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The tree with no taper
There are many ways to handle a tree with little or no apparent taper. In this case a Ficus ‘Mystery’ was grown from a very straight and taperless cutting. Fortunately there were several existing aerial roots that were brought down along the trunk and rooted into the ground. The aerial roots provide a visual thickening…
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The Creeping Fig – Ficus pumila/repens
A fig commonly found in many garden centers used as a hanging basket plant is Ficus repens/pumila. Commonly called the Creeping fig. It is one of an assortment of figs that will climb up tree trunks, stone or brick walls and soon cover the surface with a very dense covering of leaves. It is peculiar…
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Ficus with rounder leaves
Ficus show lots of natural variations when grown from seed. Leaf shape, leaf size, bark color, vigor etc. can vary greatly from one seedling to the next. This can even occur with seed harvested from the same mother tree. Here is one of many Ficus virens that I have grown from seed. This individual has…
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Suanphung, Bonsai Village and gardens
For all my bonsai and non-bonsai friends traveling to Thailand, I would like to highly recommend a visit to The Bonsai Village, Ratchaburi. The Bonsai Village is named after a , a local tree. The bonsai village is a spectacular resort featuring Japanese and Chinese gardens and containing thousands of bonsai trees. The resort covers some 40 acres along…
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Identifying a Ficus by using the leaves
Fig leaves are very variable from species to species. This is helpful in trying to identify a fig as belonging to a certain species. The problem is that the leaves on even a single plant can show great variation depending upon cultural conditions of light, moisture, growth in a container, wind, etc. As an example…
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LED lighting for plant growth
Over the years I have grown my bonsai plants in windowsills, under incandescent light, fluorescent lighst or metal halide high intensity lighting. The best results up to now are clearly growing under metal halide lights. The downsides of metal halides are relative inefficiency with lots of heat released as a by-product and thus higher electrical bills…
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Genetics and figs
These are two seed grown Ficus virens, Lipstick fig. Each plant shows some variation in its leaves, bark, growth pattern etc. These characteristics can be influenced by the growth environment. In the case of these two plants the newly emerged leaves are red in color. This color changes to a deep green after a week or…