Encouraging Ficus Branch Growth.

DavidJinPA

Hello, Again.
I have two wonderful Ficus trees that are in the works, and have had problems getting branch growth where I want it. I thought of trying something. But thought I'd ask if anyone has heard of anybody doing this, and what the ramifications (no pun intended) might be. I was going to make a mild solution of water, and rooting hormone. Then I was going to lightly apply it to the areas with a Q tip where I want to encourage growth.
Will/Might/ or won't this work??
Could it do harm to the tree?.
Thanks for everyones attention.
Dave J.

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weirdowl

Hi David,

I've asked the same question. If you keep the area moist it will likely sprout roots, no branches though. Maybe you could use aerial roots to offset where a branch should be. Something else I've learned that maybe you could use, is that many Ficus will fuse together pretty easily. You could try taking a long thin cutting, then once it has developed sufficient roots, plant it up next to the trunk of your tree and wrap them together tightly up to the point where you want a branch. Keep them wrapped for a couple of years and they should be fused together. Then you can bend the top of the cutting down to form a branch. You could try getting an aerial root to come down and mask the area. I've never tried this. Theirs loads of info on Ficus from previous posts. Try using the search feature. Hope this helps.

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weirdowl

KZitzewitz

I have had a lot of ficus, right now I have four, but over the years of learnings the ones I had seemed to readily bud like mad in the spring. My suggestions would be to wait until spring (unless that is what time it is there, didn;t see where you were from) and then let the tree outside and fertilize, it may take some time to get the branches where you want them, but it will back bud, I almost guarantee...

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--Kristopher

BonsaiMon

What species of ficus do you have? .. maybe post a pic..
light is important to get new buds for branches, humidity too. The summer is the most vigorous time for tropicals when temps above 60 F for nite time lows.

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peace,
tom stoute

http://bonsaiinsights.spaces.live.com/

Tony

Like everyone else said, it would be best to put it outside next spring and get it good and healthy. After it starts growing really fast [usually mid summer] then prune it back hard. It should respond with many new buds, hopefully some where you need new branches.

Tony

DavidJinPA

Ok, Now this tree (Ficus-TooLittle) has spent its entire life inside on the window sill (5yrs). Wouldn't the transition from inside to outside be alittle difficult for this tree?. I have spent a good amount of time trying to style this tree, and I really don't want to kill it. How hard will the transition be on the tree? Do ficus fair well when slowly exposed to the outside? Or is it iffy?

BonsaiMon

..ficus grow? in many light conditions but most vigorously in full tropical sun. If you were to place your tree directly in full sun it may or may not burn the leaves...but if you plan to work the roots and prune it back then the full sun will be just what it loves. Ficus do well in wide shallow containers. This helps incourage flare on the trunk. The increase in light will also encourage more branching, more leafin and leaf size will reduce. With so many advantages i feel the full sun is the way to go. If you want to go with caution maybe half day sun with filtered the other half for a couple weeks. This really depends on how much you work it.
Believe me, ficus love full sun...

Warmth and humidity are equally important factors in the tropical world ....
hope this helps...

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peace,
tom stoute

http://bonsaiinsights.spaces.live.com/