instead of establishing rough structure. You really do have a tree with lots of potential to be a very attractive specimen. Where do you live? Al...See MoreI Have A Two Year Old Ficus Benjamina That I Grew From A Clippin
Comments (15)No - nothing wrong, but the top could stand some thinning. To grow benjamina well, the top needs to be restrained - even if the plant is still much shorter than the ht at which you'd like to maintain the tree. This is because the plant is very apically dominant and tends to allot about 2/3 of it's energy to the top 1/3 of the tree. If you view the tree looking for verification of the tendency, you'll see what I mean. The counter measure is to regularly reduce the top, which serves 2 purposes. It keeps the top branches from getting conspicuously heavy, and it lets more light through to stimulate back-budding nearer the center of the foliage mass. Your tree is already getting some rather heavy branching at the top of the tree where things should be light & airy - twiggy. To fix that, you would first sort of bring the branch extension back inside of an imaginary ball shape by pruning back the longer top branches. Then, open up the top by concentrating on the heavy branches. Cut those back so you're leaving a pair of fine branches pointing in favorable directions, or to a single fine branch pointing in a favorable direction. The branches in the lower 2/3 of the tree would just get minimal pruning. It already appears to have a rather nice shape (good job!), but could do with that extra measure of refinement if you're up for it. Al...See Morersieminski
15 years agosvanessa
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8 years agoBill Perez
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
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last yearSusan Letourneau
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5 months ago
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