Hey! If you like this ficus video, check out my other video on pruning and shaping Ficus Bonsai! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Vbrjo6L6WcI.html&ab_channel=NotionBonsai
I appreciate you saying that there is no one way to do bonsai. I agree. As with any art, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But, of course... ...a living bonsai is ALWAYS more beautiful than a dead one!
I am so glad I found this! I tried propagating our ficus benjamina last year. Our parent plant was very overgrown, so I had 10 cuttings. I put them in soil instead of water, because someone told me to. Only 3 survived! I didn't know if it would work with water, but now that I know, I will try it again in water! Thanks!!
Think I've tried water in the past, either the cutting was too thick or the Australian climate won't let this method work, I'm trying both bonsai soil and water, I'll report back. BTW needed to do this because some jerk neighbour is trying to kill the mature parent tree for a city view. Humans can be so stupid. It will be built out one day then she'll have no privacy! And these take 20 years to grow!
this was an incredibly helpful video!!! love the "and i'm also gonna teach you to make a clump ficus mame, and also i'm gonna teach you how i water them." bonus tips that fit seamlessly into the rest of the video. can't wait to try this out!!!
Brilliant tutorial :) I've never bonzaied but I do find it very satisfying to watch roots sprouting out of cuttings. I miss having plants about the place, but I go away too much and it's awkward having to ask people to come in and water them all the time.
I have been putting cuttings in moist potting soil and bagging them, works pretty good. I have some ficus I will be pruning soon, so will be seeing how the water method works. Thank you.
RU-vid recommended to this me after I had searched for some information on a new ginseng ficus tree I bought last weekend. Last night I was watering it and cleaning it up some and noticed one of the branches wasn't actually connected to the tree. So I plopped it in some water based on the thumbnail alone and figured I'd better give this a watch to make sure I did that correctly. I shall wait and see what happens! So glad for this recommendation!
Hey! I'm glad to hear that you found this video recommendation helpful for your new ginseng ficus tree! I hope that it roots for you! It can take a while depending on the species of ficus so be patient and keep changing the water so it doesnt grow algae 🪴😄💖
my fave way is with cuttings in pure akadama my friend. ficus go wild in akadama for some reason. . saying that i rarely do anything even house plants in an akadama mix.. plants just go on a growth bonanza give it a go youll be pleasantly surprised :)
This was so helpful, thank you. I just had to do some radical pruning of my very large ficus and I really think I’ll “branch” out with some minis now that I have watched this.
Great job, young man...great communication skills AND it's obvious you know what you're doing. Enjoy a long life of bonsai. I only wish I'd taken it up at your age instead of wasting so many years on the golf course.
Thanks for your hard work in making the video. I grow lots of ficus species and love them so good to see your encouragement to grow and propagate figs. Great video 👍🌱
my old method was to leave 2 leaves + the new bud on a cutting if its small and straight into bonsai soil with the stem reaching the bottom of the propagation tray, but my new way is to put it into a plastic cup with water and leave it for several weeks so exactly like in the video.
Love your channel ❤️ I just started to learn and I have 2 bonsai plants. One lost all it leaves because the store never watered the plant enough. Trying to keep it alive.
I just put the cuttings in soil and keep them moist here in So. CA. No root hormone or anything else. Partial sun for a month and then full sun when they start growing. Works just about any time of year if I avoid extremes like too wet and cold or too hot.
I just took cuttings from my ficus ginseng but it's my first try so I'll see how that goes haha. :) Thanks for a very informative tutorial. Looking forward to digging through your other videos! I'm very new to bonsai.
with a ficus ginseng , you have to remember that the branches and roots are not from the same tree because its grafted so if a branch grows directly from the roots and not the graft then you will get nice roots but not dense leaves , and if you take a cutting from the graft then it will have nice dense leaves but not a nice thick root system.
Another awesome video! Your bonsai content is awesome, but I’m just as impressed with the technical video stuff- great filming, sound quality, editing. Love the production!
Amazing video, thanks so much! I wish I had a friend who’s as obsessed with plants as me, with a friend like you you’d always have something new to learn 🥺
Hey thanks so much Jas! I'm glad there are others out there also that are obsessed with Bonsai and horticulture!! There will be lots more videos to come!
love how you connected a few cuttings together! I’m going to try that next with my cuttings ❤️ When the ones i place in pots get so tall, do you recommend cutting off the top so they’ll branch out? Just learning ~thanks! 🥰
im just trying to get into bonsai and i chosen a ficus for my first one, since it looks like a great starter.... and this video has hhjelped me alot bro keep it up!
Another great video, thanks! I do it in the same way, the only difference is I use a cotton thread to keep the trunks joined (Overtime the watering and the use of fertilizer would disintegrate string). 🙂
I've been rooting Ficus cuttings potted in coco coir which I leave sitting in a tray of water. The coco coir wicks up the water keeping it moist effortlessly.
Tips: Aquanet makes a great Antitranspirant spray... also the best cloner on the planet is a "Power Cloner" / aka Aeroponic Cloner... Powerful roots in 7 days, with no root hormone required. If you really want some awesome Ficus Bonsai fast, try air layering. You can also pre-shape the cutting while still on the donor plant...
cool little fusion project on the parent tree. new sub and thumbs for you... i just recently saw a YT video. india bonsai guy took a pen thick ficus cutting and split it up the bottom into 4 sections. then rooted it. and split each 4th into 2 (so 8 cuts all together up the base of the rooted cutting) it was a progression video. he shows the same cutting a year or 2 later. with the most amazing root base flare. from nothing but a cutting.
Would you try rooting in water a bigger cutting from ficus that is maybe 5-6mm thick? Im a beginner and this would be my very first time rooting something bigger (im cutting my current bonsai in half essentially) But im getting so many conflicting views from other bonsai fans hence im stuck.
Thanks for your videos! I find them very informative and enjoy looking at them. A few days ago I took cuttings from the ficus I bought in October and put them in glasses with water. Hopefully this works as well for me as it does for you. I'm going to put them in an old aquarium soon and then cover it with cling film because of the humidity. Have you changed the water in between?
I'm glad you enjoy the videos, and I hope your ficus cuttings thrive! When propagating ficus cuttings in water, changing the water periodically can be beneficial to maintain a clean and oxygenated environment for the roots. It helps prevent the growth of harmful microorganisms and provides the cuttings with fresh nutrients. I recommend changing the water every few days or whenever you notice it becoming cloudy.
Great instruction here. Thank you. What happens to the wire wrapped around the base of the 3 cuttings as the plant grows? Will that not strangle the plant at the base or does the outward pressure during the growth unravel the wire?
I watched this 1.5 years ago. Took about 10 cuttings from a ficus I rescued from a big box store. Rooted beautifully. Bound them together at the base and put them in a mame pot. It’s been growing on a windowsill ever since. This summer I will repot and put them outside. Question: has anyone defoliated to reduce leaf size?
It sounds like you've had great success with your ficus cuttings, and creating a mame bonsai from them is a fantastic idea! Ficus are known for their ability to root easily from cuttings, and it's wonderful to hear that yours have thrived. With defoliation to reduce leaf size - it's a technique that can be effective with ficus bonsai, but it's essential to proceed with caution! 😄 Ficus are resilient trees, and they generally respond well to defoliation, producing smaller leaves on new growth. If you decide to defoliate your ficus mame bonsai, it's best to do so during the growing season when the tree is actively growing and can quickly produce new leaves. It's important not to defoliate too heavily or too frequently, as this can weaken the tree and affect its overall health. Good luck with your bonsai endeavours, and I hope your ficus continues to thrive and bring you joy! 🌿🌱
I've been looking for a nice Ficus Benjamina with leaves about the same size as the one in this video. I was going to ask you what variety it was, but I saw the "Primrose" on the pot and did a little searching on their site, and to me it looks like you might have Ficus Benjamina 'Natasha' (sometimes spelled 'Natasja') which is more of a dwarf form Benjamina similar to Nigel Saunders'. I wasn't sure if you knew exactly what variety, so that's my best guess.
Nice video mate thanks. :) I have a question, when i try to root my ficus cuttings (like the ones in your video) in water the leaves turn black eventually, then fall off and die without rooting. Any guesses as to why that happens? (was kind of a small conteiner maybe that's why?)
Could you also do videos on money trees...I get 2 each year and try to keep them healthy for 10 years, read books, and still can't figure out how to keep them.
