Dateline:July 6, 2021-
Ficus salicaria, the willow leaf fig.
The tree belonged to a Ft. Myers studygroup member that was downsizing her assortment. Properly, not likely downsizing so far as numbers, however actually down sizing. If she couldn’t elevate it, it needed to go.
It’ll occur to all of us, until we are able to afford the large equipment and younger backs to elevate our timber. As for me, I’ve plans on placing huge wheels on an engine Jack so I can transfer the timber once I’m older (I’ve to confess, I’m getting older. At the least my physique is, I’m the nonetheless a brash, immature, iconoclast you all love (which can simply be the non-grey model of the cantankerous, a lot complaining curmudgeon from central casting. I would enable to be rising up into that. Which is of course how my household finally ends up. You shoulda met my grandfather, who we known as “Pee Wee”. Outdated-was he ever younger, greasy-smelled like traditional, lanolin based mostly mechanic cleaning soap, which he had in a 50 gallon drum, bow legged and arthritic. Yeah, I’m turning into that. I’ll be telling the neighbor children to “Get off my garden!” quickly).
She’s performed an incredible job growing it from the place it began, which was a slicing concerning the measurement in air layering off. The nebari (root unfold) is spectacular.
I bought it a couple of years in the past and I’ve performed some department modifying but it surely took me till July of this 12 months to get drastic (hey, I’ve been touring. I’m behind on all the pieces). I made a decision to do away with that one department. However why waste the department I’m going to take away? Let’s air layer it.
The minimize.
I had determined to maneuver the font barely counter clockwise
And, as you see, I went fairly deep with the minimize. You’ll see why in a second.
Flash ahead to as we speak, September 1, 2021
Let’s see what we’ve got for roots. I hope it’s good, I need to begin styling this tree.
Gently, oh so gently, like eradicating silky undergarments, I pull off the aluminum foil…(I realized early on after I began sporting silky attracts that you could’t simply rip them off, that’s the way you bust the stitching….)
Hmmmmnnnnn…..not what I wished to see.
There are perhaps three seen roots.
One would suppose {that a} ficus, which is understood for plenty of roots, would have made extra. However I knew from expertise that this species takes quite a bit longer to place them out on an air layer. The final one I did took a half a 12 months: this huge man…
Right here’s the air layered I acquired from it:
Right here’s as we speak’s tree. It did put a root out above the minimize, amazingly. Possibly subsequent time I’ll simply put the sphagnum on with out slicing. Hmmm. Science and horticultural data are one factor, however training them is an artwork. And what could give you the results you want, I’ll by no means get to work for me.
Let’s dig a little bit deeper.
That root I’m pointing to above comes right down to right here, beneath.
However the minimize, which was fairly deep, as you see from July…..
….healed over.
By no means take setbacks as failures. What I’ve realized right here is that perhaps the easiest way to heal an enormous minimize is with sphagnum, at the very least on Ficus salicaria. That’s an enormous deal.
From right here on, contemplating I nonetheless need an air layer, the perfect apply (science smart) is to recut the road and re-apply the sphagnum and foil.
In order that’s what I’m going to do.
And I’ll depart it one other few months.
And no worries, I’ll sustain with the updates
Keep tuned!
