Ginseng ficus confusion

diatribe

after a quick search I have found a bit of a mess. I have a ginseng ficus bonsai, but im not sure what the actual species is, treebay has noted that it is retusa, however jerry meislik says its microcarpa. Any difinative definition? or perhaps both share the bulbous root/trunk form and similar leaf shape?

second question, mine has a horrid root structure and reverse taper. I am assuming that whichever species it actually is, it will take well to layering. How long should I wait after repoting to layer? and mostly I am wondering if there are any specimen ginseng ficus bonsai?

thanks to all

Peace,
Diatribe.

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TreeBay

Jerry should know. I think they are synonymous. With Latin names, only one can be right at any given time, so it is probably F. Microcarpa now. This site shows other synonyms and common names:

http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/57818/

It's not unsual for the "incorrect" name to be more common! (It doesn't make it right but it does sometimes get you what you want at the nursery)

Hey, here is something interesting. Have you ever seen something like this?
Oh well. I will link to a Google's cache of that page and remain lawful . You can decide whether or not to visit yourself!

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:...888.html+&hl=en

Regards,

Matt

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jloeschner

Diatribe,

I also concur that Jerry probably knows best about the species, as well as anything else ficus related. As for your layering/repotting question, I have found that ficus root almost as easily as willow. With this in mind, I would think that layering after a repot should be ok. I haven't tried it myself, but I have yet to lose even a single ficus cutting, so I would think that the tree would be able to produce the needed roots pretty quickly on both the original rootball and the layer area.

Regards,
John

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007

I have always been under the impression the f. microcarpa is the latin name for f. retusa.

I have never seen a ginseng ficus specimen, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. One of the reasons that I avoid the ginseng ficus is because of the reverse taper, I think that its their natural growth pattern or something. Depending on how big the tree is, you could try cutting across the widest part of the bulge and treating the tree like a cutting then. If it works, you will eliminate the reverse taper and develop a spectacular nebari in time.

here's a link that discusses this issue: http://www.bonsaisite.com/fatfig.html

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pootsie

Um, it's the internet.

BTW, I'm not a ginseng ficus fan, like 007.

pootsie

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Jerry Meislik

The information already supplied above is correct. As best I know F. microcarpa is the real name with 'retusa' a variety of microcarpa.
As to the large roots and reverse taper, it is the genetics of this tree variety to form these turnip-like roots. If you layer it, I will predict that the new roots that form will eventually get "turnipy" again.
The best way to handle it is to raise the roots up and to use the roots as a trunk(s). Moss the base to help reduce the reverse taper look.
Hope this helps.
Jerry

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http://www.bonsaihunk.us/