Characteristics and tips for caring for ficus microparp in indoor conditions, do-it-yourself reproduction, possible difficulties in growing and ways to solve them, facts to note, varieties. As soon as the plant is removed from the pot and if the cultivation is carried out using the bonsai technique, then it is required to cut off up to 10% of the root shoots, which are then sprinkled with crushed activated charcoal or charcoal.
Ficus microcarp does not set any special requirements when choosing a soil; fertile loose soil with weak or neutral acidity is suitable for it. You can use ready-made commercial formulations intended for ficuses or palms. They also make up a soil mixture from:
- equal parts of turf, peat, leafy soil and coarse sand;
- leafy soil, sod land, river sand (in a ratio of 1: 1: 0, 5) with the addition of a handful of pieces of charcoal.
After the transplant, Ficus microcarpa is less often watered and not placed in a brightly lit place until it fully adapts.
Tips for breeding ficus microcarp at home
Usually grafting is used for this. In the spring, cut from the tops of the shoots of the ficus of a small-fruited workpiece, 8-10 cm long and so that they have at least 2-3 healthy leaves. White milky juice may ooze from the cut for some time, then you should wait a little and carefully remove it, or put the cuttings in a glass of water and change it periodically. The twigs are placed in a vessel with boiled water, in which the stimulant drug is dissolved and wait for the formation of roots, or before planting in the substrate, the cut should be treated with a root formation stimulator.
After this treatment, the cuttings are planted in pots filled with a peat-perlite or peat-sand mixture. In any case, you will need to create the conditions for a mini-greenhouse by wrapping a container with cuttings in a transparent plastic bag. The rooting temperature should be maintained at about 25 degrees. The place where the cuttings are placed should be well lit, but not in direct sunlight. Caring for cuttings is to ventilate every day and make sure that the potted substrate is always moist.
After a month, it is recommended to carefully tilt the stalk of the microcarp ficus to see if there are any formed roots there. If they have formed, then it is recommended to immediately cut off all the leaf plates, leaving only the upper pair. When 14 days have passed, top dressing is performed with diluted fertilizer, and after three months, it is recommended to transplant the cuttings in a separate pot with a diameter of about 10 cm.
Small-fruited ficus can be propagated in addition to this method by layering, root shoots and sowing seeds.
Possible difficulties in growing ficus microcarp
With frequent violations of keeping conditions, the small-fruited ficus will begin to weaken and harmful insects such as scale insects, mealybugs, aphids, thrips, whitefly or spider mites can "attack" it. It is recommended to carry out treatment with insecticidal and acaricidal preparations.
If the plant does not have enough light, then the young branches will become thinner, and the size of the foliage will be smaller. It also happens when the microcarp ficus lacks nutrients. If the watering is insufficient, then foliage may be dumped, the plant also reacts to a sharp decrease in temperature or content at low heat, the action of a draft, watering with cold water.
When the water stagnates in the pot, the root system begins to rot, and dark spots form on the leaves. You will need to remove the plant from the pot, remove the spoiled roots, sprinkle the sections with fungicide and plant the Ficus microcarpa in a new container with sterile soil, while it is necessary to adjust the watering.
Ficus microcarpa ginseng - facts to note and photos
The plant is often more applicable than all ficuses for growing in the bonsai technique (small tree). The foliage also differs from, for example, the ficus Benjamin (the most common representative of the genus of the same name) - this plant does not have an elongated awn at the top. But the foliage of the Ficus microcarpa can vary from rounded to oblong. And unlike the bark that covers other varieties, this plant is more easily injured.
The characteristic shape of the root system (the main difference between the ficus microcarp) is not achieved immediately, since such plants are grown on special farms located in South China or the United States of America. At the same time, it is important not only to maintain certain indicators of heat and moisture during seed germination or rooting of cuttings, but also to use specific hormonal and insecticidal agents.
In the case when the root has already reached a certain size, then the ficus is carefully removed from the soil, while cutting off the already fully formed stem. Naturally, only a small stump remains. The root shoots that have been taken out are cleaned of soil, washed and sorted. It is in this form that they are massively bought by various farms involved in flower cultivation. The roots are then placed one at a time in the pots, but at the same time not too much of them, deepening - most of it remains above the surface of the substrate. Over time, the thin skin covering the roots will become coarse and take on the appearance of a bark. Then, using a variety of chemicals, they accelerate the formation of new young shoots with foliage that will grow from these roots.
Often, even grafts from the branches of other plants are used. To preserve the compact outline of small-fruited ficus, special substances are used - retardants. And after that, such plants are already ready for sale.
Ficus microcarp varieties
- Variegata differs in the variegated color of the leaf plates, and this plant requires a greater level of illumination when leaving, otherwise all the leaves will gradually lose their color with light shades, acquiring a rich dark green color scheme.
- Ginseng (Ficus ginseng) can also be found under the name Ficus ginseng. In such a plant, the root system fancifully swells, taking on various forms, with its outlines resembling the root processes of ginseng. This form of the root system in ficus is formed using a special method, when special hormones and fertilizers are used, which are used for reproduction by sowing seeds. If such a plant propagates using cuttings, then such root outlines are difficult to achieve. Caring for such a plant does not differ from the rules for growing an ordinary ficus, only in the spring period you will have to perform deeper and more frequent pruning of shoots so that all attention is focused on the "outstanding" roots, and not on the crown of the tree. In this case, you should also pay a lot of attention to the introduction of dressings, since with a lack of them, the branches begin to draw off most of the nutrients. As a result of this process, the roots become thinner, shrink and wrinkle. Under natural conditions, this plant has gained fame as a "strangler", as it tends to feed on the host tree on which it settles. Such a ficus is literally a green "parasite", as it sucks out all the juices of life and contributes to the death of its carrier. The intricate shape of the roots is the result of long work on breeding such a plant, and now everyone who wants to grow a mini-tree with roots with the outlines of an animal or a man can sow seeds and enjoy the exotic.
- Moclame is a species of ficus microcarp that takes on dwarf forms and lives as an epiphyte. It was its compact size that made the variety the most attractive for indoor cultivation. When leaving, it requires more lighting and places on the southern windows, but with shading at lunchtime. With the arrival of winter, even on the windowsill of the windows of the southern location, additional lighting with phytolamps is required so that the daylight hours are at least 10 hours a day. This will provide normal conditions for the ficus, otherwise the branches will stretch too much, but the overall growth will stop. The shape of the shoots is distinguished by grace and with their help, a solid green crown is formed.
- Westland (Westlend). Another variety of ficus microcarp, distinguished by its small size, both foliage and fruit. Its shoots are completely covered with alternately growing dark green leathery leaves, which rarely reach 11 cm in length. It takes the shape of a bush well and does not require special growing conditions.
