Leaning ficus benjamin
Now I'll tell you how stupid I was (terribly stupid). Al @tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a) will think badly of me. This ficus was born from a cutting almost 5 years ago. For the past 2 years I have tied the branches of a benjamin to push them up with the aim of getting a taller plant faster. Until yesterday, even if slightly lopsided, the plant had an aesthetically pleasing shape and seemed compact (one would have said a fine specimen of benjamin). However, it was only appearance. When yesterday I eliminated some threads, I realized that the branches had not taken that shape at all over time and the plant is practically crushed (the branches reach the ground if not resting against the rod or a wall). Even now that I have put it back together, as you can see, it looks anything but beautiful. In addition, yet another mistake, I used a thin iron wire which then melted into the trunk and I think it is very bad for the plant. I think the only solution would be to prune it, but I don't know if halving the height would grow straight. I am very sorry to halve the plant and I also wonder if in mid-August it is already late to prune it in such a radical way. Really a disaster.
Comments (11)
Michele Rossi
last yearlast modified: last yearRelated Discussions
Weeping Fig=Ficus Benjamin?
Comments (2)You're making a mistake. In fact, it would greatly appreciate a summer vacation in full sun, as long as you acclimate them gradually. The leaf loss in your tree is pretty much assured because it sounds like you cannot provide adequate light & the transition from bright light outdoors to dim light indoors causes leaf loss. Since this seems inevitable, wouldn't it be better for the tree to be robust & full of energy after a summer in the sun as it goes into winter, instead of just limping along because you had it growing in the shade? Plant's don't really adapt to much of anything. They're genetically encoded with limits to what they can tolerate in the area of cultural conditions. The plant will tolerate various adverse cultural conditions as long as it is able to produce more energy than it uses. If this is reversed, and the plant begins operating under stress, using more energy than it produces, it leads to strain. Strain, uncorrected, will cause death of the organism. From something I posted on another forum: "Well, there is an abscission zone at the base of each petiole (leaf stem) that allows water and nutrients to flow freely from roots to leaves and for photosynthate (the plant's true food) to flow freely from leaves to sinks (areas in the plant that are "calling" for more food so that they can grow or store it for further use). There is a growth regulator (or hormone), auxin, produced as a product of plant metabolism, primarily in the apices (growing tips of branches) and leaves that must flow across the abscission zone to keep it open. If photosynthesis/metabolism is slowed due to a decrease in photoperiod or light intensity, the flow of auxin is slowed and a corky abscission layer forms at the base of leaf petioles. This corky layer is impermeable (a barrier) to the flow of water/nutrients and food, so the leaf dies and separates from the tree at the abscission layer. This is part of the mechanism by which deciduous trees' leaves change colors and then fall (abscise/abscission) during autumn in temperate regions. We frequently talk of leaf abscission in Ficus trees as if it's a great mystery, but technically, anything that slows photosynthesis and the flow of auxin can cause leaf abscission. Chill (particularly sudden chill), lowered light levels or exposures, wet or dry soil, and other stress agents that affect photosynthesis all cause leaf abscission. Often, people will tell us that any cultural change will cause a Ficus to shed foliage, but not so. Changes like increased light, warming temperatures (when it's been cool), better soil, etc., things that make the plant want to grow with better vitality, do not cause leaf loss. Improving conditions will encourage better growth and more biomass." Al...See Morehelp with Ficus Benjamin yellow leaves with brown spots
Comments (1)This is the Ficus Carica forum. Edible figs. We are not experts on houseplants. If you want answers, go to the houseplant forum....See MoreFicus benjamin help!
Comments (20)A note on artificial light: my two poorly-lit ficuses looked worse than yours before I started using 100 watt 5000K in clamp-on fixtures on my plants last October, and they both responded with lots of new leaves. At that point my windows didn't get enough direct sun to make any difference. Now there's enough direct light coming in the windows to make a difference, and the ficuses have improved as much in the past five weeks as they did in the first five months. Assuming your 100 watt bulb is the right temperature (5000-6500 K), shining it directly on the plant should at least reduce the decline to the degree that light is the limiting factor. Add another bulb on the opposite side to get more benefit. I couldn't tell whether you ever made sure the dense root ball ever got soaked through. If not, fill a container large enough to hold the pot with filtered water (you don't want to add root-choking dissolved minerals) and submerged the entire pot until a while after it stops bubbling. Once the roots have been soaked you should be able to push a chopstick through the root ball with a little force, and you shouldn't have to speak it again so long as you water before the root ball is bone dry. As others have said, water by what the plant needs, not buy what you think it needs. I either water in the kitchen or over a large bucket with lengths of 2X2 woods laid across it, which allows me to catch the excess from watering freely. Finally, I strongly suggest reading the posts Al linked. They're packed with info, but will help you understand how to give your plants what they need....See MoreFicus benjamin and white leaves: iron chlorosis?
Comments (10)So it's not chlorosis, am I right? The plant is in a brighter location - I moved it to take that photo. As I said in the other thread, When I water I always let the water out of the holes (I can't tell you if it's at least 20%) and I never leave the water in the saucers. As you taught me, I tilt the pots to let more water flow out. I use a liquid fertilizer which here in Italy is the closest to what you use: I fertilize every 3-4 waterings all year round (even in winter and even in midsummer). As a growing medium, I use a good quality universal potting soil (Compo universal potting soil). I haven't started growing plants in the two mediums you recommend yet. I grow all ficuses in the same way and the other ficuses do not have similar symptoms....See MoreMichele Rossi
last yearIn an attempt to straighten the plant, this trunk broke off at the point where the wire was. I put the stump in the ground, but I doubt it will take root because it is too big (I don't care).
Michele Rossi
last yearlast modified: last yearHere the two plants that were very perishable at the beginning of 2019 and that I have reinvigorated (May 2019 and now).
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
last yearlast modified: last yearI 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
Michele Rossi thanked tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)Michele Rossi
last yearlast modified: last yeartapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
last yearMichele Rossi
10 months agoRemember this ficus whose trunks couldn't stand straight? I started pruning it yesterday: these are the branches I cut.
Actually I should prune further for two reasons: 1. the trunks still won't stand up by themselves and bend due to the unnatural way I made it grow (I will never do it again) and because the main trunks that bend without being tied on the side they also have 30 cm between one branch and another and I would like them to thicken (if it is possible).
Now I'll show you some photos of how the ficus looks today after pruning. If in the first photo it seems passable, in the second photo, as you can see, it already bends to one side as I have disengaged the top from the rod: I could prune as I indicate in the third photo, even if this way I lower the plant a lot. I'm very conflicted.
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
10 months agoI'd go with the shortest version, and shortening will definitely stiffen them.
When you have a grove or clump planting, the best way to handle multiple trunks is to choose the thickest trunk to be the tallest - the 'leader'. The subordinate trunks can then be pruned so the apex turns away from the planting's central axis - so they serve as branches instead of trunks that confuse the eye because your tree has several heads. You can see this in practice in this composition of a Japanese maple grove. Notice how there are 5 trunks, 3 of which are serving as branches and one of which serves sort of as half branch, half part of the apex, but is really more of a branch. The general idea is to make a multi-trunk planting into a composition with the general outline of a single tree.
Al
Michele Rossi thanked tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)Michele Rossi
10 months agolast modified: 10 months agoThe plant now looks like this:
In two weeks could I try to loosen the roots or are there too many leaves left and the plant should be more bare?Some more practical questions.
Do I have to cut the double branch indicated with the double arrow? And the thinner ones indicated with the red arrows?
More in detail:
As you can see, some branches are melted because I made the mistake of tying them with a wire.Same questions for this other trunk:
One last curiosity: was it predictable that this leaf would turn yellow after cutting the trunk just above?
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
10 months agoIn two weeks could I try to loosen the roots or are there too many leaves left and the plant should be more bare? If you are planning to prune more, do it when you repot. People often admonish others that "you aren't supposed to prune the top when you transplant because the plant's food is synthesized in leaves". That's fine and dandy if you have a plant in a nursery pot or one that's balled and burlapped, because the plant will have already balanced the ratio of roots to shoots; however, when you start pruning roots during a repot, you sometimes need to prune back part of the top so the plant doesn't start wholesale shedding of entire branches or simply collapse due to a water deficit.
Do I have to cut the double branch indicated with the double arrow? And the thinner ones indicated with the red arrows? I'm not sure what you're asking, but any time you're working on the top 1/3 of the tree, it's a GOOD thing to be looking for how to cut the thick branches back to thinner branches that can take over as the new branch leader. It looks unnatural to have heavy branches at the top of the tree where your eye has been trained to expect the branches to be twiggy.
The branches that have fused will eventually be out of sight inside the canopy once you start pinching to increase ramification (more branches and leaves).
One last curiosity: was it predictable that this leaf would turn yellow after cutting the trunk just above? No. The leaf didn't die because of anything to do with the branch having been pruned - probably natural senescence (aging). I expect a new branch will grow from the formerly suppressed bud in the axil of that leaf in the process of being shed.
You might find some value in these drawings that show how to angle your pruning cuts so they are less conspicuous:
Al
Michele Rossi thanked tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)