Ficus B cutting with lots of fruit
Dave
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
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popmama (Colorado, USDA z5)
4 years agoRelated Discussions
Rubber Tree, Ficus b. - Culture, Propagation, Pruning, Problems
Comments (150)Hi, Tammy - I think I noted not far upthread, that one of the first signs of a root bound tree is the lack of branch extension and loss of interior foliage. The 'tufted' look is so characteristic, that I eliminated a tree the owner expected to win the 'expert class' in a bonsai show I judged this summer, because I could tell the roots were very constricted, just by looking at the tree. When the condition is allowed to get particularly severe, roots wrapped around other roots can completely cut off the flow of water and nutrients to the upper parts of the tree. Trees are somewhat different from species to species in how tightly they adhere to the arrangement that root A feeds branch A, root B feeds branch B, and so on, so that when root A dies, branch A dies. All trees follow this connection to some degree, so it's normal for individual branches originally fed by roots that were later compromised by tight conditions to be shed for lack of the tree's ability to move water and nutrients through the compromised conductive roots. Ideally, we would correct the root issues during a full repot. The problem with that scenario is your tree sounds severely stressed and unlikely to be able to recover from such a drastic procedure for two reasons, the stressed and weakened condition being one, and the the other being that the timing is bad with the tree just going into winter. If you can be patient, I'm not at all concerned about the trees being lopsided. We can build a tree from whatever remains viable for the long term. My focus would remain fixed on getting the tree to a state of vitality that will allow us to start serious work on the tree w/o killing it. Because you just acquired the trees, there is probably no way for you to determine how badly the soluble salts situation is - how much is in the soil. Safest is to assume the salt level is higher than it should be and the soil should be flushed. This is pretty much a standard suggestion for struggling trees. It sort of 'resets' the level of nutritional reserves in the soil, flushing out all the excess soluble that we can't even guess at the concentrations of, and replacing them with a low dose of fertilizer. This ensures that the nutrients are available at a low level that won't interfere with water uptake. Let me know if you're good with: * Flushing the soil very thoroughly. Flush 5-10 times with room or ambient temperature water, using at least the volume of the container for each flush. * Cutting off the bottom 2-3 inches of the root mass and making deep vertical slits in the root mass at 3-4" intervals with a utility knife. * Potting up, using a soil very similar to the one your plant is in now, for now. (We can work around this if you'd rather not invest in such large pots. Let me know.) * Inserting a wick through the drain hole before you pot up. Ideally, you would melt another hole through the bottom near the side and insert the wick there. * After you water, tilt the container at a 45* angle with the wick down. The wick should dangle 2-3" below the container, and not touch the effluent (drained water). This will remove MUCH more water from the soil, and allow you to water copiously and flush the soil each time you water. You'll be flushing the fertilizer out of the soil, along with any accumulating salts, so plan on fertilizing with a half strength dose of 24-8-16 or 12-4-8 (both 3:1:2 ratios) about every 3-4 times you water. Don't worry - there is no danger of over-fertilizing if you can follow this plan. It's a very healthy way to approach nutrition management. It assures a low concentration of nutrients in the right ratio at all times, which is actually a very admirable goal for your nutritional plan no matter where your plants are in their growth cycle. * Keep your watering under control. Only water on an 'as needed' basis. Wait until the wick feels dry, or the soil is dry when you test it at the drain hole, or a sharpened dowel or skewer comes out clean and dry after you insert it deep into the roots. * Keep the plants in the best light you can provide, and try to keep soil temperatures above 65*, up to 80. * Guard against sunburn. If you think/know the trees were in low light, acclimate them to high light levels gradually - over a period of a week or two. You can read through this thread & see if you spot anything I might have missed, based on similar advice to others. To be honest, I've been talking to so many people about their Ficus trees over the last month or so (not just those from GW) that it's hard to remember everything. Be sure to raise any questions or concerns, and ask for clarification where/if needed. Take good care. Al...See MoreHow to root a ficus cutting?
Comments (41)the issue is.. with no roots.. how many leaves can survive.. while the cutting focuses on trying to grow roots... the leaves will literally suck all available moisture out of the cutting.. trying to survive.. and it will be all bone dry by the time any roots might develop ... if .. for e.g .... it take 4 weeks to root.. would it surprise you.. you lose most or all the leaves.. and all you are left with is hoping dormant buds will survive and sprout.. that the trunk didnt dry out so much. the buds died... professional would use the smallest piece possible.. so they could get a hundred pieces from the large cutting.. and in a given space... you could have a hundred small cuttings.. or one large on... and as noted.. if you move to computer run misting system.. that can mist a plant every 4 minutes 24 hours a day.. or whatever is necessary.. well your one large cutting might cost you thousands.. here is a link to propagating your plant.. without looking first.. watch a few.. and focus on the size of cuttings that are uses.. https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ftsa&q=fuicus+propagation&iax=videos&ia=videos ken...See MoreFruit tree bees make bkyrd unuseable? z5b IL (Chicago burbs)
Comments (5)What kind of bees are we talking about? Mason bees, honey bees and bumble bees are pollinators - they need the pollen and nectar that is only present in flowers so they will only be present in the trees when the trees are in flower.......and that is certainly not year round!! Only for a couple of weeks in spring. Wasps and hornets feed on fruit and other food stuffs but they want only ripe fruit with a high sugar content, so they are only present late in the season when the fruit is fully ripe so that it falls off the tree. If harvested before that happens - as it should - there is no concern from these insects either. To be honest, I know of no fruit or even plant that attracts bees year round and in the Chicago area that would be an impossibility anyway, as your winter will discourage any bee activity for at least 6 months of the year. Bees are just as seasonal in their habits as are plants. And if bees really did "infest" apple trees as you contend or you heard, what in the world would commercial orchardists do?? The premise is just not valid in any respect. Rather, the concerns are there are not enough bees to effect proper pollination and the focus is on encouraging more of them by establishing backyard hives and reduction or elimination of the use of pesticides that threaten them. Bees will visit virtually any flowering plant. And the presence of bees in a garden is an indication of a healthy and usually biodiverse garden. Do not assume that the presence of bees will make your garden 'unusable' - the bees will be busy with their activities and will not bother you at all if you leave them to it. Just don't interfere in their activities and they won't interfere in yours!! btw, allergies to bee venom is NOT inherited. And only 5% of the population - a pretty insignificant number overall - have an allergic reaction to bee venom....See MoreFicus benjamin cuttings
Comments (2)You can plant any number you prefer, but I have some thoughts to share about that. A) Your question calls to mind whether or not the propagules will remain together in the pot as a group planting? IOW, will the plants be living in a clump, or will the propagules be getting their own pots after rooting has taken place? B) Whether you start one cutting in a given size pot or 10 cuttings, there isn't going to be a big difference in the amount of biomass produced by whatever volume of soil was required to fill the pot. IOW, the collective mass of 10 propagules rooted in a single pot isn't going to be notably different than the mass of a single plant. However, while the o/a mass will be comparable whether 1 or 10 plants, the size of the plants (being 10 in a pot) will be roughly 1/10 the size of the single plant in a pot. In most cases, root congestion is going to end up being the primary limiting factor. At the approximate point in time where the root mass becomes congested to the degree the root/soil mass can be lifted from the pot intact, lack of growth will already have become a limiting factor. C) Using multiple cuttings in a single pot to provide 'the look of fullness' isn't necessary. You can make a single plant as full as you wish by pinching judiciously. This is true of almost any plant with a branching habit. This ^^^ is one of the duck-foot Coleus, the growth habit of which runs to leggy and pendulous/drooping. Judicious pinching has helped me to create something much fuller than the plant would be after being left to its own devices. Another trailing coleus ^^^, same story. Does it depend on the size of the pot? Let's consider a vase with a diameter of 5 cm and another with a diameter of 10 cm. The size of the pot won't have a lot of impact on the difference in size of the plants. Because root congestion will become a limiting factor, the planting with 10 trees will increase in mass somewhat faster, and produce a larger volume of roots faster, which means growth will slow (due to root congestion) sooner. The single tree will take longer for the root volume to build to limiting proportions, so growth will still be strong even as the multi-tree planting is slowing. The effect is, the single tree should 'catch up to' the amount of mass produced by the multi-planting. All this, of course, assumes that all else is equal - same amount of fertilizer, light, temperature the same, watering practices the same ....... Al...See MoreDave
4 years agotropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)
4 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
4 years agotropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)
4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago- Emily H4 years ago
Need2SeeGreen 10 (SoCal)
4 years agoNeed2SeeGreen 10 (SoCal)
4 years agotropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)
4 years agoNeed2SeeGreen 10 (SoCal)
4 years agotropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)
4 years agotropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)
4 years agoval rie (7a - NJ)
4 years agoDave
4 years agotropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)
4 years ago
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)