Work in Progress

rjj

I purchased this Ficus retusa microcarpa Kingman in 1998 when I visited Jim Smith's place in Vero Beach. Don't have an original photo though. Lost them on an old pc crash.

Turned around and sold it to a friend that had to have it. Oct. 31, 2004, he called and asked me to come get it because he had lost interest in bonsai. It was still in the dish pan he had potted it in when he brought it home. It had never been repotted and the soil was mush. Many of the major upper canopy branches had died and the tree looked like it was on it's last leg.




I took it out of the pan and repotted it in something a little deeper. Here it is April 12, 2005. I had pulled some of the branched down in the canopy to open it up a little trying to get a feel for what to do with it. It was pushing a lot of new growth and showing great signs of bouncing right back.



Studied it all winter trying to come up with a plan with what to do with it. I came to the conclusion I didn't like little skinny 2 foot long branches on a skinny tree with lots of air roots.

So I trunk chopped it at about 11 inches above the soil line and took off the air roots that were out in the perimeter of the plant. I also left a sacrifice branch on top of the chop.



I did a thread graft summer of 2006 and left it alone all year to fill out while I thought about what to do next. The graft will be the lower branch on the left side of the tree.



The weather this year was miserable. Record rainfall in our state's history meant no sun, terribly wet soil, and no working with the plant. We basically had 2 weeks of summer this year so I didn't do anything to the plant. With so much rain and no sun I wasn't going to feed it either so it just survived the year.

Here it is today. Sacrifice branch is about 38 inches above the soil line and the root spread is about 14 inches.







I still haven't really come up with a vision of it's future yet. I'm fairly sure I don't want it taller than about 28 inches, probably much shorter. Guess I've got fall and all winter to come up with a plan. Any ideas?

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Randy Jones Norman Ok USDA Zone 7

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rjj

Not worthy of comment? No problem.

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Randy Jones Norman Ok USDA Zone 7

anttal63

i think what you have done was very gutsy and look forward to seeing more of it. definately potential there.

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Antonio . . .
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agraham

To the contrary Randy.Nice tree,or at least it has possibilities to become one.Is the "sacrifice branch" a branch to be removed totally?...or the beginnings of your apex?

andy

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http://pittmandavis.com/

rjj

I'm not sure I had a choice. The plant was basically just air roots and long limbs on the lower part of the tree. There were areas 3 to 4 inches along the trunk where there were no live branches. The 3 lower branches were thick as the trunk just 12 inches above the soil.

At least to me that made it hard to keep any branches on the tree. That's pretty well what decided a short squat plant. Whether it was the best choice, I don't know. I do know I was uncomfortable with the way it looked before I started.

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Randy Jones Norman Ok USDA Zone 7

rjj

Hi Andy,

Calling it a sacrifice branch was not correct. Kept it for two reasons. Wanted it to help thicken the trunk above the chop and at least utilize a few inches of it in the future as an apex.

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Randy Jones Norman Ok USDA Zone 7

mistermoyogi

Hi, Randy:

Nice save...I look forward to seeing its progress..are you thinking about shortening the overall height to below 28 inches or so?

Tom

rjj

Hi Tom

In my mind that's a good number to start with, hopefully a little shorter.

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Randy Jones Norman Ok USDA Zone 7

mistermoyogi

I agree Randy...a little shorter would be nice eventually.

Tom