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Archbonsaist in training
Join Date: Aug-2004
Location: Wynne
Country: United States
Posts: 479
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Update with pictures
Ok, folks, here are the promised pics...
I apologize in advance for the lack of quality. I do not have a setup here at my new house that allows for decent pics, so I had to make do. However, you can still clearly see the amount of growth that this little twig has undergone in just a few weeks. I have not checked the roots yet, but I imagine they have grown extensively, as well. The close up of the trunk was taken to show that the lower branch is a branch and not a second cutting.
Now, to put a little cloud over the experiment...the rest of the group of cuttings that this little guy came from are 3-4 times bigger than this. They have all been grown in either a peat-based potting soil or my own homemade bonsai soil. If I were to rely on this one, extremely limited and flawed experiment, I would have to conclude that while a ficus may survive and apparently flourish if its pot is kept in a small pool of water, it would not thrive as much as one which is planted in a moisture-retaining soil that doesn't continually stand in water.
However....since I have been working VERY long hours, and am not always able to water my ficus as much as they would like, I have begun keeping them in water and they seem to like it. Of course, the temps have been hovering around 100 F. I usually have to refill their pots (water trays) every morning before I go to work. Once the weather cools down, they will be coming out of the standing water. I will, however, keep one of the cuttings, probably the one pictured above, in a water bowl over the winter, just to see what the effects are.
I will continue to post updates as the tree, or the seasons, change.
Regards,
John
__________________
Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement.
QUI ME AMAT, AMAT ET CANEM MEAM
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