Ficus religiosa vs. Ficus carica?

6 years ago

This one is a bit more of an opinion issue (but would be nice to have some experience from fig growers).

For a large greenhouse in the planning stages (designed to mix food cultivation with public space) which I'm involved with, I've raised the possibility both of cultivating figs (aka, F. carica), and - unrelated - of the possibility of a "Bodhi tree" (properly F. religiosa, ideally of proper lineage back to the original Bodhi tree... have not yet attempted to track down a source), which would be appealing not for food (obviously), but for meditation. We'll ignore for now the fact that I seriously doubt we'd be able to find and import one of a reasonable size (although it is said to be fast growing). The two issues - fruit and meditation - run contrary to each other, as F. religiosa fruit isn't eaten. The thought occurred to me of grafting... but how well would F. carica likely graft to F. religiosa? And - on the opinion front - would that be "ruining" F. religiosa if it had some branches producing figs? Would it be best to just "cheat" on the meditation front, plant an F. carica, and go with the broader story of "Siddhartha Gautama meditated under a fig tree" and glance over that it was a different species of fig?

Complicating it even further, when I was looking up companies in the EU that could supply large fig trees, I found one that had some F. carica, but not F. religiosa. But instead they had some lovely gnarly sculpted F. microcarpa (a banyan species) that look like what most people think of when they think of a fig to meditate under. But they produce neither desirable fruit, *nor* are the right species!
Thoughts?

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Comments (3)

tropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)
6 years ago
Sounds like a nice project. This is primarily edible fig forum and so unlikely you will get anything on F. religiosa here.

My feeling is that treat each of the plant as different serving different purpose. Both are easy to grow and get satisfaction quickly. Even a small bodhi tree will grow very fast. I am originally from India and bodhi tree grows everywhere and anywhere there. Even in the small crack of a wall. And grows so fast that it can crack open a wall or a floor in a matter of a few years. So get whatever size you can get and watch it grow.

I am not sure what grafting will do. Both are extremely vigorous plants. One may take over the other plant in short time.
Karen Pease
Original Author
6 years ago
That's actually the problem. Both grow quickly and large (although particularly F. religiosa; they can get massive). Space is limited, and while trees can (and will) be trimmed to keep them under control, justifying allocating a footprint for both may be difficult. My understanding is that fig species generally take to grafting well, but I was hoping someone would know more about the combination of F. carica and F. religiosa.

BTW, your mentioning the ability to open a crack in a few years raises an interesting possibility - creating a structure where a F. religiosa would be with the explicit intent that it would be attacked by the roots, and take on that classic fig-overtaking-a-ruins look. Elsewhere, there are no "bottoms" on the pots, and root penetration of exterior foundations can be controlled with copper. Probably smart to have aggressive-rooting plants like figs away from the edges nonetheless, however.

I understand that there are some F. religiosa in India that are said to trace their lineage back to the original bodhi tree - for example, one growing at the Mahabodhi Temple. Do you know if it's possible to get seeds / cuttings, or are these tightly controlled? I guess I should really be getting in contact with the temple to ask about that...

You don't think anyone would take offense to the idea of F. carica branches grafted onto an ancestral Bodhi tree, do you, or that it would ruin its significance?
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tropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)
6 years ago
I have no personal opinion on whether grafting will take away any of the sanctity of F. religiosa. I grow them in pots and they are well contained. One is nearly 20 yrs old I think. It is about 2.5 ft high. You could also consider a large pot to keep it contained.

I thought that the original bodhi tree and its descendants do not exist in India anymore. I could be wrong. I also think there is a monastery in LA or Hawaii that has one of the descendants of the original bodhi tree. I visited the one in Hawaii and there is a big F. religiosa there but not sure if its the true one.