Cuttings from epiphytic ficus for bonsai or Ficus the Lazarus tree

Epiphytes are plants that start their lives on top of something that is not the ground. Most commonly they grow on top of other trees. I have seen some grow on cracks in walls and on freeway overpasses. You might be familiar with orchids, bromeliads, and tillandsia all of which are epiphytes. This post will be about Ficus microcarpa, or the Chinese banyan tree.  Fig trees are known the world over as strangler trees. A bird eats a fig, and then poops on a tree. Some seeds germinate. The plants get their nourishment and water from moisture and dirt that collects in the crevices where it grows. They are not parasitic organisms. These plants will slowly grow a root down the tree until it touches the ground. When this happens the epiphytes growth explodes surpassing the growth of the host tree. Eventually the epiphytic Ficus will shade the host tree weakening it. The host tree eventually dies leaving the Ficus.

Here in sunny southern California we do not get a lot of rain. This keeps the epiphytic Ficus from getting to a relatively large size. The exception is this massive palm tree growing in the crotch of this blood tree.

This is not photoshop

My office faces this Italian stone pine. I have worked in my office for thirteen years. The grounds keepers will cut and poison this Ficus every other year. The branches are long and slender from last year’s growth. The trunk however is thick and covered in scars. I do not harvest this Ficus because the plant has wedged itself between the trunks and has an amoeba like shape, and that is no bueno.  

See the pruning shears?

This is my favorite cutting tool for collecting these Ficus.  It’s a Gerber saw, and it works great. Later on you will see how straight this saw cuts.

Great tool

This is the prize of the day. I noticed it last year. It is a Ficus microcarpa var. green mound. The leaves grow oval and dark green. It really is a beautiful tree. I had collected some of its branches last year. They are all doing great. Now that we have hot weather again I decided to collect this tree. Now, I call the Ficus the Lazarus tree because it is very hard to kill. I have had Ficus that I have left for dead, I stopped watering them. After it rains some months later they start sprouting green buds. I collected a ficus that was growing on a sheer granite face. It boggles me as to how it survived on smooth granite. I wonder what it clung on to. I removed it and took it home. All the leaves fell, the branches dried. I put it to the side to discard later and forgot all about it. Months later after a rain storm I saw green buds growing. It was amazing. I was going to throw it away.

Anywho, back to business. This Ficus was growing from the inside of the tree out.  I placed the saw as low as I could. The wood was very soft. The saw cut through with no problem.  I placed the cutting in a container with some water.  Notice the size of the trunk? Even at this size the tree will survive and may probably not lose any of its leaves. What other species of tree can do this? Much respect for the Ficus, Rastafari-Haile Selassie. 

See the smooth straight edge? Thank you Gerber.

This is what the tree looks like outside of the tree. There have been times when with a little pressure the whole tree gives and comes off in one piece. This was not one of those trees. 

This was a second tree harvested. It had great taper and aerial roots. 

So, cutting the tree is half of the job. Now the cuttings have to root so that they can start growing again. To do this I put them in bark. I get the bark used for planting orchids. It makes sense to me as they are both epiphytes. I tried using just water. Using just water is a slow process that results in weak roots. I have used an only perlite medium, but the results are not as good as bark. I place the cutting deep enough so that when I add more bark the tree can stand on its own. Both of the cuttings I collected had aerial roots.  This might encourage roots to grown from the bark as well as from the wound. That is totally fine with me. I love the banyan bonsai look. After topping the pot with bark water thoroughly. One thing I have never been able to do is overwater a Ficus that is in bark medium. I have watered Ficus in bark medium up to three times a day for weeks. There was no negative result. 

This is a tree I collected last year. It was growing on a palm tree. It has many scars from when the grounds keepers tried to kill it. I cut it off and brought it home. I see a lot of promise in this tree. 

See the pruning shears?

Thank you for coming with me on this adventure. I enjoy making these posts. I want to send shout outs to the reader here in the States. Also, to the horticulturalists in Germany and India, thank you for reading my posts. Cheers.

Update May 24, 2016

One of my friends said he likes it when I show before and after pictures. I do too. That was a very good idea. I wanted to show a cutting of a ficus microcarpa with a two and a half inch trunk three months after I appropriated it. 

This is a cutting taken in December, in March it had some new growth

Two months after the picture above was taken there is an explosion of new growth.

Spring growth

I am tempted to cut it back. I want some of the branches to get pretty thick so I won't, for now.

Update:  June 22

This is my longest cutting. it measures above two feet. I cut it a month ago and it is doing great.

Moss, how I harvest it

Moss, It’s green and has no roots and it grows all over the world. Moss is used in bonsai over the soil mix. When used like that it reminds me of grass under a tree. Here in sunny southern California moss is less prolific than in other places. However, if you know where to look you can harvest it. There is an auto parts store near my home. They have moss that grows on the north side of the parking lot behind a wall and under a huge bush. I have noticed two things. First, it is always damp where the moss grows. Second, the moss grows best where it gets partial sun. There is no moss in the dark by the trunk of the bush. Yet, next to the wall where it gets sun for most of the day the moss looks like a velvety green carpet.

These are the tools I use for gathering moss. One is a cookie tin I had punched holes in. Originally I used it as a seed starter. The other is a dough cutter that I bought for two dollars and some change. 

Tools of the day

This is the patch that I will harvest moss from. I want to avoid picking up weeds. Also, I want to get the moss where it is the thickest. You can see that there are a lot of weeds growing in the moss patch. I will try to avoid these as much as possible. The area of moss in the picture is about two feet by one foot. There is plenty of moss without weeds.  

Moss patch

I press down where I don’t want to collect from. This way when I do scoop up moss I will not pick up moss on the other side of the crease.

I push the cutter in at a low angle until the moss gives. After, the dough cutter slides in fairly easy. When I have a piece the size I want I lift the cutter up. The moss holds its shape very well. 

This one's a keeper

To keep the moss moist I use a plastic box. The box will hold water. The house I live in was built in the early 50’s. I pulled out a lot of these decorative bricks taht were original to the house. Bricks absorb lots of water. I will set the moss on the bricks so that they can stay moist but not submerged. 

Dry Brick

Wet brick

When you put the moss on the brick, sprinkle some water on the moss. Then press on the moss firmly. Don’t be scared you won’t damage the moss more than what you did when it was removed from its home.

Moss on brick

Close up

Figure resting on grass under a tree

I love this little figure. I hope it looks like a man and water buffalo resting on grass under a tree. This was the common moss that grows locally. I have tried the Kyoto spores with no success. Anybody have any success with those?