Ficus benjamin help!
AF farca
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
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goldstar135
7 years agoJean
7 years agoRelated Discussions
The leaves of my benjamin ficus
Comments (3)Mluzan, did you ever hear of Leaf Miners? This guess is probably a long shot, but check it out..I hope anyway.. Is the plant out or indoors? Though soil shouldn't stay constantly moist, when you do water, water entire rootball. Ficus thrive in direct sun, but need to be taken out gradually.. One other this is fertilizer..Have you fed it lately? You're not overfeeding??? Toni...See MoreFicus Benjamin Cold Hardiness?
Comments (2)Brunhilde, what do you have to lose by trying it?!? And _I_, for one, believe you about the benjamina. In Dec. 1989 there was a 15' tall F. elastica near me (Houston, TX). It seemed to have been killed by the 10'F. that was endured at that location in that horrible event of late Dec. A year later it was about 4' tall with a number of trunks. Today I am told it is about 25' tall and 10' wide. Now, granted, Houston has warmer winters than does VA--even coastal VA; but do you really want a 50' tall, cement breaking banyan in your yard. I say, "GO FOR IT!"...See MoreNeed help with benjamin ficus
Comments (2)If you're watering while moisture is still easily detectable in the soil, you're over-watering. Depot the plant and look for rotten roots, dry soil, or dry areas here & there interspersed with moist areas. If you find you're over-watering (or the soil is overly water retentive, you can depot the plant and leave it set on a stack of newspapers, paper bags, or old towels/rags for a half hour or so before putting it back in the pot. Have you moved the plant recently? You'll find some helpful info about the cultural wants of Ficus benjamina here. Al...See MoreLeaning ficus benjamin
Comments (11)I would like a plant that stands upright on its own and looks compact. There are 2 ways to make your plant self-supporting. 1) Situate it so it gets at least 8 hrs of full sun. 2) Prune back regularly. A stem that is 2m tall and laying over can be pruned back to a point where the stem is straight, even if that means you have to prune it back to 50-75cm. Trunks and branches are like sticks of wood in that a long stick of a given diameter is more flexible than a short one. The tree in the middle with the large white scar is a maple I grew in beds devoted to potential bonsai trees. It was about 2.5m when I chopped it. Notice I had saved a low branch to serve as the tree's new leader after the chop. See the progress: 4 years after the chop, scar nearly closed completely ^^^ Summer of '21 ^^^ You have 2 options that will fix the issue. You can prune back the height very hard, so you have a structure which will allow you to build a tree with good eye appeal, or, you can prune back the tops to where the trunks are not lying over, then prune the branches back hard, removing those which grow almost straight up or down, and those which cross or grow back toward the center of the tree. One other possibility would be to contact a bonsai club and ask if someone would help you get it sorted out. I could do it in less than an hour if it was a tree-in-hand type of arrangement, but directing you by looking at 2D images won't work except on smaller and less complicated trees. Your tree could be pruned in a strictly conical shape - no problem; and, a year of pinching judiciously would ensure it's fullness and compactness, but you would end up with more of a topiary form. and would depend on the fullness of the foliage to hide the branch structure. That corner of the balcony looks darker than it actually is (the photo was taken against the light): I still have the ability to move it more towards the light, but it will be less sheltered from the elements in winter. You could try this: Give it full sun for the summer, then move it to a sheltered spot for winter. Here's why that will work great: The growth your tree puts on during late fall/ winter/ early spring will be lanky and weak. Ideally, you would get into a pruning rhythm that finds you pruning all the long winter growth off in May, judicious pinching until mid-late fall, then stop pinching from late fall until May's hard pruning. Pruning this way ensures that ALL internodes on the tree are tight. It makes the tree as full and compact as it can possibly be when you pair the pruning rhythm with summer pinching. PS1: Al, I'm not an expert like you, but I usually know how to heal my ficus benjamina. I will show you two plants that were very perishable at the beginning of 2019 and that I have reinvigorated. PS2: I apologize for my bad English. Your trees look very healthy, and that's the main thing. A healthy tree will tolerate a LOT of hard work when it comes to doing full repots (includes bare-rooting, root pruning, and a change of grow medium) and hard pruning. Picture story of one of mt Ficus benjaminas: Intentionally defoliated to make it easier to prune and wire ^^^ wired - starting to push a new flush of leaves ^^^ Has about half of it's leaves. Pinching will also force more back-budding. Al...See MoreAF farca
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoDave
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoAF farca
7 years agoDave
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoAF farca
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoMarcy
7 years agoDave
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoAF farca
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoianna
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
7 years agoianna
7 years agoAF farca
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoDave
7 years agoianna
7 years agoDave
7 years agoAF farca
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agolitterbuggy (z7b, Utah)
7 years ago
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