new growth for banyan fig and fukien tea

lbrooks323

Hi everyone! I'm new to this site and would like your input on 2 of my bonsai. These 2 I just received via mail a couple of weeks ago, and they went through some obvious cold. A banyan fig and a fukien. The leaves and most of their branches turned black. The fukien has started putting back out about 3/4" from the bottom of the trunk. The banyan, nothing. The trunk on the banyan is still green underneath the bark, but no folage is putting out yet. How long does it take the fig to put back out? And will the fukien put out on any of the old branches, or am I stuck with just the bottom putting back out? Would putting these in an ICU bag speed it up? I live in Birmingham, Al and have been in bonsai for about 6 to 7 years. I'm not a complete newbee, but have never had to try reviving these two types of plants before. It would be just disgusting to have to start them over with just a nub if no new growth comes out on the old!! Thanks,
Laura

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mike108

Well you say youve been in bonsai for a while. Why havent you tried the scratch test to see how much of the tree has died? If it is black as you say it is aparent the trees have died back and will need to be regrown. What season are you in? It would be helpful to know.

Mike

KenDuncan

Hi Laura...Welcome to the site, I hope I can be of some help. Ficus and Fukien Tea do not like the cold. They most likely got chilled on the airplane to You. Ficus are pretty though and it should come back in the heat of the summer and It sounds like you have some life in the tea. The main thing to do is keep them warm and give them some sun light till the weather gets warmer and they can be put outside. Be careful not to over water because they have few or no leaves and probably have some root damage as well.
Good luck with your new trees hope they do well.
Ken

lbrooks323

I have scratched both trees; both tree's trunk is green all over. But I was curious just how long it takes the banyan to put back out. The fukien, I guess, will lose all it's branches as they appear dead. Which is just disgusting. I have been in bonsai a while, yes, but these types of indoor trees are new to me. I've done more outdoor. Guess I'm being impatient. We are in late winter here in Alabama now. So I suppose I better get busy regrowing. Thanks anyway.
Laura

lbrooks323

Thanks, Ken. Like I posted to Mike, I guess I am just being impatient. The tea is putting out and the ficus is not. I am just disgusted at having to regrow both trees from just the main trunk. I should never have ordered indoor this time of year. We live and learn. They should look fairly nice again in a few months. One thing bonsai is teaching me; patience.
Laura

mike108

Yes It should start budding out way more in the spring. Sorry about your work. It happens to the best of us. And the important thing about mistakes is that you learn from them and im sure from now on your tropicals will never have to take a freeze. Instead youll know that they prefer to stay indoors for the cold.

Good Luck!

Mike

lbrooks323

Yea!! My fukien is coming back out 3/4 up the trunk now! It has gotten really warm here for the last 3 days, and I put a wet "canopy" over the fukien and the ficus. The fukien is waking up on the top. I think the ficus bit the dust. Just too cold during shipping. But.............the fukien lives!

Laura

treebeard55

Hi, Laura. I'm surprised your supplier wasn't more careful in their shipping methods. If your Ficus does die, I think they owe you a free replacement.

As has been mentioned, Ficus are tough little buggers. There may be hope yet.

One suggestion. Mix a tablespoon of beer in a gallon of water, and use that as a foliar feed. Yes, beer. Some of the products in the beer are already broken down enough that the plants can use them directly: very useful when there are no leaves to produce carbohydrates.

I got this idea from Kathy Shaner, and have used it with good results. As Kathy added, you can use the last bit left in the bottle the next morning; it makes no difference to them. (No need to give them the Guiness!)

Best of luck!

__________________
Treebeard 55

"To do bunjin is easy. However, to do a bunjin masterpiece is difficult." -- Susumu Nakamura, at MBS '07