I'd appreciate any website info or primer on this particular
tree.
Specifically, to start ... I found a special at my local Home
Depot.
10" pots with trees 36 - 48" tall and 1/2" to about an inch in
diameter ... each pot has 4 - 6 trees. What's the best way to
begin
... should i separate these trees, or bind them so they form
one big
fat trunk ? Some have no branches for a foot or more ... and i
don't
want my finished tree to be that tall ... if i trunk chop, will
it
grow branches ?

Ouch! In the plant department at HD, a "special" is offered when
they have stuff that just hasn't sold -- for whatever reason.

I'll answer your last question first. Since these are almost
certainly F. benjamina a trunk chop will kill them.

If _I_ were you I'd put each tree into a separate, large, shallow
pot (a cut-down 10- or 15-gallon pot is ideal) Then I'd cut the
tops back, being VERY careful to leave green on every branch, and
hope that the trees bud back. I doubt that they will, but . . .

I don't know whether binding them will cause the trunks to grow
together or not.

Good luck.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - This economy
is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment. - Gaylord
Nelson, 1995

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In a message dated 6/9/2003 11:50:37 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
writes:

I don't know whether binding them will cause the trunks to grow
together or not.

Yes, it works. I have a F. b. "Too Little" that was three trunks. Now you
can't tell this. However I am still careful when pruning to leave each of
the three with foliage.
Billy on the Florida Space Coast

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Allen:
You didn't say whether you purchased the Ficus tree or not? If not, you
would be better off contacting one of the Bonsai Nurseries advertised on
the IBC and pay a little more. You wont have to spend years awaiting to
see if your tree will make a decent small tree.

If you did purchase "the special", maybe you should consider doing an
air layer.

Carl L. Rosner

Allen wrote:

I'd appreciate any website info or primer on this particular tree.
Specifically, to start ... I found a special at my local Home Depot.
10" pots with trees 36 - 48" tall and 1/2" to about an inch in
diameter ... each pot has 4 - 6 trees. What's the best way to begin
... should i separate these trees, or bind them so they form one big
fat trunk ? Some have no branches for a foot or more ... and i don't
want my finished tree to be that tall ... if i trunk chop, will it
grow branches ?




************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by Mike Page ++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++