The Ritusa Project, styling and repotting - Try Bonsai
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 พ.ค. 2024
- In this episode of Try Bonsai, we travel through time looking at the first styling on a recently acquired Ficus Ritusa. I worked with my good friend Errol @bonsai_sikko and we restyled and repotted an old large tree I got from our friend Evelyn Wint (Thank you, Evelyn).
We took the opportunity to treat the body of work as a discussion, bouncing ideas and viewpoints toward creating a beautiful tree for the future. There were lots of BIG CUTS and design decisions, but the end product was great.
Thank you so much for your support and for accompanying me on my journey through the amazing, satisfying, and peaceful world of Bonsai. To all my subscribers, I thank you, and to all my future supporters I say welcome.
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#trybonsai #bonsaijourney #ficusritusa #repotting #pruning #restyling
I do not own the rights to the music used.
Nice work from kenny
Now that is a tree and a half!
Nice work on this tree. Great ideas between the both of you on the style of this tree.
Massive root system. Some nice cutting of these bulbous roots. Excellent root surgery by 2 master root surgeons. Nice repotting.
Thanks Tom 🎉🎉
Great work guys. It came out gorgeous. Absolutely beautiful can't wait for this to come on a display 🎉
Thanks bro.. I receive that blessing and look forward to my first display 😊
Well done, Banner! It turned out absolutely amazing
Thank you 🎉🎉
Congrats on another great video. The quality is going up and up.
Thanks so much
😂😂 I appreciate the forward homie
I must say I have been waiting for this video for a few weeks. I was not disappointed. Well done bro.
Thanks bro 🎉🎉
Nice Banner, sorry I keep getting your name wrong!!! Nice work on the Ficus!!!
No no you have my name right... banner is the nickname 😁... Whichever is more comfortable for you is fine with me my friend 😊
@@trybonsai Thanks!!!
I was scared when you removed 2 large roots. Thank God it is doing very well. I lost all my branches from my ficus microcarpa for reporting early. I just removed one taproot 😢.
I'm so sorry to hear that..but as you saw, we removed a lot of foliage and anything that would pull too much energy from the tree..plus we left a some feeder roots, and I kept it humid to help increase its survival
There is a lot of confusion about the botanical names of many Ficus species.
Your plant is known as Ficus microcarpa in parts of Southeast Asia. There are many varieties of this species grown for Bonsai purposes and landscape uses. Most of them have similar sized and coloured leaves and producing a lot of non viable red fruit in pairs.
Your plant has pointed leaves. Here in Australia we grow a round leaved form called "Green Island". It is popular as a landscape plant because it will grow in full sun, with little irrigation and spreads up to 3 metres wide and 1 metre high. The lateral branches criss cross each other and many produce aerial roots. It is used as a tough ground cover , grows all year and always looks good.
I sometimes collect thick stems from landscape plants with a few roots and pot them up as ready to go potential Bonsai projects. They are easy to grow from cuttings, but you can grown thick stems, up to 5 cm thick, twisted and with character to give you a head start, a bit like your gift from Evelyn.
I have bought seed on ebay as Ficus retusa. They have grown to look like Ficus religiosa, and my plants drop their leaves in winter/spring. I have no idea what a true Ficus retusa should look like. Lots of photos on line are wrongly named.
Your final result looks fantastic.
Did you use any of the branches and pruned roots as cuttings?
Beware using perlite in your mix. The dust from dry perlite can lodge in your lungs, leading to silicosis. And dust can enter the eye scratching the cornea.
A breathing mask and eye goggles are a good idea when handling it.
If you wet it before use it's a lot safer.
Firstly thank you so much for your comment and for reaching out.
1. I agree that different places label these ficus by different names, and I was corrected for the spelling of the name Retusa, as I got the spelling online as Ritusa, but my friend we call the rounded leaf and the pointed leaf Retusa...
2. I didn't keep any cuttings to propagate as I have a few already, but I agree, they make lovely bonsai... However, cultivating fine fibrous roots is a welcomed challenge with the ficus species.
3. I don't use perlite, it's very costly and as you accurately pointed out, it's a bit of a hazzard to work with... For me it's cheaper to use 1/8 gravel stone in place of perlite, it works quite well and doesn't breakdown over time, which makes it a reusable item.
4. You are correct about the fruit on the rounded leaf Retusa, as well as the arial roots and lovely bark for both species... I'm actually thinking about the future of my big Retusa as a banyan styled planting... (Let me know your thoughts)
Again thank you so much for this, I'm sorry if I didn't respond to all your points but I hope my responses are good... Oh we only have 2 seasons here in Trinidad and Tobago, dry season and rainy season, so our trees get us growth throughout, however, there are luls in the growth rate depending on the time of the year...
@@trybonsai Thank you. I mistakenly identified your 1/8 gravel stone as perlite. Some ways I use to increase the aerial roots here: We both have plenty of coconuts in our locations. I strip out long fibres in bunches, so that not all the fine material falls away. I tie the fibre to the main trunk/branch and pin the other end onto the potting mix, even use a rock. The fibre holds enough moisture for root growth downwards and as the root expands the coconut disintegrates over time. I also use drinking straws(not plastic) and small diameter tubes of bamboo(without joints). Slip one end onto an existing aerial root and the other into the potting mix, guiding it down. Eventually the straw or bamboo will disintegrate. Also I split stems, even of small seedlings, to create more spreading of the roots. I get some of my ideas from youtube videos from India, Indonesia and Thailand. Translations aren't perfect but you can see methods in action and results.
Sorry for this being so long.
@@geoffbreen2386 that's ok my friend, I'm all for the interaction... I was thinking about doing a partial air layer on some branches to encourage roots, then guide them downward...
Indonesia, Thailand, and India have some really good techniques that can be used...I look at them as well....
I've never used the coconut fibers because my house has a lot of shade, so the water retention might be. Bit too much, although I could just increase the inorganic component of my soil mix....
I'm enjoying the dialogue... If you want we can do a zoom or teams meet,..