Developing a large Willow Leaf Ficus

[markyscott]

Pumped to start another year of development!



Scott

 

[Carol 83]

Really nice. I have one crappy little one. It does fine all summer, then I bring it in and it gets pissed of and drops all of it's leaves. It sits like a dead stick for months. Just when I think "good, I can just add this to the burn pile", it starts growing. Ugh, frustrating.

 

[markyscott]

Really nice. I have one crappy little one. It does fine all summer, then I bring it in and it gets pissed of and drops all of it's leaves. It sits like a dead stick for months. Just when I think "good, I can just add this to the burn pile", it starts growing. Ugh, frustrating.

Hi Carol. Can you tell me about your indoor setup? Do you keep in in front of a window? Does the window face south? Do you have any supplemental lighting?

S

 

[Carol 83]

Hi Carol. Can you tell me about your indoor setup? Do you keep in in front of a window? Does the window face south? Do you have any supplemental lighting?

S

It's in an east facing window, the trees I like the most get the southern exposure. I do have additional grow lights. It was really tall and gangly, so last summer, I cut it way back. It actually responded pretty well to that. I think this winters hissy fit, may have been a result of getting a bit to dry. It's starting to get new leaves, so I guess I'll keep it around.

 

[markyscott]

It's in an east facing window, the trees I like the most get the southern exposure. I do have additional grow lights. It was really tall and gangly, so last summer, I cut it way back. It actually responded pretty well to that. I think this winters hissy fit, may have been a result of getting a bit to dry. It's starting to get new leaves, so I guess I'll keep it around.

Hi Carol. I have a very different climate than you, so it’s hard to compare. It may have been the watering in your case, but I’ll use the moment to talk about light because I read lots of complaints about winter leaf drop,with this species. I keep mine in my greenhouse during winter. I have a heater that comes on when temperatures drop,below 50 and I give it as much light as I can. Outdoors my trees receive ~100,000 lux (direct afternoon sun) in the summer. One they're in a greenhouse, they get about 25,000 lux when the greenhouse is fully exposed. That’s a big drop, but it’s way better than they would get indoors. It’s also colder that time of year, so they don’t grow much and, as a result, don’t need as much light. It's fascinating how dramatically light intensity falls when you walk inside the house - even in front of a sunny window. In my house light intensity falls by over 100X between outside in the full sun and inside right in front of a south facing window. In the long dark in the Midwest, it’s probably even lower - even if you’ve got a good southern exposure.

Wintering indoors is very challenging because you have both high temps and extremely low light levels. The temperatures say “grow”, but the light is just not sufficient to support it. If you have your tree sitting in front of a window on a gray day without enough supplemental lighting, your light levels could be well under 1,000 lux - maybe just a couple of hundred. But the temperatures might be in the mid-seventies. So the plants slowly starve until they can’t support their leaves anymore and drop them. All this is to say that you might have better luck with them if you can find a way to get them more light in the winter.

S

 

[Carol 83]

Hi Carol. I have a very different climate than you, so it’s hard to compare. It may have been the watering in your case, but I’ll use the moment to talk about light because I read lots of complaints about winter leaf drop,with this species. I keep mine in my greenhouse during winter. I have a heater that comes on when temperatures drop,below 50 and I give it as much light as I can. Outdoors my trees receive ~100,000 lux (direct afternoon sun) in the summer. One they're in a greenhouse, they get about 25,000 lux when the greenhouse is fully exposed. That’s a big drop, but it’s way better than they would get indoors. It’s also colder that time of year, so they don’t grow much and, as a result, don’t need as much light. It's fascinating how dramatically light intensity falls when you walk inside the house - even in front of a sunny window. In my house light intensity falls by over 100X between outside in the full sun and inside right in front of a south facing window. In the long dark in the Midwest, it’s probably even lower - even if you’ve got a good southern exposure.

Wintering indoors is very challenging because you have both shining at night. high temps and extremely low light levels. The temperatures say “grow”, but the light is just not sufficient to support it. If you have your tree sitting in front of a window on a gray day without enough supplemental lighting, your light levels could be well under 1,000 lux - maybe just a couple of hundred. But the temperatures might be in the mid-seventies. So the plants slowly starve until they can’t support their leaves anymore and drop them. All this is to say that you might have better luck with them if you can find a way to get them more light in the winter.

S

Thanks for taking the time to explain so succinctly. My grow lights are probably not the best, I may look into some better ones for next year. My neighbors probably already wonder what I have going on in here, since you can see both banks of lights shining at night.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Stunning...I must say, it's always a joy when I see you post something. Enjoyed peaking through the progression photos on this one too.

 

[markyscott]

When the temperature starts hitting the 90s, willow leaf ficus start getting into their comfort zone, but I retreat into my air-conditioned bubble.


S

 

[Mellow Mullet]

When the temperature starts hitting the 90s, willow leaf ficus start getting into their comfort zone, but I retreat into my air-conditioned bubble.
View attachment 192801

S

Isn't it neat, it is almost as if a switch gets flipped as soon as it gets hot.

 

[markyscott]

Isn't it neat, it is almost as if a switch gets flipped as soon as it gets hot.

They’re definitely the most heat loving ficus I’ve worked with. Even in the greenhouse they sulk until summer weather hits, then they explode.

S

 

[Mr.E]

I might be mistaken but in your threads about willow leaf ficus I don't recall you addressing the fruit. Would you recommend removing the little figs?

 

[markyscott]

I might be mistaken but in your threads about willow leaf ficus I don't recall you addressing the fruit. Would you recommend removing the little figs?

I do remove them when they appear.

S

 

[KingJades]

Awesome thread and very informative! Perhaps I can get a little advice.

Here is a shohin that I'm working on. I've selected my primary branches for now and I've been letting them extend to thicken those up. They've reached the "dense whirl" stage that you were mentioning. I've considered thinning it out, but feared that this would slow the development and thickening. My plan isn't to cut back to a backbud any time soon - just thicken primaries. My original plan was that at some point in the future, I would thin, pop a backbud, and then cut back for taper and bifurcation.

Should I be thinning now, or should I leave the foliage dense to keep the engine running if backbuds really aren't important at this stage?




Also, looks like I'll be moving to San Antonio rather than Houston after my DC gig is over . At least that's not too far to hit up Houston events.

 

[markyscott]

Awesome thread and very informative! Perhaps I can get a little advice.

Here is a shohin that I'm working on. I've selected my primary branches for now and I've been letting them extend to thicken those up. They've reached the "dense whirl" stage that you were mentioning. I've considered thinning it out, but feared that this would slow the development and thickening. My plan isn't to cut back to a backbud any time soon - just thicken primaries. My original plan was that at some point in the future, I would thin, pop a backbud, and then cut back for taper and bifurcation.

Should I be thinning now, or should I leave the foliage dense to keep the engine running if backbuds really aren't important at this stage?

View attachment 194302


Also, looks like I'll be moving to San Antonio rather than Houston after my DC gig is over . At least that's not too far to hit up Houston events.

To thicken, you’re looking for extension. So let it grow, but always thin to two shoots at every branch junction. Two other things - if this is for shohin, you need movement right from the get-go but you have a long straight section of trunk down at the bottom that you need to find a solution for. One thing to do is change the planting angle like this:



See? Movement right from the beginning by tilting the trunk. And more movement in the trunk in the end as well. You need this for a shohin tree - no room for boring trunk sections.

The second thing to think about is that your first trunk section might be too long. For a shohin tree, you want the final height to be less than 8” or so. So the first trunk section should be no longer than about 2-3” for the final size to be less than that. You may need to find a lower leader to chop back to - the good news is that these trees develop very quickly, especially here in Texas.

You’re going to enjoy San Antonio - there’s a small club there, but they have some very nice folks to work with. Hopefully you’ll be down here for the 2019 convention - it’s here in Houston, so maybe I’ll meet you there.

Scott

 

[KingJades]

Two other things - if this is for shohin, you need movement right from the get-go but you have a long straight section of trunk down at the bottom that you need to find a solution for. One thing to do is change the planting angle like this:



See? Movement right from the beginning by tilting the trunk. And more movement in the trunk in the end as well. You need this for a shohin tree - no room for boring trunk sections.


Scott

Thank you! I'll look into thinning the dense areas and focusing on the extension on those branches.

That photo was a bit rushed, and hides the movement (albeit, subtle) of the tree.

I buried the tree a little deeper in a larger pot to allow a little more room for root growth and to heal a massive trunk chop scar. Here is an older photo with a design intent that I had, and in a much smaller pot. The bones for this are on the tree. I was thinking that this would accentuate the basal flare and perhaps address the cavity that it is in the front of the tree.

 

[WOOB]

Thanks for taking the time to explain so succinctly. My grow lights are probably not the best, I may look into some better ones for next year. My neighbors probably already wonder what I have going on in here, since you can see both banks of lights shining at night.

I just saw this so here is what I found ... I live right outside NY City in NJ no one like NJ least of all tropical! I do have 2 Ficus Willow leaf one for 16 years now. For years it would just about die in the winter ... one year it was so bad mealy bug scale and all. I put it in the shower and sprayed the hell out of it for a day, every time I walked by I spray it. with in a couple of days it looked better. think about it rain wet washed. Now all my tropical get a shower every week and I cant tell you the change SO MUCH BETTER! Second the lighting you need your trees to be 1/2 inch from the lights at the most (not if they produce heat) years ago David D. was teaching and he made the point of how much the light dissipates with distance. My trees grow right up into the lights ... it all good the are growing slow but growing.

 

[my nellie]

@WOOB thanks for your input.
You don't mention your hardiness zone, but on the internet I can read you are between 6 and 7. Is this correct?
My question is : do your willow leaf F. defoliates itself during cold months?
I'm in zone 9b as you can see and my tree auto-defoliates each and every time it's moved inside for the winter.
Thank you.

 

[WOOB]

@WOOB thanks for your input.
You don't mention your hardiness zone, but on the internet I can read you are between 6 and 7. Is this correct?
My question is : do your willow leaf F. defoliates itself during cold months?
I'm in zone 9b as you can see and my tree auto-defoliates each and every time it's moved inside for the winter.
Thank you.

No they don't they do lose leaves. My rain tree's take a bigger hit and lose a lot of leaves especially toward the end of the winter. But then pop back. EXCEPT for this one that lost a bunch of branches this year. But I did repot it into a pot with huge drainage holes and I think dried out??? I think again the shower has a lot to do with it. Its crazy but if you think about it make sense that they need it. I sent a picture of the tree it is pretty dense ... I have also learned to partially defoliate it before I bring it in so the light gets to the interior, it so bushy outside by the end of the summer.

 

[MrBeto]

@markyscott , can your technique be used in ficus virens as well ? They do develop very large leaves.

 

[markyscott]

@markyscott , can your technique be used in ficus virens as well ? They do develop very large leaves.

Hi Beto. Yes, but nerifolia are my favorite ficus. Virens and Microcarpa work better as larger bonsai, in my opinion.

S