Thickening of ficus trunks

CatInATree

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I recently got a few ficus seedlings and one, a F. Natalensis is quite long but not very girthy. My understanding is that I need to keep letting it grow tall which will, in time make it thicker, but what if I don't want it to be that much taller? Should I keep letting it grow until desired thickness and then chop the tree where I want the trunk to end? There isn't alot of foliage in the lower part of the young trunk. I'm afraid of it turning to be bare/boring trunk, perhaps I can take future aerial roots and fuse them with the trunk for more texture.
Appreciate any advice 🙏
IMG_7759.jpeg
 
Problem is, you have a young leggy tree. It's not what you want in a bonsai which means taking time to rectify. Unfortunately, it's already a bare, boring trunk. I have a few species of Ficus that I am working through this same problem as I only have one of them. Part of the problem, is the tree is not healthy enough (lack of leaves) to give you a suitable enough amount of potential cuttings to start again and it is too thin to air layer.

From my side, I don't see these trees as having potential, so over the past 12 months I have been keeping them well fed, sunned and watered to produce a mass of new growth that I can get viable cuttings from. The tree(s), I will only keep around until I have a couple of cuttings that strike.

The alternative is years (even with a tree of your size) of cutting back and chasing back buds. Ficus have a reputation of back budding well, but it comes with a caveat, you need a healthy growing tree. I've even chased back growth before on a smaller F. natalensis and it's not a one-growing-season job.

To my eye, your tree doesn't look like it's throwing out a lot of new growth. I have 2 rabid F natalensis that are covered in buds and throwing out roots everywhere. If you want anything of a fat trunk in the next minimum 5 years, you want a super happy tree. Also, chasing back growth and getting the tree compact makes this goal harder. If you let the tree get healthy then it is only going to push growth further out. It's just not a good situation.

Personally, if this were my tree and I couldn't get a better F natalensis my approach would be the same -> look after it until it is putting out masses of healthy growth and then take cuttings and start again. I believe you will save yourself 2 or 3 years.
 
I don't have experience with this species but I grew a willow leaf ficus from a trunk the size of a pencil to 2 inches at the base in a few years. I didn't have to let it get tall. I just kept up potting it and feeding it until it got to the size I wanted. I kept it about 20 inches tall and kept trimming it back to a new leader up top to keep it short and it did fine.

I would let them one grow for now and see how they adjust since you just got them. Give them some fertiliser.
 
Problem is, you have a young leggy tree. It's not what you want in a bonsai which means taking time to rectify. Unfortunately, it's already a bare, boring trunk. I have a few species of Ficus that I am working through this same problem as I only have one of them. Part of the problem, is the tree is not healthy enough (lack of leaves) to give you a suitable enough amount of potential cuttings to start again and it is too thin to air layer.

From my side, I don't see these trees as having potential, so over the past 12 months I have been keeping them well fed, sunned and watered to produce a mass of new growth that I can get viable cuttings from. The tree(s), I will only keep around until I have a couple of cuttings that strike.

The alternative is years (even with a tree of your size) of cutting back and chasing back buds. Ficus have a reputation of back budding well, but it comes with a caveat, you need a healthy growing tree. I've even chased back growth before on a smaller F. natalensis and it's not a one-growing-season job.

To my eye, your tree doesn't look like it's throwing out a lot of new growth. I have 2 rabid F natalensis that are covered in buds and throwing out roots everywhere. If you want anything of a fat trunk in the next minimum 5 years, you want a super happy tree. Also, chasing back growth and getting the tree compact makes this goal harder. If you let the tree get healthy then it is only going to push growth further out. It's just not a good situation.

Personally, if this were my tree and I couldn't get a better F natalensis my approach would be the same -> look after it until it is putting out masses of healthy growth and then take cuttings and start again. I believe you will save yourself 2 or 3 years.
Okey, thanks for the advice.
I will do my best with what it is, and if it fails I can hopefully get cuttings from it.
 
Willow leaf ficus grows different, as per Kew, "it is a shrub" https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:330197-2 they like to throw out low shrubby growth and wouldn't get tall and leggy like this tree already has. This tree will respond well to fertiliser and good care, but its already bolted. I'm just trying to save OP time if their goal is to develop a decent looking bonsai, not just a healthy tree.
 
Willow leaf ficus grows different, as per Kew, "it is a shrub" https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:330197-2 they like to throw out low shrubby growth and wouldn't get tall and leggy like this tree already has. This tree will respond well to fertiliser and good care, but its already bolted. I'm just trying to save OP time if their goal is to develop a decent looking bonsai, not just a healthy tree.
Do you think this tree would benefit from being in a greenhouse? In a few weeks I go home and can put it in a greenhouse where it's more humid, perhaps a more suitable environment to grow.
 
Sorry, maybe I'm not answering your question. I agree with @Paradox you can keep chopping it down from the top at the desired height. I just think because there's not much growth below the top it is going to take a long time to get that growth below the top which will mean a longer time to develop the girth you were also asking about. I was just trying to share what my approach would be, but @Paradox approach is also valid.

I think for now, either way, just get it growing happy. Greenhouse is fine. Just get fertiliser, water and sun so its growing happy and take it from there.
 
I think I would use the wire to put some movement in the trunk at least and let it grow. Decide the next steps once you see how it grows
 
Sorry, maybe I'm not answering your question. I agree with @Paradox you can keep chopping it down from the top at the desired height. I just think because there's not much growth below the top it is going to take a long time to get that growth below the top which will mean a longer time to develop the girth you were also asking about. I was just trying to share what my approach would be, but @Paradox approach is also valid.

I think for now, either way, just get it growing happy. Greenhouse is fine. Just get fertiliser, water and sun so its growing happy and take it from there.
On it. Its been fed and watered, I think in a few weeks it'll look a little healthier, it just came from shipping a few days ago.

Do you have time to look at the other 2 ficus' and give advice? You seem knowledgeable 😁
 
On it. Its been fed and watered, I think in a few weeks it'll look a little healthier, it just came from shipping a few days ago.

Do you have time to look at the other 2 ficus' and give advice? You seem knowledgeable 😁
Post the pictures
 
F. Obliqua
This one has a thicker base and is quite short.
View attachment 547498
View attachment 547499

F. Virens
View attachment 547500
View attachment 547501

Thanks for any advice 🙏

My advice for these would be the same.
Feed and let them grow. Up pot them when they get big for the pot they are in.

The obliqua is really nice for a starter. I like the movement you've put in both. The size of the leaves of the virens is a concern. Hopefully they will reduce with ramification.

If you really like ficus, try to get a willow leaf. They have small leaves and grow fairly bushy.

For all ficus, being that you're in Sweden, supplemental lighting in the winter will be a big help with keeping ficus healthy over the winter
 
My advice for these would be the same.
Feed and let them grow. Up pot them when they get big for the pot they are in.

The obliqua is really nice for a starter. I like the movement you've put in both. The size of the leaves of the virens is a concern. Hopefully they will reduce with ramification.

If you really like ficus, try to get a willow leaf. They have small leaves and grow fairly bushy.

For all ficus, being that you're in Sweden, supplemental lighting in the winter will be a big help with keeping ficus healthy over the winter
I am a big ficus fan. Perhaps a beginners opinion. I do want to get into maples also, however I'm moving alot for internships and school this year but once I've settled into a place I know I will stay for some years then I feel it is wiser to get other trees. For now I am like an information sponge, soaking up knowledge from Youtubers like Herons bonsai and from this forum and books like Jerry's ficus book.

Trying my hardest to get ahold of one, they're so cool looking but unfortunately there are no trees/cuttings or seed available for me right now, but I'm on the outlook. The Obliqua is the healthiest looking one, I will care for them all and let them grow bigger before interfering by pruning. I hope the Virens reduces too. Gonna get some grow lights for the winter months, the days are very gloomy and short here compared to summer when the sun sometimes doesn't even set in the far north of Sweden.

I've been wanting to get some baoba trees too, they fascinate me.
 
Trunks thicken in proportion to the foliage mass above that point on the trunk. If you want to thicken the trunk of your ficus, you need to let it grow. The more you cut, the slower it will be to thicken. Sometimes slow and steady is good, sometimes not.

Generally speaking, once you get a ficus to the desired girth, you can chop it back to a stump, and you should get a large number of buds from the stump. Let that stump grow into a bush, and then use that bush to make your bonsai.

As a caveat, I have worked with F. microcarpa, F. nerifolia, and F. religiosa. I have not worked with the exact species of ficus pictured, so check to ensure they respond well to chops before trying it yourself.
 
in a warm climate natalensis is incredible... it grows like a beast...
maybe get some form of humidity tent or small greenhouse setup...
 
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