Willow leaf f. Cutting

[MrFancyPlants]

Six months later.. I haven't pruned since last update. There are a couple little buds right where I need them on the right side branch. It has been a rough year and a half on my trees, but this one is looking much better than the other tropicals right now. Along with the requisite round of spider mites, I was stuck under a t-5 with some old bulbs for a while.
The good news is I didn't loose any branches on the tropicals when I took vacations. I'm keeping them in an aquarium and I just fill a inch or so if water and then flip a couple full two liters upside down so that when the water runs out the bottles fill it back up.
Also, the spray I used seemed to have knocked the mites out with just two applications.
Edit: also I got some new aquarium leds off of amazon relatively cheaply. The verdict is still out on them. They don't seem to be as powerful as the duel 50watt led floodlight contraption that I had, but also less likely to catch fire than my own soldering.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

I think this one is going to be looking real nice by the time summer rolls around, although still plenty of balancing to go on the right and hopefully some buds will pop in the right spots.

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Nice job man! Good progression.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

This guy we due for a haircut.

The right branch has caught up with the left and probably will take a cutting and reduce soon.

 

[Redwood Ryan]

This is a seriously nice progression, great work!

 

[MrFancyPlants]

This one responded so much better to a early summer, hard cut back than my other ficus. I got a few back buds on branches that had extended too far and even in just the right spot where I lopped off a sacrifice on the back of the right hand branch. I think this has only been wired once by Joe from NVBS, but i’m so glad he did. He put a nice curve in the lower left branch and said.. “ let’s do something a little different with the top.”

 

[MrFancyPlants]

Just gave it a little trim and yanked out the anchor wires as it is pretty solid in there. I haven’t fertilized since I brought in for the season, not really by choice but because I have been super busy w the family and a new job, but I am curious if it could help improve the ramification and/or leaf size. It is certainly not as vigorous as it usually is under the LEDs.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

It self defoliated after its last trim, but seems to be comin back with numerous well placed buds if a little slowly in some areas. I put a couple pieces of fertilizer tab on it as I can’t seem to find my dyna-grow. I am tempted to move to a smaller pot. Once it has fully recovered. I think I have a couple nice tiny pots that would work instead of this cheap one.

 

[Slim]

What kind of fert do you use?

 

[MrFancyPlants]

Only because I can’t seem to locate my liquid dyna grow (7-9-5), I used chunks of crushed agriform tablets (20-10-5). The tablets are great for boosting development on pines and hemlock.. I can’t really vouch for it for ficus yet. I think it was @Leo in N E Illinois that had some great info on low K fertilizer that I would keep in mind if I was about to purchase more though.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Both formulas you noted are unnecessarily heavy in phosphorus. Too much phosphorus can cause slower growth and inhibit roots. As long as you used the dose on the package or less (kept it dilute) your tree is probably just fine.

Regardless the nitrogen or potassium number, the phosphorus really never needs to be over 2, ideal (meaning the amount plants actually use) would be between 0.8 to 1.5 some variation depending on how it was formulated. A dose of "super phosphate", 0-20-0 will cause damage, you will see a decline in health.

If you water with clear water, no added fertilizer, every other watering, the tree will be able to keep itself balanced, and shed excess. So don't worry, you fertilizer ain't too bad.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

Thanks Leo, the new fertilizer seems to be doing it’s job well. Here are the before shots, before I give it a little trim. I definitely cut back once since the last update in December...

 

[MrFancyPlants]

Thanks Leo, the new fertilizer seems to be doing it’s job well. Here are the before shots, before I give it a little trim. I definitely cut back once since the last update in December...

 

[KennedyMarx]

It's kind of impressive how much it's fattened up just by growing in a bonsai pot. I could see the two lower side branches growing out another inch to make it look even more squat.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

It's kind of impressive how much it's fattened up just by growing in a bonsai pot. I could see the two lower side branches growing out another inch to make it look even more squat.

Thanks! I like the idea of lengthening the lower branches a bit.. growing them out as sacrifices it what thickened the whole thing up I believe. I’ve been toying with the idea of a new pot too, but not really sure what I would go for.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

about to prune up for the outdoor season...

 

[MrFancyPlants]

I made a few minor branch decisions, which can be tough as I feel like this has come so far by retaining options. But I also think there are few more branches to open up... you know, so the pterodactyls can fly through or something.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

I gave it some extra time under the LED lights this year having just placed it outside this morning. I’m just posting to show off the new red growth. I may repot late this summer as the drainage is getting a little slow through all the algae.

 

[canoeguide]

I'm in awe of the fattening on this in zone 7 (aka, not Florida) and that pot. It's a fairly deep pot but this is proof that you don't need to grow in a big bucket to get thickness in a few years.

 

[W3rk]

I gave it some extra time under the LED lights this year having just placed it outside this morning. I’m just posting to show off the new red growth. I may repot late this summer as the drainage is getting a little slow through all the algae.View attachment 247972

Great looking tree, nice progress/development. I'd love to know what LED/s you are using? I just brought all my Ficus in for the winter and I need more/better lighting (and space).

I'd also like to know where you are getting turface, if it's somewhere local?