Ficus Progression

So now we have the “Aha!” ficus, what did I do?

I chopped it back, of course.

Then I let it grow out and I, yep, you guessed it, chopped it back again.
And wired it.

At this point I also drew a picture of my final goal for the tree.
You’ll see how far I’ve come at the end of this post.
The first step is defoliation.
Let me clarify why I do this and why you should defoliate a ficus too
it seems that people skip over the “why
parts a lot and then misrepresent my work).First reas
n: it let’s me see the tree.Second reason: I will be wiring. Leaves get in the way.
Third reason: I am repotting, if I don’t defoliate, the leaves will fall off anywa
y, repotting and defoliati
g at the same time stimulate
the tree to grow faster than doing each one seperately.This I h
ve experience with.Now, we are talking ficus. Not elm, not maple, not hor
nbeam etc.A tropical tree, of which most (not all) respond the same way, especially
bougainvillea but not Serissa or bucida spinosa. Or Fukien tea; let them dro
p their leaves by themselves (which they do whenever you change a
ything about them,
especially moving their location, like from the nursery to home).
Back to the ficus.
It’s begging to be repotted.
I can do this now, I’ll have at least a month of minimum nighttime temps of 60f or
higher (it is late September) . I don’t bring my trees inside for the winter like many
colder climate bonsai people do, so I have to be careful with my timing. I’ll have
nights that get to 33f where I won’t protect the trees. Such is the Florida bonsai life.
If whatever winter protection you use can assure above 60f temps, go ahead and
repot now. Just remember that you still need light to stimulate growth.
Speaking of light.
This is the front of the tree, which is also the side facing the sun.
This is the back, or shady side.
This tree was sh
ved into the greenhouse with most
f the back shaded.What do you see?More aerial roots on the backside.The front
got more water (higher humidity) but more sunlight. The back got less water (low
r humidity) but less light. Can we make a conclusion here? Just maybe.
Now, where was I?
That’s right, defoliation.
I’m also r
moving the unwanted new shoots, like the one growing straight up on the above

.Cut the leaves, strip the foliage, make the tree naked, cut, snip, snip,
cut……
Uggggh, it’s endless….who said that these trees didn’t have dense foliage.
Ok, finished.
Where’s my broom? Damn it, who stole my broom?!
Now what’s my next step?
I’m going to prune for taper.
This branch is too big.
And the apex is a bit tall with some branches lacking taper.
Chomp.
That will make a good cutting.
Next step, repotting.
It needs it.
With a ficus you should do this about once a year.
I rotated the front of the tree about 15 degrees counterclockwise.
Establishing shot.

Wire time!
I do believe I’m making progress.
It looks like a banyan-style bonsai to me.