Author Archives: jerry@bonsaihunk.us

Ficus burtt-davyi

Ficus burtt-davyi is one of the figs that is not too infrequently used for bonsai.

There are many cultivars of this fig differentiated by small, medium or large leaves. Even the large leaf form has leaves that are only two or three inches in length.

One of the great attributes of this fig is that it will form figs nearly every year about the time that the new foliage is getting ready to sprout. Figs/syconia are small in size, start as green in color and mature to red or dark purple. Of course the seed inside is not fertile as the specific pollenating wasp is not present in my plant room.

Ficus burtt-davyi with numerous figs/syconia

Windswept style

A few years back I styled a Willow Leaf cutting into a windswept style. I enjoyed the plant although it was a young and immature plant.

The young cutting shaped out as a windswept style

The tree was re-potted some time ago and looking at the image of the plant revealed the tree was no longer attractive. What was the problem?

The tree in its new pot just isn’t exciting and feels wrong

Often when re-potting a tree I get the angle of the trunk wrong. I get busy selecting a pot, arranging the roots and securing the tree into the pot in the process the tree winds up being potted at the wrong angle or wrong position in the pot or tipped forward or backward and out of position.

Tipped back to the right – the design feels better

Once potted at a better angle I now like the final result much better.

Ficus virens, the White or Spotted Fig

One of my favorite of the larger leaf figs is Ficus virens, commonly called the White or Spotted fig. Although the species has larger leaves that make creating small sized bonsai difficult, it can be done.

Ficus virens is quite suitable for larger bonsai. It has attractive leaves that in some cultivars can be quite red or bronze on the new foliage. Thailand growers have developed some that are very red. The red color in the leaves will persist for a week or two before turning to a deep, deep green color.

In the photos above you can see that the mature leaf color varies from seedling to seedling. Some show a fair amount of red or bronze-tinged foliage. These plants are all about 7-8 years old from seed.

Moving An Aerial Root

70 Replies

Aerial roots are one of the very useful and impressive features of some fig trees. As with other design elements of a bonsai the aerials must augment the overall design scheme.

In this Ficus virens the aerial root crosses across the trunk and in addition it gives the appearance of a reverse taper to the trunk of this tree. It could be removed or a better option is to move it to the other side of the trunk and use it to improve the taper of the trunk.

The aerial crosses the trunk

Closer view of the crossing aerial

A chisel is used to separate the root from its adherence to the trunk

The aerial is repositioned to the right side of the trunk

Close view showing moss added to the base of the aerial to help promote new hair roots to form

Young root emerging after only two weeks

The moved aerial is wrapped with sphagnum moss and placed into the soil. Within two weeks a new hair root is already formed. The repositioned aerial is now a permanent fixture of the design.

The definitive reference work on Ficus
for bonsai. The book is a softcover, 8 by 10 inch volume, with 144 color pages, containing detailed information for the beginner as well as the advanced hobbyist. Click here for more information

Twisting and turning design

This is an exercise in bonsai creation that is just for fun. The plant is a Ficus salicaria, Willow Leaf fig, grown from a root cutting. This was a very long root, perhaps 2 feet in length. Foliage has sprouted at the cut end but how to design a tree out of it?

One possibility is to place a lot of wire on it and to twist and turn and bend until the trunk is quite contorted. The result is as you see. The foliage canopy will need shaping but for now it is being left untouched to allow the trunk to grow and to hold the shape we have set into it with the wire. Literati or bunjin is the closest shape or style grouping in which this might fall.

I perhaps may change my mind and move the trunk into another shape.

Any thoughts?

The root cutting before it was shaped.

After wiring and twisting a shape emerges

Or is this shape more pleasing?

Another possible shape

Bonsaihunk’s Blog

1 Reply

Welcome to my Blog.

I hope to post information on growing figs and other tropicals as bonsai. Most of the information will be directed to growers who are keeping their plants indoors for most or all of the year. However, there will also be information useful to bonsai growers of tropicals and sub-tropicals growing out of doors.

Bonsaihunk's Blog

Fig trees and tropicals as bonsai