Hi all,
Im hoping for some help. Ive been carrying around a ficus that i found as a 6 ft high plant. I snapped off the main truck and have been mistreating this plant for the last 10 yrs or so. I have absolutely no idea what im doing and ive been chopping into it every now and again with no real plan.
I have had it in a bonsai pot for the last 2 years and recently repotted it with new bonsai soil and for some reason decided to trim all the branches back.
Ive pulled the branches down over the last few years and they have set into place nicely and considering I havent really had a plan with this plant Im not totally unhappy with the way the plant looks but would like to shape it to a more traditional bonsai shape.
My question is how do i go about creating new growth? (can i create ramification with a ficus?) and do I use the defoliation technique to reduce the leaf size? (the leaves on this plant are still growing to about 120-150 mm in length and are very large on certain parts of the plant.
Any advise would be appreciated,
Cheers.

So. This is anficus elastice. Not the best species as you already realized, because of the large leaves. It does not really ramnify well either.

You have to realize that this species form very large trees normally.

That being said.. trick to ramnification of to get it string, and then trim back to two or so nodes on every branch and defoliate.

It will never be antop notch tree. But might look good in time.

Oh well, I guess its sort of like that ugly, stray dog that hangs around so long you end up falling in love with it. Ive had it so long its part of the family now. Thanks for the advise, it is very appreciated, I wont have to stress now when it doesn't do what Id like it to do. Guess Im looking for another stray with a better pedigree

The branch structure is interesting, hmm...

I think it could be a fine bonsai if you let it grow for 1-2 growing seasons and cut it back however you want

JosephCooper wrote: I think it could be a fine bonsai if you let it grow for 1-2 growing seasons and cut it back however you want

...
Do you have any bonsai? Have you ever grown this species?

leatherback wrote: So. This is a ficus elastica. Not the best species as you already realized, because of the large leaves.
It will never be a top notch tree. But might look good in time.

Yes, Ficus Elastica can grow very, very big! We have plenty of those on the streets of Sao Paulo.
As leatherback pointed out, the leaves are big, very difficult to be reduced in size, but not impossible. It will take time, patience and defoliation every summer (if the tree is healthy enough). Good luck!

Clicio wrote: As leatherback pointed out, the leaves are big, very difficult to be reduced in size, but not impossible. It will take time, patience and defoliation every summer (if the tree is healthy enough). Good luck!

But how small can you get them? Smallest I have reached was some 7 cm. Still very large for a medium-to-larg-sized bonsai?

leatherback wrote: But how small can you get them? Smallest I have reached was some 7 cm. Still very large for a medium-to-larg-sized bonsai?

I guess that's the reason bonsaists here do not use Elastica as bonsai; they can be nice (I've seen pictures, from Asia), but in big bonsai, not medium ones.
I have been looking for one all around the nurseries here, with no luck.