Ficus Surgery

Cre8tive

I have been meaning to post a few picks of some ficus I picked up a couple of months ago. It was actually one purchase as there were four trunks in one pot. After reading how hearty the Figs can be I decided to break out the saw and separate them in June here in Mississippi. I only sawed for separation but didn't comb the roots or reduce any further and treated each as if I were slip potting. The next day they all began pouting and threw most of there leaves on the ground. A week later, after some heavy wind, I came home and found they had all been blown out of there pots and were laying on the ground. I soaked them in water as I prepared to repot them and added gravel to the top to help hold them in. They have finished dropping leaves and are now growing again. I plan to give another week or to and then will begin feeding.

First pick is of all three (I left two together for fear of overstressing.).
Second is of the trunk which prompted purchase (Nebari is partially hidden below gravel).
Third is of twin trunk (I may separate them next year).

Regards,
Mark

Attached Images

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lagunamadre

Hi Mark. Looking good so far. Just thought I'd offer my two cents worth. They look like ficus benjamina's, standard variety, so don't look for much leaf reduction, as in "too little" or " mini midnight" ficus. Something to consider in the final design. Also, not sure why they dropped leaves. Is it possible the operation took too long and some roots dried out? And one more suggestion, you might have potted them in a shallower root training type of pot. Our local convenience stores have plastic crates, I believe syrup comes in them for the soda fountains, that measure 12" x 19" x 4" deep. I use these crates, ask for them BTW, and line the bottom and sides with nylon window screen. It provides great drainage and is self root pruning too. You have quite a project ahead of you. And BTW, don't forget to bring them in next winter. Good luck. Larry

Cathie

Just to really clarify things - Ficus are tropical, and very far from being 'hardy', let alone hearty. Hardy in plant lingo usually means cold hardy, not 'strong' or tough in some other way (hearty?), and Ficus are definitely not cold hardy, however hearty they may be when grown properly.