Ficus Bonsai Trunk Fusing Experiment

This is an experiment that I began on 4/15/06 where my goal is to create a ficus bonsai tree that will appear to be very old, with an impressive tapered trunk, in a few short years. My experiment is inspired by Doug Philips who has been doing this with Maple trees for over a decade. I learned about his process on his website: dugzbonsai.com.

Below is a photo-documentary of my experience with this process thus far.

Phase 1 project data:

Source trees: nine 6″ pots @ $5 = $45 + one 15″ pot @ $30 + one 12″ pot @ $10 = $85 (I have about 20 small seedlings left over and would have used just bigger pots w/ bigger seedlings in retrospect)

Supplies: 16″ pot $7 + twist ties $4 + frame wire $4 = $15

Total materials cost approx = $100

Wire frame dimensions: 12″ high x 6.5″ base diameter x 20″ circumference

70 trees were used to cover the frame

Finished dimensions: 7.25″ diameter of base x 12″ height above soil to joined apex, 24″ total height w/ leader.

More knowledge to add to the pool: