

There’s a cute little devil!

This little tree is a ficus salicaria (nerifolia, salicifolia,willowleafyanus) a willow leaf ficus (or narrow leaf).

I like to refer to it as the ficus formerly known as……..



The view from all angles.

Here is the trunk chop site



The tree probably looked like this before



Which is a typical 2-3 year old cutting, albeit this one has a decent base on it.

I got the little cutie pie from Emblem Bonsai out of Southeast Florida. He has very good material and I suggest you look him up.

Anyway, it was probably cut like so



And looked like this



And allowed to grow out for a season ( I bought this in January) The growth is about equal to 3-4 months in Florida, it hasn’t grown since I got it and its March now. Lets kickstart it’s heart.

A willow leaf ficus will almost always sprout all over from the the chop site like this



pushing copious amounts of shoots. One technique for branch selection is to allow nature to choose the strongest leader (it might not choose the best placement though)

Or, choose your own



Start pruning out the little guys



And the ones in bad places



Then let it grow.

How much?

Until the branches are thick enough to be wired without them breaking off.

Which brings us to this point



Some wire



More wire.

Defoliation (so we can see the branches)



And the finished job.



The thing to do now is let it grow.

I’ll repot it soon into a shallower pot. Believe it or not, a ficus is different than any other tree. The base will widen and improve in a bonsai pot.

It will.

S’truth, promise!

Not lyin’