Rubber tree bonsai: Initial root work and pruning for ramification
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- Опубликовано: 20 май 2022
- Initial root work and pruning for ramification on a future rubber tree bonsai.
A rubber plant is generally considered as not being a good candidate for a bonsai due to its large leaves. But there is such a thing as a big leaf bonsai and leaf reduction might be possible to some extent. So I'm making the first steps for training a plain rubber plant from cutting to a Ficus elastica bonsai.
An initial root work sets the foundation for a nice nebari. Then pruning is applied to stimulate rubber plant branching. When applied to a healthy and vigorous plant, pruning is the operation you need to make rubber plant bushy. So if you want to make rubber tree branch out even if you don't intend to turn it into a bonsai check out the results I got.
Along the way of this 9 month transformation of my Ficus elastica I also found that improper use of grow lights can harm your plants. Luckily I figured things out eventually after performing extensive tests on my grow light. As promised, here you can find the video where I review and test the Mars Hydro SP3000 grow light: • Mars Hydro SP3000 - Ex...
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📷 Images used in this video:
Ficus elastica Roxb. ex Hornem. by Dinesh Valke, via Flickr, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0, www.flickr.com/photos/dinesh_...
Chinese Banyan (Ficus microcarpa 'Retusa') bonsai by Sarah Stierch, via Flickr, licensed under CC BY 2.0, www.flickr.com/photos/sarahva...
#ficuselastica #rubberplant #rubbertree
Really rare to see bonsai videos where they show progress over several months. Great to see such excellent effort, keep it up.
Thank you! I also like to see this in other videos so I try to docunent the progress of my trees over longer periods of time.
WOA!! That thing really popped, well done! Always fun to see people trying out new species for bonsai. Keep it up. Cheers Stefan!
Yes it bounced back nicely. Didn't even know that Ficus elastica can grow so fast given the right conditions.
Awesome work Stefan, I'm sure it will become a beautiful bonsai, hopefully just like the picture!!!
Thank you Nigel! I can only hope I can train it into something close to a bonsai.
@@OddBonsai I'm sure it will, I've seen some old trees in conservatories that looked awesome and even had quite "small-ish" leaves!
@@TheBonsaiZone I hope I can keep it small enough so that it doesn't require a conservatory :)
Wow!! That was so cool!!! Thank you for showing the whole process and the updates!! It looks fantastic!!!
Thank you, I'm really glad you enjoyed it! I like combining multiple updates in a single video. I find it more useful than making a new video for each update.
I just started growing rubber plant from cuttings so I'm watching every video available to learn and be inspired while I wait, but I also find bonsai calming and inspiring and one day will maybe start one so I have to say thank you for such a detailed video. I see them using something on the base but never know why and you just explained that, thank you. As a newbie such videos are life.
Great to have you back mate
Thanks Alex! Glad I could finally find the time to put out a new video.
This was really helpful, i'd love to keep seeing videos on the progress. I'm about to start my bonsai journey and i have some ficus trees i want to turn into bonsai 😊
Waiting for update! You are awesome.
Thanks! I have to prune it soon so I hope I can post an update in the next couple of months.
Very nice looking rubber tree
Thank you my friend!
This is giving me the courage to chop my tineke
The Tineke should also react well to this. If it's healthy, Ficus elastica will bounce back fast from a hard prune. Good luck!
I really hope you’ll come back to making videos, I really like them👌🏻
Nice to see you back. We will follow the journey of this project of yours...👍
Thanks Alex! I hope I can make something nice out of this Ficus elastica.
Your back!! So excited!! Ok, now I’ll watch.
Hi Yeti! I finally managed to post something new.
Awesome video…thanks for sharing
My pleasure! Thanks for watching!
so excited to see how this one turns out!
Me too! 😁It's going to take many years and it's probably not going to look anything like a real bonsai since the leaves do not reduce in size too much but at least it's good for practice.
Good work Stefan, lot of root pruning but good to see the proress!
Thank you Xin! I didn't intend to remove so many roots at first but in the end I decided to leave only a basic structure. Hoping to see some nice root development next time I repot.
Is there a video part two of the rubber plant tree now? Qould love to see the result after more pruning.
Great video and quality!
I will try that someday.👌🏻
Cheers
Nicely put together as always.
Thank you very much! Not the best bonsai material but it makes good practice.
We need more videos Stefan!!
Wow, great idea, friend. Wonderful video. Thank you.
Thank you too! Cheers!
Great root work. There is a cultivar of the Ficus elastica called “melany petit” wich has smaller leaves.
Thank you! I got a little Melany this winter and started training it. I'm looking forward to seeing how it will progress. The only thing I don't like about it is that leaves stay upright and very close to the trunk.
Great work! Congratulations, greetings from Brasil!
Thank you very much and warm greetings from Romania!
Very good
Thank you my friend!
listen to the end, thank you for sharing your knowledge 👍❤️ very useful friend
Thank you very much! Glad to hear you found it useful.
صباح الخير والسعادة بالتوفيق نباتات جميلة جدا جدا جدا 👍🤝🤝🤝🪴❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️👍
شكراً جزيلاً! 🙏🤝
Stefan! That was wicked cool, brother! Your MarsHydro could not have arrived at a better time for this little fella.
Daggum, did that respond well. You have got to be extremely excited about all that new growth. Glad you were able to dial in to your grow-tent lights a little better.
I absolutely am fascinated with the root work. Masterful job, bro.
I sure do appreciate all the time, effort and editing that you put into this, Stef.
Thanks Yeti! The grow tent + light arrived at the perfect time but my know-it-all attitude resulted in setting back all plants that I put inside. I lost around a month of growth on most of them. But then, when I got the setup right, they started growing like crazy. The amount of growth it gained in the tent is much more than I could achieve in a window.
Hope the roots will develop nicely on top of that flat rock.
@@OddBonsai Hehe…I think the saying goes something like: you can’t pour water into a full cup, empty your cup”
I can relate to that, for sure. But shoot, that’s half the reason I subscribe to most the channels, learn by watching everyone else. If I ever get a grow tent, I’ll sure as hell read that damn manual now!
@@baldyeti I'm one of those guys that only uae the manual as a last resort bit in this case I recommend reading it first. And the manual is juat the start. There are other potential problems that the manual doesn't tell you about. I'm thinking of doing a video on bad stuff that can happen when using a grow tent if you're not careful.
i love your video
My friend
j7
Thank you so much!
💚
🙏Thanks!
Good job sir, we can explore more to discover new variety for bonsai materials, in my case i try to train ficus septica. thanks for sharing and more success to your channel this is bonsai noy watching from phillippines🇵🇭
I also enjoy experimenting with different species. There is much to learn from the way each species grows. Good luck with training your Fius septica! Greetings from Romania!
Cool!!!!
It's really wonderful journey of a Ficus Elastica. I grow the same species, but concentrate mainly on its root, please check "Horned King Cobra", "Portable live aerial root ladder" etc.
I had a look at your creations and they are wonderful. It would be great to see how you make these. I'm curious how many years does it take to grow the roots so thick?
Bonsai ficus yang cantik👍👍
Thank you very much!
I’ve been wondering about Ficus Elastica. I’m excited to see how yours turns out
I'm also looking forward to seeing how this one turns out. I'm curious to see if there will be any leaf size reduction once it gets more ramified.
@@OddBonsai probably - I tried it on a Ficus Benghalensis, which has large leaves too, and it works somewhat. It’ll be good to see how small the leaves can get
Right after pruning, the first leaves that come out are quite small but then they grow big pretty fast. I guess time will tell.
@@OddBonsai yeah I had that experience too. Though mine seem to be a tad smaller with increased ramification
@@Bonsaifly We'll see after following prunings when it gets more ramified.
Thank you very much, it is an excellent video. In what month did you work on the roots? I am located in Mexico and now it is spring. Can I work on the roots of my fucus now?
For the yellowing, have you tried Epsom Salt? Get the one for plants and it will tell you how much to water in to help with the magnesium that it might need. Maybe it is just not the light? I like the information on the rubber tree.
Thank you very much Tom! I never used Epsom salt since it's not that common in my country (I think it's mainly used as a bath salt around here) but I'll see if I can find some product intended for plant use. From what I read leaf discoloration is usually a sign of nutrient deficiency. So it might be that the ficus attempted to resume vigorous growth once I moved it in the tent but the soil did not have enough nutrient reserves to sustain healthy growth since I stopped fertilizing after bringing it inside for winter and only resumed some weeks after moving it inside the tent. The yellowing and discoloration stopped after I adapted the grow light settings and resumed fertilizing so it's hard to say exactly which of these helped the most.
@@OddBonsai Sometimes on the bath one it has the directions for plants also. I know it helps with my roses if they start to turn yellow leaves. Glad what you did worked out. If you check on line, Epsom Salt, directions for plant use will also be available. Same salt, but, for plants, same price and it has directions for all types of plant use.
@@growclipbonsaiforseniors1951 That's a great tip Tom. I would have never thought to check on the bath salts for plant use indications. I'll check this next time I see Epsom salt somewhere.
Why do you use this special soil with stones? Doesn't a ficus need regular soil?
This soil provides ideal drainage. It's a common approach in bonsai to use inorganic soil. Any nutrients that the plant needs can be provided by fertilizing. When using an organic substrate, this tends to loose it's draining capability in time as the organic matter brakes down. And we don't want this as it can lead to root rot.
Hi Stefan! Hope you are doing well :)
I have a question, can exfoliated vermiculite be used as an alternative to soil for succulents, flowering plants and fruit bearing plants?
I just started experimenting with this kind of vermiculite for a year or so. I used it for various kinds of plants and I found that it is very good at retaining water. It seems to be very similar to pine bark with respect to water retaining. So depending on the type of plant you will want to add more vermiculite or less. For succulents I would personally not add too much vermiculite. I will have to repot all my succulents where I used too much.
@@OddBonsai thank you for your response. I will try this soon
Can we get an update?😊
Hello sir, may i see how the wisteria seedling after a year?
I haven't filmed them yet. They are growing pretty slow so they are not much bigger than at the end of the video. I will do an update video when there is some significant growth.
What feeds the plant when it is in inorganic soil?
I have to fertilize it regularly with water soluble fertilizer. The soil absorbs nutrients along with the water (especially the vermiculite) and makes them available for the roots.
How is it today (1y later)?
how to make the leaves grow smaller?
Reducing leaf size on a Ficus elastica is not an easy task. The only thing I noticed so far is that first leaves that grow after pruning are considerably smaller then regular leaves. Time will tell if I'll be able to find a way to keep most leaves smaller.
Is this a Ficus Elastica Emerald Green?
I honestly don't know. The initial cutting was taken from a large plant that was at least 10 years old. It's the first time I hear about the Emerald Green cultivar.
why remove the old soil?
One of my goals is to develop a nice balanced root system so I had to check on the roots and prune any unwanted growth.
This video rapidly becomes inaccessible (in my case)
What do you mean by inaccessible? I just checked and it seems to be playing correctly?
Very nice looking rubber tree
Thank you! Cheers!