Creating a Flared Base on a Ficus

15 years ago

Hey everyone,

This is a new technique I read about on an Australian forum a few weeks back. It involves taking a cutting and splitting the base of it into quarters or more. Then you pry the wedges apart, cover with rooting hormone, and plant the cuttings. I am attempting this, so here are my pictures.

Obtain your cutting:

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Cut the cuttings base:

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I cut the cutting back since there was so much foliage and no roots at all:

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I've placed these in a high humidity aquarium with a fogger that runs and will keep you all posted on its progress.

Any comments?

Ryan

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Comments (8)

wizzard419
15 years ago
If it works I will have to try it out on my surinam cherry plant. I've been trying all summer to get cuttings to root and have had no luck.
ryan_tree
Original Author
15 years ago
Good luck with that guy.

It should also be noted that I root all my cuttings in this:

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It holds a fair amount of water and I've found it works pretty well with rooting the cuttings.
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
15 years ago
You removed the bark from the splayed part?

I do that all the time - ie quarter the bottom of the cutting with a small trunk splitter & push a pebble up into the split, but if you removed the bark you're likely to only get roots from where the cambium ends or through the periderm. Maybe I'm misinterpreting the photos ....?

Al
ryan_tree
Original Author
15 years ago
I did remove the bark from there, and the thought was that it would allow the cutting to more easily take up water. I guess we will have to see what happens. I've already had one take, I can see roots all in the pot. I just wonder now how long before I should pull it up and check it out....
ryan_tree
Original Author
15 years ago
But if that does happen, I'll remove the roots from that area and keep the cutting planted. Live and learn, live and learn.
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
15 years ago
When the cutting shows growth beyond just the opening of any existing buds ..... IOW, when a bud has opened AND the cutting has shown additional growth, you can be sure it's rooted. "Checking" for roots greatly increases the amount of time it takes for a cutting to get established because every time the cutting is moved (relative to the position of the container & soil mass) it breaks large numbers of the finest roots, the roots that do all the heavy lifting. You then need to wait until the plant regenerates these roots before you rearrive at where you were before the urge to 'peek'.

Al
ryan_tree
Original Author
15 years ago
I tried this technique on a couple of other Ficus benjamina 'Kiki' cuttings and dug one of them up tonight after seeing great roots. Roots did form where the cambium ended, but I plucked them off and kept the roots where I wanted them:

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I washed the roots down:
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And repotted into some turface:
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I'll let it grow for another month or so and check it again.
ryan_tree
Original Author
15 years ago
Did this technique on a Willow Leaf cutting:
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