A friend recently gave me this ficus tree. It has a fairy good trunk but lacks good lower branches. I am wondering what could ve dobe in the short term and over the long run to get better branch distribution. Any advice would be appreciated!

Cheers

Lots of water, sun and fertilizer. Let it explode with growth. Then trim back hard & defoliate. You should get buds exploding everywhere.

leatherback wrote:

You should get buds exploding everywhere.

Very true. But to thicken this trunk, it will take a lot of time.
My Ficus is in a tropical climate, grows like crazy all seasons, but the trunk...
Still the same!

Thanks for your reply Leatherback! So in your opinion its not necessary to structure prune this ficus until I have more options (hence the suggestion of rampant growth)....so will it bud on the trunk you think or would that only take place after hard pruning next season?

Thanks also Clicio! I am thinking that at some point in the long run I might get some aerial roots in the mix to make the trunk appear thicker...what do you think?

Aerials in Ficus are always desirable, but not always possible as they need high humidity all the time.

Izzy85 wrote:

I am thinking that at some point in the long run I might get some aerial roots in the mix to make the trunk appear thicker

Growing aerial roots might be tricky if, as Clicio previously stated, you are not located in a high humidity environment. I have a Ficus myself and I´ve never tried growing aerial roots due to the hot and dry climate I´m currently living in. That said, if you still feel like giving it a shot, you might be interested in this link:

www.growingbonsai.net/growing-aerial-roots-on-bonsai/
www.fukubonsai.com/1a9a17.html
www.quora.com/How-do-I-grow-aerial-roots-on-a-Bonsai-tree

Alain