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Pruning a Ficus

9 years ago

I have a large Ficus I received from my mom before she passed. It is healthy but outgrowing it's space. Because it came from my mom I'm worried about cutting it back and killing it. It has a second stem that has been sprouting new leaves continuously. What is the best way to trim it back and maybe separate the second stem for another plant? I live in Missouri. I hope the picture shows.

Comments (7)

  • 9 years ago

    Photos did not work.

  • 9 years ago

    How do I get the photo to show?

  • 9 years ago

    Tap the camera icon just below the editing box and you'll see the option to take a photo while you're writing the post or choose an existing photo from your photo library, Dropbox, and other locations. Drag and drop won't work, though I've successfully copied and pasted photos that are on my device into a post without using the camera icon.

    Links to photo sharing sites aren't nearly as helpful. It's just easier to look at a picture on the forum page than to go somewhere else to see what someone is talking about.

    I hope that helps.

  • 9 years ago

  • 9 years ago

    What is the best way to turn those clipped off sections into starts for another plant?

  • 9 years ago

    (proximal = toward the base of the plant. distal = away from the base of the plant)

    Use a razor sharp tool to clean up the proximal end of the cutting. Do not use a tool (like pruners) unless you plan on making a fresh cut with a razor sharp tool distal to the cut made by pruners. Pruners, even sharp bypass pruners, crush tissues and promote rot. Rot clogs vasculature and prevents a root to shoot vascular connection, so when you are starting cuttings, whether or not they strike depends on whether rot or the root to shoot connection wins the race. Even microscopically small tags of loose tissue is where rot starts, so make sure your proximal cuts are as clean as you can make them. This is far more important than commonly understood.

    Make your finish proximal cut immediately below a leaf or leaf scar. If below a leaf, remove the leaf with a sharp tool. Do NOT pull it off of the branch. Make sure there are 2 nodes (or more), w/o leaves, under the soil. The soil should be very light and airy. The cutting should be outdoors, in open or dappled shade, and protected from wind. Be absolutely certain the cutting is not stuck so deep the proximal end is submerged in the excess water that often or usually collects in the lower reaches of the pot.

    As you can see ^^^, a deep pot has it's advantages. Keep proximal end of cutting out of the shaded area, which varies in ht from soil to soil, but not from container to container. Cuttings stuck too deep almost ensure failure of any ficus species. Cuttings need good gas exchange or tissues cannot survive. No rooting hormone should be necessary. Usually, I keep 2 nodes below the soil and 2 leaves above the soil. I usually cut the leaves in half or remove 2/3 of both leaves by cutting straight across venation. This reduces transpirational water loss and helps to prevent the cutting from shedding it's leaves. Wait some and cross fingers.


    Al

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