Rules for pruning rubber ficus, shaping the crown

In many apartments, rubbery ficus grows, but not all growers know how to properly trim and shape the crown. The peculiarity of this plant is that it only grows upward. In the jungles of India and Africa, a trunk with a height of about 40 m will not bother anyone, the locals are even happy with this size, since they get rubber from the plant. But in a city apartment, a huge flower is very inconvenient. At home, the ficus does not grow above 10 m, but even such sizes will not please every housewife.

Useful properties and features of ficus

It is not difficult to grow ficus, you can even entrust the care of it to children. The plant does not bloom, but its leaves serve as real air filters and purify the air in the room. The pores draw in air polluted with smoke, harmful emissions from enterprises, and release a clean mixture of useful gases enriched with oxygen. Instead of chemical fresheners, put a tub with an unpretentious plant in the apartment that requires minimal maintenance, and the atmosphere in the room will always be healthy and healthy for breathing.

There are not so many southern windows in the apartment, but you need to place both indoor flowers and seedlings on them. Almost all plants love the sun, but it is contraindicated for ficus, it must be placed in a shaded corner. But the green giant loves to swim. If possible, from time to time wear a tub with a flower under the shower. If you cannot lift such a weight, wipe the leaves with a damp cloth. A dusty crown cannot be a good filter - if you want the flower to purify the air, provide it with proper care.

The peculiarity of the development of the ficus is that it has an apical bud, which gives an increase in height, and lateral ones, which give the crown a splendor. The first shoot grows very quickly, and the flower stretches upward. Lateral branches develop slowly, these buds can be dormant for a long time. In order for the tree to start up side branches, you need to correctly trim it.

How to trim ficus correctly?

If you don't want the plant to stretch up and reach the height of a three-story house, cut off the top bud. The roots extract juices from the ground, they cause the rapid growth of the upper shoot. If the tip is cut off, nutrients rush to the lateral sleeping buds. The embryos wake up and start active development.

Look at the tree, think about what shape you want to give its crown. Shoots can grow in different directions, but it is in your power to give the plant a beautiful shape and original look. Pull the young branch in the direction you want to direct the sprout, and it will grow there over time. After a while, remove the fixing device - the shoot has already acquired rigidity and will be directed correctly.

It is advisable not to wait for the plant to hit the ceiling. When the ficus reaches a height of 70 cm, cut off the top bud, and side branches will begin to form on the bush. If you want to give the tree additional splendor, plant the upper shoot in the same tub, it will take root and release new shoots. You can put the top in another dish, and you will have a new ficus.

It is possible to stimulate the growth of side branches without cutting off the upper shoot. Take a sterile thick needle and pierce the barrel 1/3 of its thickness. Soon a young twig will begin to develop from the bosom of the lower leaf. If you tilt the tip and fix it in this position, it will grow like a side branch.

Advice

Cut straight cuts to remove thin branches.If you need to cut a thick shoot, place the knife at a 45⁰ angle to the stem.

If you want the crown to consist of shoots that have grown on several bushes, take a large vessel. In this case, cut off all the lateral buds - the sprouts that have emerged from the apical shoots will give the bush splendor. Now you need to give the bush the correct shape so that the branches do not stick out in different directions. Florists have come up with many original solutions.

• A single barrel twisted around a wooden stake will take the shape of a spiral.
• If there are 2 young ficuses growing nearby, twist their trunks in a spiral around one another.
• Three trunks can be braided.
• Decorative lattices are woven from 4 or more plants.

Weave new branches in the right direction without effort, so as not to break off the delicate stems. You can braid the trunks or give the plant a different shape. Remember that the trunks get thicker as they grow, and the bush can get too thick. Tie the shoots with a woolen thread to prevent the structure from unraveling. Every 2 months, watch how the bush develops: sometimes you need to release the tension, and sometimes completely remove the retainer.

It is recommended to form a bush in the following order:

1. Remove sick and broken shoots.
2. If there are branches that thicken the crown too much and interfere with the passage of light to other shoots, they must be removed.
3. Shorten or direct long shoots to the desired direction.
4. Fix the fragments in the right direction.

Advice

You can only weave young stems that have already reached a height of 15 cm. If the growth of the shoot is not enough to create the next turn, wait until it reaches the desired length.

When is the best time to prune?

In order to choose the right time for pruning rubber ficus, you need to know how the plant develops in different seasons.

With the arrival of spring, the root system wakes up, begins to actively draw in nutrients from the soil and send them to all buds and nascent shoots. At this time, with proper pruning, you stimulate the symmetrical development of all the necessary branches. The crown will be thick and uniform.

If you start trimming in the fall or winter, the root system will no longer work as actively. The plant mainly uses the nutrients accumulated in the tissues over the summer. Not all lateral buds received the required amount of fertilizer; some chose to remain dormant. With late pruning, the bush can turn out to be ugly, one-sided.

If you cut the ficus in the spring, during the period of rapid growth, the cut buds will not affect its vitality: you will remove one shoot, and all the necessary components will go to the other bud. When pruning in autumn, there is a danger of cutting off the shoots where the maximum food reserves have been harvested - as a result, the plant will wither in winter.

Consider the age of the plant when pruning. Young ficuses easily tolerate the procedure, quickly recover after cutting. If you want to create an interesting composition that requires deleting a large number of fragments, get down to work as early as possible. Old bushes react painfully even to a simple shortening of shoots. If an adult tree grows in the apartment, consider whether you really need to cut it. Sometimes it is enough to simply rotate some branches in a different direction.

Plant care after pruning

First of all, look at the plant and think about whether pruning of the ficus is really necessary. If you want to make the crown of an interesting shape, you can use various threads, tensioning devices and direct the shoots in the right direction without trimming. When the branches harden, they will develop in the right direction on their own. At this time, the clamps can be removed, and you will get a beautiful lush bush without injuring the plant.

In order not to infect the wounds during pruning, all work must be done only with sterile tools.It is not necessary to boil the knives, you can simply burn the cutting part with fire or wipe it with alcohol. Sharpen your knives well - only a sharp blade can make a correct cut. Ficus itself heals wounds well, it is not necessary to treat the sections with special preparations. You may notice how milky juice drips from the wound. Wipe it off with a damp cloth and leave, the damage will heal by itself.

After pruning, the tree needs nutrients. Don't feed it right away, let the plant heal. After about a month, transplant the bush into a larger pot with special soil for ficuses and give it a solution of complex fertilizers. Do not forget to wash the leaves, infection can get from the dust into the wounds.

Be careful!

Ficus milky juice is poisonous to humans. Prune when children and pets are not at home. Wear rubber gloves to protect yourself. Collect all cut pieces in a bag and throw them into the trash chute.

When you take a flower under the shower, you may accidentally break off a leaf or shoot. Make sure that the fragments are not lying on the floor, where babies can find them and try to chew. Of course, a child will not be poisoned to death from one bite, but a burn of the mouth and a long roar will not bring joy to mom either.

It can be explained to older children that the plant is dangerous, so you cannot pick off the leaves on it. If babies live in the apartment, it is better not to put the tub on the floor, but to raise it on some kind of stand. Please note that the plant is heavy. The support must be reliable so that the bush does not fall over on people.

Bright flowers do not bloom on ficuses, but the green plant itself serves as a good interior decoration and a natural air filter. If you trim it correctly, a compact tree will appear in the house. With a good imagination, the bush can be given such a bizarre shape that, in terms of decorativeness, it can compete with Japanese bonsai. Create original compositions that fit into any interior in style.