B.Samedi
Seedling
Been a sec, but here are some updates on the project:
I decided to move forwars with the green island ficus idea. Wigers had some real cheap ones, and the one I ended up getting will do good as banyan style I think. At present, the tree is about 8-9 inches. It's still pretty stressed from shipping (arrived 1-2 weeks ago and has/likely will drop most of the older leaves), but new growth has already started since its been in quarentine and is growing well enoguh. Would love input on styling, its somewhat rough material but I think that given the humidity of the tank will be, the tree will start to send off shoots and roots like crazy. There is this strange branch emerging from the dirt that I am 50/50 on chopping vs re-arranging to look like it emerges from the trunk -- may depend on whats going on below soil line.
These pics would be 2 different options for the front view. I am def leaning toward the first, especially since I could angle it so that central back branch would look like it't have more taper than it actually does; the second makes for better use of that extra branch, assuming I can even do such a hard wiring with it.
Some changes with regard to the vivarium setup: the tank I was going to use is occupado for the immediate future, and due to the likely shorter final design of the tree I think it would look odd in a tall tank anyways. Since I wouldn't want to repot the tree until after it recovers from shipping stress, I'm leaning toward just saving up a bit and getting an 18x18x18" tank and do a similar built to @Tycoss (looks really good btw -- impressive nabari/trunk for the tank size, plus those pics are inspiring me to add some Ficus pumila ‘Quercifolia’ as ground coverage that contributes to the forced perspective of the tree's size... also adorable crestie).
As for the animal, I'm likely going to do dart frogs for this build. I went with this tree specimen since I am worried that this may be a trial-&-error opporation and didn't want to drop a large amount of money on a tree that may not make it. However, given the size of the tree, I want to make sure that any vivarium inhabitants are small, light, and 'chill' enough to not damage the tree. Though I am more partial to Whites tree frogs, and I love any and all snakes, I think that the dart frog would be better for this tree in particular. I also think that, similar to the Ficus pumila ‘Quercifolia’, their relative size would work well with the forced perspective/illusion of the tree. However, if this built goes well, I may start work toward a large-scale arboral built with a colony of Whites tree frogs living in an Omono bonsai... but that would be a dream build years away; it's likely gonna be some time before any vertibrates are added to this build as is.
I will provide more updates once a) the tree is going better and b) I start actually builting out the vivarium. Would love thoughts/notes on the tree for the time being!
I decided to move forwars with the green island ficus idea. Wigers had some real cheap ones, and the one I ended up getting will do good as banyan style I think. At present, the tree is about 8-9 inches. It's still pretty stressed from shipping (arrived 1-2 weeks ago and has/likely will drop most of the older leaves), but new growth has already started since its been in quarentine and is growing well enoguh. Would love input on styling, its somewhat rough material but I think that given the humidity of the tank will be, the tree will start to send off shoots and roots like crazy. There is this strange branch emerging from the dirt that I am 50/50 on chopping vs re-arranging to look like it emerges from the trunk -- may depend on whats going on below soil line.
These pics would be 2 different options for the front view. I am def leaning toward the first, especially since I could angle it so that central back branch would look like it't have more taper than it actually does; the second makes for better use of that extra branch, assuming I can even do such a hard wiring with it.
Some changes with regard to the vivarium setup: the tank I was going to use is occupado for the immediate future, and due to the likely shorter final design of the tree I think it would look odd in a tall tank anyways. Since I wouldn't want to repot the tree until after it recovers from shipping stress, I'm leaning toward just saving up a bit and getting an 18x18x18" tank and do a similar built to @Tycoss (looks really good btw -- impressive nabari/trunk for the tank size, plus those pics are inspiring me to add some Ficus pumila ‘Quercifolia’ as ground coverage that contributes to the forced perspective of the tree's size... also adorable crestie).
As for the animal, I'm likely going to do dart frogs for this build. I went with this tree specimen since I am worried that this may be a trial-&-error opporation and didn't want to drop a large amount of money on a tree that may not make it. However, given the size of the tree, I want to make sure that any vivarium inhabitants are small, light, and 'chill' enough to not damage the tree. Though I am more partial to Whites tree frogs, and I love any and all snakes, I think that the dart frog would be better for this tree in particular. I also think that, similar to the Ficus pumila ‘Quercifolia’, their relative size would work well with the forced perspective/illusion of the tree. However, if this built goes well, I may start work toward a large-scale arboral built with a colony of Whites tree frogs living in an Omono bonsai... but that would be a dream build years away; it's likely gonna be some time before any vertibrates are added to this build as is.
I will provide more updates once a) the tree is going better and b) I start actually builting out the vivarium. Would love thoughts/notes on the tree for the time being!
