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hi all

i have a ficus (don't know wich cultivar) in my possesion for almost a year. it hasnt changed that much because im still learning. i have done a repot and some light pruning in this year. because fall has arrived in my country i have put the tree inside and if it grows well ill prune it in a month or so. still have some problems with overal desing, but i still have lots of time to think about that.

when i see other ficus, i see a big trunk with lots of surface roots.
now i am thinking what i need to do to get these roots. could it help planting the tree deeper in the ground like 6,7cm? or isnt there anything i can do, and the tree will make em if its ready.

btw: this is the only subtropical tree i have. the rest are conifers and deciduous trees. this becaus we have cold winters here so its harder to keep them.

i have a ficus too but i have no surface roots.

Hi Jeroen,
I see you live in Belgium. In that climate it's very difficult to develop aerial roots. A ficus is a tropical plant. In the tropics, aerial roots develop easily because of the high humidity level in the air (up to 98%). You don't want to have these kind of humidity levels in your home so developing aerial roots is gone be very difficult, but there some things you could try if you value them so much.

You could try and wrap the specific area where you want the roots to grow in some damp sphagnum moss and transparent wrapping foil. Once you see roots growing against the foil remove it and place a straw tightly between the soil and the branch/trunk on which the roots are growing. If your lucky the new roots will continue to grow through the straw all the way to the ground.

The changes of success are very low and you have to be very patience. Also you have to be willing to accept that your tree is rather ugly/funny looking during the entire process, which can take anything from 6 to 24 months. I tried this once, but apparently i wasn't so patience. As a matter of fact, I switched to outdoors bonsai completely and gave up on tropical trees altogether. But don't let me hold you down and go on and experiment for yourself.
Good luck!


Daan de Vries

dsdevries wrote: Hi Jeroen,
I see you live in Belgium. In that climate it's very difficult to develop aerial roots. A ficus is a tropical plant. In the tropics, aerial roots develop easily because of the high humidity level in the air (up to 98%). You don't want to have these kind of humidity levels in your home so developing aerial roots is gone be very difficult, but there some things you could try if you value them so much.

here in the veluwe the average relative humidity is 98-99(gotta love the woods.) and now you say it, my ficus is growing some above surface roots, i think i'll use the straw method.

yes humidity is the key...i have had no luck with arial roots
your tree is young so better surface roots will come in time . i do sugjest putting it in a larger pot ( such as a 1 gallon nursery style) as roots develope the soil can be removed and the pot cut down to the new soil level. this will take years so you know just dont be descuraged

As said before: Simulate the natural environment, and you should be abe to get aerial roots fairly easy. Naturally in Summer you wil lhave better luck than in winter. I got loads of roots one summer when I was spraying the tree twice daily with water (This however was a plant allowed to grow freely). You could place your tree in a custom-made greenhouse: From wire create a support frame around the tree, and wrap cling-foil around it. Place this over the tree, keep a tray with watyer underneath. Place in the window-sill and add a growing lamp. You should have no problem getting aerial roots.

i sorta knew that humidity was very important, but was hoping for better alternative. yes i could put it in greenhouse (don't have) and in some kind of container to keep the humidity up but that kinda means giving the tree an enviroment that isn't there. with that i mean that i want a tree that is strong and sustainable in these (belgian) weather conditions.

ofcourse i don't want to throw the tree away because its subtropical and malsai looking. this tree also deserves a better point of view. that is the reasen why i want a better nebari. and for branching... i know ill need to wait wait wait.

thx for the tip dsdevries but that is not what i meant. i suppose u mean roots that come from branches like vines or so.
what i meant was roots that surrounds the trunk to make it look thicker.
i like the idea with spagnum moss and will try this technique on the lower trunk hoping it will make roots and let them find their way to the soil/surface.
and i know, a bigger pot would be better but i don't have one so it will need to do for now. i could buy bigger flower pots but these are to deep and not fit for bonsai, i guess.

thx for reply's and maby an update will come when the tree is comfortable in its new indoor enviroment. only tree wich is allowed inside. ^^

grts
jeroen

Hey jeroen, I have a very good method which is used by many people on the ausbonsai website; use toothpicks, cover the tips in rooting hormone powder or liquid and insert them into the tree near places you want root growth.

thats a new one for me going to have to try that one...do you leave them in?

Yeah leave them in, Im going to try this method out this spring on one of the ficus trees I airlayered. Its a great method, because if the results aren't as expected it does little harm to the tree.

Another method to develop surface roots on ficus, is to physically split the bottom of the truck by cutting vertically through the trunk; repeat this a few times, you then put a toothpick through the splits to keep them open and flared its hard to explain, but I'm going to put a thread up soon on how to do this, Im trying it out with cuttings at the moment, its the same technique and has promising results.