Long roots have come out of the ficus pot. Ficus transplant. Proper care and formation of ficus
Mulberry family.
In nature, it grows in India, China, South Asia, as well as the Philippines, Hawaii, and Australia.
These are evergreen shrubs and trees. In nature, they grow like our birches, about 20-25 meters in height, at home, Benjamin's ficus does not grow quickly and in about 10 years it will reach 100-120 centimeters in height. Ficus has an invasive root system that spreads not only in depth, but also on the surface of the earth, the aerial roots of old plants growing in a humid tropical climate form entire arrays of supports under a wide spreading crown. In indoor ficuses in pots, the root system is quite strong, the roots over time, if you do not sprinkle the earth, are shown above the surface of the earth, but aerial roots do not form.
Ficus benjamin has a dark gray bark, with brown transverse strokes. It branches very well, the shoots are drooping, the leaves are alternate, on short petioles, smooth, shiny, leathery, oblong (elliptical) or lanceolate, pointed at the end, 6-12 centimeters long and 3-6 centimeters wide. The fruits are siconia, about 1.5 cm in diameter, paired, axillary, red, burgundy when ripe, inedible. Under room conditions, ficus benjamin does not bloom and, accordingly, does not bear fruit. At the break of the petiole, when the leaf is cut, the roots are pruned, a sticky white milky juice is released.
Temperature
Moderate, optimal for growth within 20-25 ° C, but by and large, the temperature of ficus benjamin is unimportant, but it is important that watering matches the temperature - water more often when it is hot and less often when it is cooler. In cool conditions, a wet earthen ball dries slowly, for a long time, and this is very harmful to the ficus. In winter, ideally, the temperature should be 16-18°C, with limited watering, a limit of 8-10°C when kept dry. But usually benjamin's ficuses grow well in normal home conditions, in heated rooms. If there is little light, the plants partially lose their leaves, so during a warm wintering, ficuses, especially variegated varieties, can be illuminated.
Lighting
Ficus benjamin grows well in a bright place, with protection from direct sunlight at noon. An east window is perfect, where the sun is in the morning or evening. Variegated forms need a lighter and warmer place than dark-leaved forms. On the northern window, only varieties with dark green leaves can grow well, and the variegated varieties "Safari" or "Eldorado" need a western window to preserve color, or a place in close proximity to the south, it is already dark on the east.
Watering
Moderate, ficus does not like waterlogging of the soil, it must be well dried before the next watering. From waterlogging, ficus benjamin may begin to rot the roots, while the plant simultaneously throws off a large number of leaves that lose their color and become pale green. Water for irrigation is desirable soft, room temperature.
Top dressing with fertilizers
From March to August, once every two to three weeks, you can feed ficus benjamin with fertilizers for decorative leafy plants.
Air humidity
Leaves can be sprayed, especially in summer in hot, dry weather, but benjamin's ficus can do without it, it tolerates the dry air of apartments well. But in order to wash off the dust from the leaves, you need to rinse the foliage of the ficus under a warm shower, while carefully protecting the soil from the water jet.
How to transplant ficus benjamin
Transplantation is carried out annually in the spring, in fresh soil. Old specimens are transplanted less often, every 2-3 years, but you can add fresh fertile land every year. The soil for ficuses should be loose and nutritious. A suitable mixture is 2 parts leafy soil, 1 part peat soil, 1 part sand and 1 part well-decomposed compost. You can also use leafy soil in its pure form, ficuses grow well in universal soils from the store. Large, old specimens that are less likely to be transplanted need heavier and more nutritious soil - the main component is turf soil 2 parts, sheet or greenhouse 1 part, chopped pine bark, vermiculite and charcoal can be added. An important condition is good drainage to the bottom of the pot, and the acidity of the soil should be slightly acidic, or close to neutral (pH 5.5-6.5). Ficus does not tolerate alkaline and too acidic substrates.
Pots can be both ceramic and clay, they should not be too spacious, but in diameter 2-3 fingers wider than the root ball, or the pot in which the plant was bought. If it seems to you that the pot has become small (the roots have appeared from the drainage hole), then Benjamin's ficus can be transplanted again over the summer. If the roots are not cut or torn, then it tolerates the transplant well. After transplanting, refrain from watering unless it is too hot for 2 days (if the house is very warm and dry, you can water a little and spray the leaves).
Reproduction of ficus benjamin
The easiest way to propagate ficus benjamin cuttings, they easily take root in water, in a bright place at almost any time of the year. Just cut any twigs you like about 13-15 cm long, remove the two lower leaves and put in a jar of clean water. To prevent the water from blooming, cover the jar with an opaque cloth. Growth promoters are not needed. Cuttings of this size already have a woody stem, but if you cut a couple of leaves with a still green stem, it will not take root. Benjamin's ficus does not reproduce with a leaf, and large branches with thick bark take root for an extremely long time.
If for some reason the plant has become bald in the lower part of the trunk, it is easier to re-root the crown. For this, not cuttings are used, but air layering:
On the trunk, the bark is cut and removed in the right place, a strip about 1 cm wide. The trunk in this place is wrapped with sphagnum moss soaked in water (it is fixed with a thread only for the convenience of photography)
Air layering ficus benjamin
We cut the plastic cup along the walls into two halves (cut the bottom to half and make a hole along the diameter of the trunk) and fix it on the trunk, fastening it with tape. We fill up the earth and water it.
Air layering ficus benjamin
It is advisable to use a transparent glass so that you can see the appearance of the roots. The earth in the cup should be watered regularly, it should not dry out. Roots on this cutting appeared after 3 weeks.
Ficus crown formation
Ficus benjamin itself has a beautiful crown, many varieties do not require any special shaping. However, if the trunk of the ficus is bare, you can stimulate the formation of new shoots and leaves by pruning. To do this, you can cut off part of the shoots, in whole or in part, sometimes it is enough to pinch the tips of the lower branches so that new buds start to grow. Pruning should be done in spring - early summer. The younger the ficus tree, the easier it is to form pruning.
In addition to trimming and pinching, the crown of ficuses is formed by bending with wire (for the formation of bonsai and pre-bonsai). Ficus shoots are quite flexible, easy to bend, but the thin bark can crack or peel off the wire, so it is applied loosely and braided wire is used. There should be a gap between the wire and the stems of the ficus - after all, the plant grows, and the branches gain thickness, with a tight winding, the wire will eventually grow into the bark.
Ficus Baroque is formed with wire, the flexible trunks of the ficus can be bent quite steeply, striving to achieve the chosen bonsai style.
If you form a ficus by splicing with a trunk, then when braiding a pigtail of several trunks, be sure to leave gaps between them for the growth of the trunks in thickness. Drawing by Vitaly Alenkin.
Trunk splicing - several rooted cuttings are planted tightly to each other and wrapped with electrical tape. Part of the electrical tape has been removed and the fusion sites of the trunks are clearly visible. Further shaping is required.
Cuttings of some varieties of ficus benjamin branch reluctantly, single branches look and gain power slowly, can stretch upwards, even with sufficient lighting, begin to branch, reaching about 30-40 cm in height. Therefore, it is worth pinching, cutting the cuttings at a height of about 20 cm.
You can plant several cuttings in a pot and, if the stems are pressed tightly against each other, then in a very short time they grow together. You can bring the stems of ficus cuttings closer together using ordinary electrical tape - it is quite plastic and does not injure the bark, it stretches on growing trunks without growing. About once a month you need to inspect the braid, rewind if necessary. It is better, of course, to grow together trunks of small diameter, 5-7 mm, but thicker ones can also be spliced, only the process will take several years.
Another way to form is to twist the trunks with a pigtail or in the manner of a hedge - openwork weaving from the trunks of ficus benjamin. This method is only suitable for young flexible plants. At the same time, several large cuttings should be planted in one elongated container at a distance of 5 to 10 cm from each other strictly in a row. At first, each trunk grows vertically and forms a trunk (all lower branches are removed). Approximately at a height of 20-25 cm, ficuses can be fixed, tilted, crossing the trunks with each other. Fix with tape or jute.
Original entry and comments on
Frequently Asked Questions: Ficus
General information on the care of ficus.
We were given an adult rubber-bearing ficus, tall - more than a meter tall. But he is apparently sick: more and more new leaves begin to darken, brown spots appear and the leaves wrinkle. It grows poor in a cramped saucepan, we first of all wanted to transplant it, but we were advised not to injure the ficus with a transplant, but first to cure it. How to proceed?
1. How to water ficuses correctly?
2. What does the ficus love?
3. White convex dots appeared on the leaves of my young ficus (plant height is about 40 cm), what is it? He is ill?
4.How to shape Ficus elastica?
5. My ficus leaves are falling.
6. Ficus "Natasha" does not grow. Please let me know what is causing the growth. I changed it several times, but to no avail.
7. And what kind of land mixture should ficus be transplanted into?
8. Ficus is sick! The stem below began to darken and wither (somewhere already 10 cm), the lower leaves fell off, and the rest all drooped.
9. Filled with ficus Benjamin! He dropped almost all the leaves!
10. Who knows or can he did it himself: if you pinch the top of a rubber ficus (with large leaves), will it give shoots in different directions?
11. After the transplant, the ficus fell ill, the leaves fell off.
12. Brown spots began to appear on the edges of large leaves, they increase in size, cover the entire edge, because of this, the sheets become wavy, as if corrugated and then fall off. The sheet itself is very similar to paper, the edges of which are set on fire - brown round spots and uneven frayed edge. This has been going on for six months now.
13. How to "braid" a ficus?
14. How to root a rubber ficus stalk?
15. What conditions does a tiny ficus want?
16. Ampel ficus dried up. Watered moderately. Sprayed the leaves. What to do?
17. Ficus Benjamin is losing leaves!
18. Is it possible to remove part of the roots when transplanting ficus Benjamin?
19. Should ficus be transplanted from store land?
20. They gave us an adult rubber-bearing ficus, tall - more than a meter tall. But he is apparently sick: more and more new leaves begin to darken, brown spots appear and the leaves wrinkle. It grows poor in a cramped saucepan, we first of all wanted to transplant it, but we were advised not to injure the ficus with a transplant, but first to cure it. How to proceed?
1. Answer: It is better to transplant and treat at the same time. Maybe he's been cramped for a long time. If you decide to transplant, then take the pot 7-8 cm larger in diameter and 8-10 cm in height than a saucepan, ceramics or plastic - it doesn’t matter. The presence of a drainage solution is mandatory, pour a layer of drainage 3-4 cm down, from ready-made mixtures - "begonia" or "lemon" from the "garden of miracles", you can mix their own "rose" with "cactus" in a ratio of 2 \ 1, 3 /1, although this is not entirely correct. Take it out of the pot, shake off the old soil if possible, inspect the roots, if there are rotten ones, cut them to a living one, sprinkle the cuts with crushed coal (at least activated in tablets), down, pour so much earth on the drainage so that the surface of the earth remains at the same level, those. it is almost not necessary to top up the earth from above, only from below and on the sides (you need to top up from above, if only the old top layer of the earth was shaken off). Regarding the treatment, it is difficult to say what the problem is without seeing the plant and not knowing the conditions of detention, it can be diseases, pests, and poor conditions. With the elimination of negative factors, the plant will gradually recover. To begin with, inspect the underside of the leaves and sinuses for pests, any extraneous "objects" are a reason to be wary, if you find something, write to the forum, they will identify and suggest methods of struggle. Of the preventive measures, it can be recommended to start by washing the leaves on both sides with boiled water, after drying, spray with "epin" according to the instructions (5-7 drops per 200 g of water) and continue to spray them once a week for at least 2 months (epin does not kill pests and does not heal, it somehow increases the immunity of the plant, diseases and pests, if any, will have to be fought separately).
2. How to water ficuses correctly?
Answer: After transplanting, water very little. Ficuses, in general, should be watered only after 1/4, 1/3 of the pot has completely dried (check by sticking your finger into the ground, or by weight, but this is with experience), plentifully enough, preferably warm (add boiling water), soft water (although -to defend during the day, if there is a pass through a household filter). It is impossible to say how often to water. it depends on so many factors - the time of year, the size of the pot, the ambient temperature, the rate at which the plant itself "drinks" and its condition. Ficuses do not like the bay very much, from this the leaves begin to turn SHARPLY AND QUICKLY.
3. What does the ficus love?
Answer: The location is as bright as possible, rubber-bearing ones endure a couple of hours of direct sun per day, it is ideal to place it by a window curtained with tulle, except for the north side, in this case there is no need to curtain it. He does not like strong drafts, but it is strong ones, he can just stand under an open window. Feed once every two weeks with any organic fertilizer for indoor plants, you can use mullein, in winter every 1.5-2 months, plus feed with "Emerald" or an analogue to compensate for the lack of lighting - in winter. Although I feed like this - I add top dressing with each watering, but at a much lower concentration, in summer 1/4-1/6 of the recommended dose, in winter - 1/8-1/10, my plants do not complain. Ficus is very fond of spraying, but only warm and better boiled water (otherwise there will be white limescale on the leaves), you can spray at least twice a day. Periodically (once a month) wipe the leaves with a damp sponge or cloth, also boiled water.
4. White convex dots appeared on the leaves of my young ficus (plant height is about 40 cm), what is it? He is ill?
Answer: How white dots? What size? If they are still light green and small, then everything is fine, all adult specimens have them, take a closer look at the stores.
5. How to shape Ficus elastica?
Answer: Usually ficus elastica grows with one trunk, it is not very beautiful. Therefore, it is recommended that, having grown the stem to a certain size - whatever you like - pinch the top (pinched off can be rooted). After that, lateral processes will appear on the trunk in the axils of the leaves, which will later form the crown. In turn, they can also be cut to branch more strongly.
6. My ficus leaves are falling.
Answer: If the plant has just been bought, this is normal, especially in Benjamin's ficus - just a reaction to transportation, transplantation, etc. Then it will move away, new leaves will grow, but "Epin" certainly will not hurt.
7. Ficus "Natasha" does not grow. Please let me know what is causing the growth. I changed it several times, but to no avail.
Answer: This ficus belongs to the category of growing very slowly. In this situation, a bright window, moderate watering with POKON "Ficus" fertilizer will help. And, besides, he really does not like permutations, drafts and deep pots.
8. And what kind of land mixture should ficus be transplanted into?
Answer: Try transplanting it into a mixture of sod, leaf, humus, peat and sand in equal proportions. Just do not forget that the ficus needs good drainage, because. ficus is afraid of stagnant water. But it was desirable to transplant in the spring, because. at other times it may shed its leaves.
9. Ficus is sick! The stem below began to darken and wither (somewhere already 10 cm), the lower leaves fell off, and the rest all drooped.
Answer: Signs of overflow. If flooded, then the roots are likely to rot. It is necessary to take it out of the pot and replace the earth. Or, at worst, cutting the top and rooting in water, if completely hopeless. And for a better effect, you can add some kind of root former, succinic acid, for example, or humin, to the water where the stalk stands. It is worth consulting at the nearest flower shop what they have from root formers, and everything is written on the packages - you will figure it out!
10. Filled with ficus Benjamin! He dropped almost all the leaves!
Answer: Carefully separate the entire earth from the plant (at the same time inspect the roots, most likely they have rotted - they have become like thin gray threads). Transplant into light, almost dry soil and place in partial shade (where there is no sun, but light). Then just spray the topsoil and the plant itself. You can water around (near the very walls of the pot), but only VERY limited.
And it’s best to spray it well (and the ground too) after transplanting with epin (1 ampoule per 0.75-1 liter of water), pour a little water into the pan, crumble coal on the ground (from a match or activated - so as not to rot) and hermetically close in transparent vessel. Then you don’t need to do anything with the plant for a couple of weeks at all, just check it periodically. Condensation does not need to be ventilated. Come to life!
11. Who knows or maybe did it himself: if you pinch the top of a rubber ficus (with large leaves), will it give shoots in different directions?
Answer: It definitely will, I checked it myself, and the cut top gives roots very quickly right in the water. By the way, about 10 leaves - this is nonsense, although in one smart book I read one restriction regarding the pruning of this particular ficus: a bare specimen must be cut no lower than 10 cm from the lower healthy leaf, then the old plant will give new shoots.
12. After transplantation, the ficus got sick, the leaves fell off:
Answer: Ficus, as a rule, tolerates a transplant very painfully, and it is quite possible that this is why it is sick. Ficus does not like change of place very much. They say that he might not even like the color of the carpet. And the transplant was an additional stress. It seems to me that we should leave it alone - make sure that there is enough light and water (just do not fill it). It will calm down and new leaves will grow from it. Just do not rearrange it any more, do not fertilize, and do not transplant.
This, of course, is subject to proper care: enough moisture, shading from direct sun (especially after transplantation), absence of drafts. And to relieve stress, you can try spraying Epin.
13. Brown spots began to appear on the edges of large leaves, they increase in size, cover the entire edge, because of this, the sheets become wavy, as if corrugated and then fall off. The sheet itself is very reminiscent of paper, the edges of which are set on fire - brown round spots and uneven frayed edge. This has been going on for six months now.
Answer: You need to carefully inspect the surface and especially the back side of the leaves: the symptoms you describe are similar to the defeat of a flat red (not spider!) mite. This infection is very, very small, less than half a millimeter, so it is difficult to detect. In addition, if you do not find an animal, try spraying the plant with foundationazole or something similar: necrosis of leaf tissues can be caused by anthracnose. In addition, symptoms resemble downy mildew on cucumbers and late blight on tomatoes. These are fungal diseases, and, first of all, it is necessary to reduce the humidity of the air (do not spray and water very moderately). Treatment consists of treatment with a copper-containing drug, Oxyx (copper oxychloride), sold freely. Spray all parts of the flower from all sides, water the soil, treat the outer surface of the pot, all the pots and - into the insulator! The infection may already sit on other flowers. In any case, don't give up.
14. How to "braid" ficus?
Answer: If there are several branches, they are usually intertwined to make a beautiful stem. If there is only one sprout, plant it, and pretty soon it will grow side shoots. It is necessary to braid only plants of the same development, otherwise the large ones will suppress the small ones. It is necessary to curl immediately (with a height of 13 cm), when growing, immediately make a coil as soon as the size allows. Keep "braid" on the leaves. To prevent this pigtail from "untwisting", wrap the trunk with woolen threads. Try to braid tighter. The trunk, however, can be damaged in some places (the bark will burst, milky juice will appear), but it's okay (the main thing is not to break it), then wash the trunk with warm water and that's it ... And so that the threads do not damage the trunk and do not grow into it, it is necessary to replace the threads with others every 1-2 months. Plus wrap the barrel at an angle of 45 degrees.
15. How to root a rubber ficus stalk?
Answer: The rubbery ficus gives roots very slowly just because of the milky juice it contains. In addition, after cutting off a branch or stem, this juice quickly hardens in the air. It is usually recommended that immediately before putting the branch into the water for rooting, do the following: rinse the cut point under a small stream of water - just gently remove the frozen juice with your hands, and then immediately put the cutting into the water. It is possible and so - in a greenhouse made of a plastic transparent box somewhere 20 x 10 with a slot for air access. Wet claydite was poured at the bottom of the greenhouse for moisture, a shoot in a small pot in the ground, and not in water, put the entire greenhouse on the battery. This is for bottom heating, accelerates the formation of roots. And it is possible and so - it is necessary to cut off the stalk in May - June, the stalk is apical with 1 leaf. Roll the sheet into a tube and tighten with an elastic band. Dip the cut in the root and plant in the ground with sand. Maintain soil and air moisture, keep warm. Rooted for a long time.
Or so - soak in water for a day (so that the tissues are saturated with water), then in a root formation stimulator (heteroauxin, for example), according to the attached instructions, then plant in moist soil under a cap + spraying. When a leaf climbs, remove the cap - it has taken root, that means.
16. What conditions does a tiny ficus want?
Answer: The earth can be used like a "palm tree", it is suitable for both palms and ficuses. Just keep in mind that the tiny ficus has a superficial root system and it is better for it to dilute the soil with some kind of lightening additives. After transplantation, keep the first time warm and at high humidity, because. during the adaptation period, it can drop leaves. Do not put close to the battery - it dries. Watering is quite rare, as the topsoil dries out by a few centimeters.
17. Ampelous ficus dried up. Watered moderately. Sprayed the leaves. What to do?
Answer: Ampelous ficuses do not like direct sunlight. Try changing the location. Apply fertilizer "Emerald". It's cheap enough. It can be combined (but not on the same day) with epin, but it quickly loses its properties in the light. If watered, then you can at any time, and it is better to spray when it is dark.
18. Ficus Benjamin is losing leaves!
Answer: Ficus Benjamin periodically sheds most of the leaves: either overflow or draft. He is too capricious. The lower leaves fall most often due to excessive waterlogging. The fact that the earth should not DRY (this does not mean that it should not dry out at all, as in a swamp) refers to small creeping ficuses, such as ficus pumila or rooting ficus. And ficus trees, on the contrary, are watered abundantly, and between waterings the topsoil must necessarily dry out. Roots need air. And on this forum, someone who has a collection of a dozen ficuses said that he waters his ficuses when you stick your finger into the ground with two phalanges and it remains dry. And then you can wait three days. I water it when the top soil is dry. In general, Benjamin's ficus loses leaves very easily. Can reset them from any changes in the conditions of detention. Moved to the new place, transplanted. A few leaves are always lost. It's not a disaster. Since it also grows quickly. My ficus Benjamin has been growing for more than two years and I know from experience that leaf fall very often (or rather, almost always) happens due to:
1) changes in familiar conditions: transfer in the fall from the balcony to the room;
2) too abundant watering in winter - it simply catastrophically "goes bald". The soil between waterings should dry well;
3) insufficient lighting - my ficus loves the morning sun, and suffers without it in winter. To avoid this, I add iron gelate to the water for irrigation.
In all these cases, the leaves turn yellow very quickly and fall off.
19. Is it possible to remove part of the roots when transplanting ficus Benjamin?
Answer: Precisely because it is a tree, I think it's okay. When forming bonsai, the roots are cut a little - and nothing. Well, maybe the plant will get sick a little, as a consequence of any transplant.
20. Should ficus be transplanted from store land?
Answer: Immediately transplant or just change the whole earth. This land is suitable only for transportation - it holds moisture for a very long time, and, over time, it also becomes compacted. When the top layer of soil seems to be dry, then inside the moisture lingers for a long time (but how else to transport it?). And ficuses really do not like waterlogging. It is better to NOT top them up than to overflow them.
For 4 weeks, a stalk of a tree-like ficus has been standing in the water and does not take any roots. Why do I have so many ficuses? And into the ground. And so one after another. Rooted in the "explosive mixture" ficus stalk Daniel. And a few more tips for propagating homemade ficuses. Bottle ficuses also lose their leaves.
After rooting, white “pimples” hatched on the cuttings, but after another week, these pimples turned brownish, as if from white, but the roots did not appear. Or just cut new cuttings and immediately root them in the ground, treating them with root.
And although ficuses can be cut all year round, the best results will be in late spring and during the warm summer months. In greenhouses, when cutting ficuses, the temperature is maintained at 25-30 degrees. 4 weeks is not a critical period for a ficus cutting, I would calmly wait another month.
If you are tormented by doubts, plant them in the ground under a jar, just be careful - do not flood them. And about the fragile roots of ficuses ... Ali and Benjamin took root in my water, I had to wait a long time. But the roots have grown strong. I used to be completely illiterate: - [Now I have learned a lot of different things here and I am trying to grow roots by air layering ... All my Benjamins rooted in water very quickly - maybe a week and a half.
I have ficus robusta. I got a side branch of an interesting ficus benjamin, it looks like Reginald, but the leaves are also curly. And slow-witted ... And anything in the water besides coal? (Kornevin, zircon?) I have one stalk of various leaves bent in the water ...
Reproduction of ficuses
I have all the roses in my garden, clematis are only cuttings. Under my jar, once the ficus is all moldy. And when rooted in water, they say then the roots are hard to get used to the ground. Everything that is rooted in water takes root in me. The term also depends on the type of ficus. With pure green leaves, roots appear faster and somewhere in the aisles of 2 weeks. In summer, it will be suitable to water the soil every other day, and in winter - once every 4-5 days. Ficuses love to spray their leaves with water. It is necessary to wipe the dust from the leaves from time to time.
This is an ordinary trunk from a former ficus. Why did the cut shoots put into the water stop taking root, but simply began to rot??? My grandmother propagated ficus cuttings, but first she dried them during the day. A dumb question - are you sure that jasmine-shaped gardenia is growing in your aquarium?
Thanks for the ficus tip! I already did something - I let the shoots grow bigger and stronger before cutting them. It is better to root leaf cuttings in spring and summer, as this requires warmth and a lot of light (without sun).
If you put such a cutting in a jar of water on a bright window and change the water often, then after a while roots will appear on it. Lyre-shaped ficus. In the lyre-shaped ficus, the apical stalk 10-15 cm long is cut obliquely at an angle. The bottom sheet is removed, and the rest are collected in a tube to reduce evaporation.
Over time, the crown of the ficus will become denser due to the growth of side shoots, and you will get another new plant. Only after all the operations carried out and when the moss sprouts densely with roots, the top should be carefully separated from the mother plant and planted in a separate pot. The aerial roots of some epiphytic ficuses are able to tightly braid the trunk of the host tree, causing it to die off (the so-called strangler ficuses).
Uses Many types of ficuses are useful plants. In rainforests, ficus fruits are the main food for mammals and birds, leaves and wood are insects. Place Ficus does not like change, so it is better to immediately determine a permanent place for it and, if possible, do not transfer, move or disturb it. In summer, ficus can be taken out to fresh air, a balcony or terrace. With insufficient lighting, the internodes of the ficus lengthen, growth slows down, leaves fall.
Reproduction of ficus at home
Ficus will better endure wintering in a warm and dry living space if it is provided with additional lighting and spraying. You should not set a rigid schedule for watering ficus, since external conditions (lighting, temperature, humidity) are constantly changing, affecting the intensity of moisture consumption by the plant. Bottled "ficuses Ficus palmeri (Ficus palmera), Ficus petiolaris (Petiolate ficus) for the formation of a thickened trunk, a strong drying of the soil between waterings is necessary.
How to propagate ficus by air layering
Substrate For very young ficuses, a light and permeable soil mixture is traditionally made up of leafy soil, peat and sand in equal proportions. Adult ficuses require denser soil, so turf soil and humus are added to the substrate.
A good drainage layer of expanded clay and pieces of charcoal in the soil will protect the plant from standing water and rotting roots. Rest period Almost all types of ficus from October to February are characterized by a forced dormant period associated with a lack of light and a decrease in temperature.
Fertilization Modes and rates of fertilization depend on the substrate and season. When growing ficus in an inert substrate, fertilizers are applied year-round. Vegetation during this period is undesirable, since there is not enough light, heat and moisture, and stimulation of the ficus to growth leads to the formation of weak and elongated shoots.
Hello. Please tell me what to do with my cuttings? I transplanted them into a small pot with cactus soil. Now I don’t know if these “pimples” have rotted for some reason and you shouldn’t wait for roots at all, if you still have to wait ... If the stalk looks normal, then it will definitely give roots - where should it go?
Ficus Benjamin. This species is propagated by cuttings. In winter, the ficus is not fertilized. The roots formed in the water take a long time to get used to the soil and can generally die off, I had this, especially in ficus with leaves with white edges. Faster rooting occurs if the cut ficus stalk is immediately placed in a mini-greenhouse. If the ficus has grown to the ceiling, and the leaves remained mostly only at the top, then it can simply be shortened.
Young ficuses of all kinds need an annual transplant, plants over five years old - once every two to three to four years.
The diameter of the pot for small ficuses should be 2 centimeters, and for large ones - 6 centimeters more than the previous one.
You can not transplant a small ficus immediately into a large pot, especially for dwarf ficus. This will inevitably lead to acidification of the soil, the root system will rot, and the ficus will die. If you made a mistake with the size of the pot, then transplant ficus into another smaller pot, it's never too late.
The deepening of the root neck can adversely affect the leaves: green leaves suddenly begin to fall, sometimes dark brown spots appear on them.
During a ficus transplant, the earth in a pot should be lightly tamped with your thumbs. Do not leave voids near the roots. However, it is also not worth ramming the earth in a pot too much, because the earth will become too dense, air will not flow to the roots, in this case the tips of the leaves will begin to turn black, green leaves may fall off in this case too.
Lightly compacted earth in a pot after a ficus transplant will settle after a while, and it will need to be topped up to the required level so that the root collar is flush with the ground.
And even during the year, if the earth from watering begins to wash out from the upper roots of the ficus, it is necessary to periodically pour the earth into the pot.
After transplanting, thoroughly moisten the earth in a pot and remove the ficus in partial shade. The next watering of the ficus should be done only after the top layer of the earth in the pot dries out.
