Sources for Ficus stock

[frankp0]

I really enjoyed the article in the most recent ABS magazine on ficus. I am looking for suggestions on places to buy ficus stock or pre-bonsai in the USA. Thanks

Frank

[BillsBayou]

I've tried Google with these searches:
ficus price
ficus tropical tree price
schefflera ficus tropical trees price
...
and other phrases with no success on a low price ficus stock. Brussels has some good deals on ficus, if you want to buy gensing or golden gate ficus. Other than that, the prices shoot up pretty quickly.

I shop these things cheap because I have ficus salicifolia, f. benjamina, f. benjamina "Too Little", f. retusa var. microcarpa, f. retusa 'Green Island', f. microcarpa 'Golden Gate', schefflera arboricola, an ugly varigated schefflera thing my won't let me throw out, and God knows what else that I can't remember. If I want more, I just make a cutting and it roots very quickly. It's too tempting to throw the cuttings into pots!

Oh man. Just looking at the number of species makes me think I have too many...

Your best bet on pre-bonsai is to get in touch with your local club and ask if anyone will let you have some of their cuttings. I bought a Green Island ficus from Guy Guidry for $10 out of the back of his truck in 2004. Ugly little tree. I'm quite happy with it now. Since then I've put another 5 trees in pots (ugly little things), and I have another dozen cuttings growing in flats. Once you get one tropical, you can have as many as you want! It's just getting that one tropical that's the problem, isn't it?

[clrosner]

In 19

FICUS RETUSA 05 110301 006 a.jpg (58.88 KiB) Viewed 3715 times

97 My wife bought me my first tree! A Fukien Tea. From the seeds, I now have no less than 15 Fukien Teas including a forest!

But if you like Ficus, I will be pruning my Ficus Retusa 05 in the spring!!!!

[lewisjk]

"low priced" doesn't go well with the idea of "suitable for bonsai."

My recommendation: Jim Smith's nursery in Vero Beach Florida. www.jimsmithbonsai.com

His prices aren't out of sight, and he grows plants JUST for bonsai.

[BillsBayou]

"low priced" doesn't go well with the idea of "suitable for bonsai."

My recommendation: Jim Smith's nursery in Vero Beach Florida. http://www.jimsmithbonsai.com

His prices aren't out of sight, and he grows plants JUST for bonsai.

I agree that "low priced" doesn't go well with "suitable for bonsai". However, pre-bonsai ficus and schefflera, of the species I mentioned, should not cost more than $10-$20 per potted cutting and no more than $20-$40 for an unstyled tree in a quart pot. Once it's in a pot and someone made a single cut or put on a single wire, well, then, the sky's the limit. Mass-produced trees hit $30-$40 right away and pass $100 after two years in a pot. Since the initial poster is looking to get started with ficus and asked for bonsai stock or pre-bonsai, I'd recommend nothing more than $10-$20 for bonsai stock and $20-$40 for pre-bonsai.

Bear in mind, I'm from New Orleans where these trees can be defoliated in March and again in August with no stress to the tree. Here, the cuttings root nearly 100% of the time. Keep them moist and aerial roots drop like crazy. They're so easy to grow that members snatch up cuttings at our meetings, and get hold of cheap starter trees at our annual auction. I donated a dozen schefflera aboracola and ficus microcarpa year-old cuttings to the auction and we priced them at $5 each. Next year I'll have a slew of Green Island ficus cuttings going for pretty much the same price.

Cheap stock and cuttings CAN make good bonsai if you pick the right source.


jimsmithbonsai.com has only 18 out of 152 trees for sale. Here they are:
Cape Honeysuckle: $1500
Crepe Myrtle: $500
Ficus Green Island: $800
Ficus Green Island (2): $1500
Ficus Salicifolia : $3000
Ficus Salicifolia : $2000
Ficus Salicifolia : $1900
Ficus Salicifolia : $1800
Ficus Salicifolia (4): $1500
Ficus Salicifolia (1): $1200
Ficus Salicifolia (2): $800
Ficus Microcarpa: $2000
Ficus Exotica: $800

These are beautiful trees! Since they sold 88% of their stock at these prices, I have to say they are priced exactly right. These are not mass-produced trees. These are specimen trees. However, these are not learning trees.


I searched eBay and found a site with trees you may like: wigertsbonsai.com
They have pre-bonsai for $25-$40, which is quite reasonable from what I'm seeing of their photos. They also have specimen trees for sale at prices that make jimsmithbonsai.com look like a bargain basement sale. There are some acacia which are catching my eye. I just may shop there myself.

Here's a tip on growing aerial roots: Place all of your stock material close together under a sprinkler and go on vacation for 2-weeks. Then come home and put off the chore of putting them all back up on your benches. I seem to do this every Summer and when I pull the trees away from each other, I've got fresh aerial roots coming down like crazy. The denseness of packing them in tight means that the humidity levels are higher than if they were up on a bench. No, don't do this with other trees. The higher humidity also leads to fungal problems.

[frankp0]

Thanks Bill and everyone for your suggestions

Frank

[centaura]

Georgia? Lets see, around Atlanta you have Bonsai by the Monastary, and Plant City Bonsai. If you're in Northern Georgia, there's the North Carolina Bonsai Expo in Asheville that has several vendors with good material that's not too far a drive (from N. Georgia, not sure of your location). In FL, there's Wigert's nursery - he also gets around to some of the east coast bonsai shows so you might be able to find him around. Another good source is Miami Tropical - I've gotten a nice, large specimen sized tree from them for a really good price. There are many bonsai resources for bonsai in Florida, and a large state-wide bonsai association that might be able to help you out. Brussels also has some good ficus, though I recommend going there in person verses ordering through their catalog when it comes to larger trees. If you can get there, there are a lot of good sized ficus at good prices.

Hope that helps,

-Cat

[frankp0]

I bought two from Wigert's - a willow leaf and a green island. I am in central Georgia and a member of the Atlanta Bonsai Society. Eric Wigert is doing a workshop for us in July and I am taking these two to the workshop with Eric.

Frank

[BillsBayou]

Frank, save all your cuttings from these two species. They root very easily. If you can get cuttings from other trees, do that as well. You'll build up a tropical starter bench in no time.

[frankp0]

Bill,
Thanks. What's your preferred technique and media for rooting cuttings?