Hello and Happy Holidays everyone!

Has anyone tried doing bonsai with fig trees before? I'm curious as I am interested in trying it.  Thanks!

Here are some nice and inspiring photos:

Google 'Fig Bonsai' and you will come across many examples.

wish i know how to do bonsai. it would be a neat idea since i always have few rooting in my study. just don't have that artistic eye on me. can't even prune fully grown trees to look nice.

I have recently planted seeds with the same intention.

Google images 'ficus carica bonsai'.

yes you can

Pete - lol, I feel the same way. When see photos of bonsais I think no big deal, looks easy and simple enough. But then, when I've an actual tree in front to work on, I'm stuck not knowing which branches should and which should stay.

Bass, calling you on buddy! Have you tried doing bonsai on any of your fig trees before?

Not easy, will take some time to develop, and leaves will not reduce beyond a certain point. 

The "finished" bonsai trees that are shown in exhibitions and in photographs are the result of years of behind-the-scenes training.  Most of this training takes place in special, training beds, or, extra large pots/containers, so that the plant can develop a thick trunk.  Deciduous material, like figs, maples, oak, get their trunk, and thick branches chopped back, and new buds will sprout from the cuts. The trunk and roots are trained first, and the top end of the tree, i.e. smaller branches, twigs, leaves fruit,  is the last thing to be developed.   This process can go on for years, and the training process ends when the trunk, branches and twigs are selectively pruned to look like.....a bonsai.  Roots are also trained to grow and spread at the soil line, and are encouraged to twist and undulate along the surface.  This technique simulates great age, along with a fat trunk, and ramified branch tips....twigs.  (Search: "Trunk-Chop")

Leaves can be pruned off a healthy tree, and a new, smaller crop of leaves will grow.  However Edible Fig leaves will never grow very small, nor be in scale with the rest of the tree, unless you settle for a very large bonsai.  Fruits, also, rarely reduce in scale.   (Search: Leaf-Pruning).

Most photos of "finished" trees are taken at the precise stage when the tree is at, and looks its best.  It will take constant attention to grow successful bonsai, and the small volume of soil in those shallow, exhibition, tray-like pots, can dry out within hours.  Trees need water, special fertilizers, and cannot be left alone while you are off on some vacation.  Deciduous species from temperate climates must go through the seasons just like any other temperate climate tree, and the trees cannot be brought into the house for any extended length of time.  Tropical species can make a decent "house plant" providing you can give them enough light, fresh air, and the correct temps.

It can be done. 


Frank

Thanks Bronx. Great information.

I second what Frank said. I used to "try" Bonsai  You need to be very attentive. with the limited resources the plant has. A day or 2 under adverse conditions pretty much ended my small collection when I had a crisis to deal with, and no one to tend them properly..

Great idea.  I currently have an odd branched cutting that seems to be a candidate for a bonsai-type bush. Thinking about pinching it severely to turn it into a small specimen for the patio.  
 
 The strangler-type bonsai I've seen on the net are really spectacular...I guess it takes years to get them to make those groovy air roots?...

Frank, thanks for the great information!

Rick, keep us posted on your tree, and I hope it turns out nicely for you!

I hope my comments helped, and did not scare off anyone who wants to try a bonsai-ed fig tree .  By all means, try.  If you fail, so what.

Honestly, start with an older, tree planted in a training bed....one with a thick trunk, and some low side branches.  You'll get faster results with an older tree than by growing a skinny twig with roots.  Trunk should be at least as thick as your wrist.  In the spring, just before buds start to swell...take a deep breath, close your eyes, and chop the thick trunk just above the selected side branch, and train that selected branch to become the "new" section of trunk.  Reposition the tree to suit your design.  Don't worry about the top branches yet.  Concentrate on the trunk and a few main branches, and establish the basic framework.  Let the tree grow rampant, and each spring as new growth sprouts and elongates, prune back everything that is not necessary for the design of your tree.  You are growing this selected fig tree for "looks" and NOT fruit production.  This training period will take years and will always be a work in progress.  Within the first 5 years or so, you'll have a decent looking, but not "finished" bonsai.  Refinement will come as tree ages.  You'll get figs too.  You'll be much better off if you keep the plant growing in the ground as long as possible.  Lift it for winter storage, if you don't live in warmer climes.  Pamper the tree, baby it, curse at it, talk to it.  It will now become a pet with chlorophyll.  It will own you.

When root-pruning, expose all the roots and wash away all the soil.  Cut away any roots that point downwards, and cut away the thicker, older roots,  Select 5-6 main roots and when repotting the tree, bend the roots so that they fan out from the tree, and grow at or just under the soil.  In the coming years, you will expose those main roots to form a buttressed trunk line. 

Bonsai is all an illusion.  It's fun.  Do it.


Frank

Well said.  I have limited experience (read: success) with Bonsai.  I have the patience to do what I think I'm supposed to do, but I lack sufficient artistic skill to make the end result look like anything but a small, sad, chopped-up disappointment.  As for having a "finished" Bonsai, I suspect most of them don't reach that stage in their first century or so.  I have a Bonsai mission fig in-progress.  If I never mention it again, ya'll will know why. 

Ken.

I have never done bonsai, but I read a lot about it.  Seedlings don't work.  You need mature trees that you root and top prune, so their trunks look old.  It takes a lot of time and effort.  I first got interested because you can do this on old grape vines.  Their beauty is in the aged wood.  Seedlings would take years to accomplish a great looking bonsai.

Suzi

You need that little creeping fig to keep the scale without too much struggle.

I am glad this question was addressed and answered honestly. After watching Queen of Trees I thought it would cool to bonsai a sycamore fig. I don't have time to be married to a tree.

The lure of growing a tree with a thick, gnarled trunk, twisted branches, tiny leaves, and moss covered roots can be irresistible.  Desire and reality are two different things when it comes to growing and training bonsai.  Growing any plant as a bonsai, is labor intensive, and these specially trained plants need constant attention.  One screw-up and the plant is toast.  As stated in earlier comments, the bonsai that you see in photographs are the results of years of dedicated and special gardening skills.  The photos are taken when the plant is at the exact stage when it looks its best.  Be sure that the photographed trees were groomed before the camera ever clicked. 

Bonsai is the Dog Show of the plant world, and you must be equally committed to achieve the end result.  The quickest way to get a fig bonsai is to start with a older tree, with a thick trunk and some low branches....then chop trunk and branches, and regrow the whole top end, with training, to your envisioned design.  Long season growers in warm climates can have a decent tree in about 5 years.  Cancel vacations, seminars, etc. and get used to having a tree as a companion once it's planted into a show pot.  Constant watering, feeding, trimming, wiring, bending, worrying.

Last sentence in post #16 says it all.  Almost ALL serious bonsai growers will have some friends who can care for their trees if they go on a vacation, business trips, etc.


Frank

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After doing a little searching I found two You-Tube videos that show some examples of bonsai training techniques that can be used when training a Ficus carica bonsai.

Please go to You-Tube to see:
1.  "Deshojando mi Bonsai"....which shows the results of leaf-trimming and the resulting leaf reduction.  Explanation is in Spanish, but the pictures of the process are very clear.  Search for "Leaf-Pruning"-bonsai for more information, and the limits of this technique for reducing leaf size.

2.  "Nacimiento de un bonsai Clase No. 1" - Damian Carlini...(English and Spanish explanation)   This video shows a bonsai being "created' from a plant that has had the trunk chopped, and re-grown branches.  This video shows the process that can be used with Ficus carica as the plant material.  It shows, step, by step, how older material can be used to establish the basic structure of a tree, and then wired and trained to make a quality bonsai in a very short time.  Pay particular attention to the root base, and how it flares out from the trunk.  This root flare creates the illusion of great age. Note: This tree will eventually be replanted into a show pot, after the branch and leaf structure is refined.  Remember the same techniques can be used on an old fig tree.

So....basically use the combination of techniques shown in video #2 to establish the framework of the tree, then use video #1 to refine the leaves.

And read everything about training bonsai to keep the plant(s) alive.  These videos are just brief examples, and are not meant as a complete course in growing bonsai.

If one is willing to work hard at it, and if one isn't afraid to fail, Bonsai attempts can be fun, if not in the final analysis, rewarding.  I like this video by Graham W. Potter of Kaizen Bonsai (UK), as it shows how potential Bonsai materials can be collected from a variety of places. 

Good for you Ken...go for it.

Figs can be brought under the control with some bonsai training.  After you air-layer and eventually start training the roots, try placing a cheap, plastic dinner plate right under the trunk to force the roots to flare out around the base, and grow flat.  Figs grow fast and the roots and trunk will thicken with the passing of time.  After a few years wash away 1/2 the soil around the roots and trunk base to expose roots.  Plant some moss between the roots to help create the desired illusion.  The exposed, root flare, trunk, and major branches are the most important parts of the basic tree.  Everything else is just a refinement of the fundamental design.


Frank

Thanks, Frank.  I will try that.

When is the best time to start an air layer on a fruiting fug tree?