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Ficus infectoria or is it Ficus virens
Ficus infectoria is an invalid name, according to the botanists, and should technically be called Ficus virens. This material shows a coarser grower than some of my other virens. It seems to be quite happy in container culture with no special needs. This bonsai is actually 3 or 4 root fused trees that were grown from seed.…
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Root-over-rock design
One of the most popular designs is the root-over-rock design where a tree or trees is growing draped over a stone. In this example a Ficus ‘Mystery’ was placed on a rock about 9-10 years ago. It was a piece of a larger plant see http://www.bonsaihunk.us/info/BreakingUpIsEasyToDo.html This section was frankly quite ugly and I almost discarded it. Rather…
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Fig leaves
Ficus or figs are in a large family of plants showing many interesting and varied characteristics. One of the most interesting aspects of various figs is the leaf. Leaves can be large, smooth or hairy, glossy or dull and have many, many other variations. The photo below shows some fig leaves and their variation. The…
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Fusing figs
One way to get larger bonsai material is to fuse smaller figs together. Basically tieing together several figs that are genetically identical can produce larger trunks. Growing a tree in a larger container or in the ground will produce faster trunk growth but is often not suitable for indoor growers. Fusion is a useful technique…
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Ficus ‘Mystery’, piece 4
Ficus ‘Mystery’ is an unknown fig given to me in 2004 by friend David Fukumoto of Fuku-Bonsai. The first shot shows one of the pieces of the tree that was initially sectioned into 5 pieces. The second shot shows the piece #4 in 2014. This material is vigorous and aggressive and shapes up into beautiful…
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Five years development with a fig
This bonsai was grown from seed and kept in a small container for its whole life. Development of a bonsai for size will occur most quickly in the ground or in a large container. Although growing in a large container or ground growing can develop large bonsai often the tree will need finer branching and detailing. This…