Almost all types of ficuses are resistant to external conditions, unpretentious in care. For the correct development of the culture, the crown is subjected to systematic pinching. In order not to damage the plant, you need to know how to trim the ficus. A beautiful crown is formed in the bush, which is provided with regular high-quality watering, cultivation, protection against viruses and pests.
What is pruning for?
Beginning gardeners are interested in whether the partial removal of branches will harm the overgrown bush? Pruning is done to form a beautiful magnificent crown at the ficus.
Ficus rubbery
Periodically cutting dry and damaged branches allows you to keep the plant healthy. Disease prevention includes the timely removal of damaged processes. If this is not done, the infection can spread to the entire bush.
Properly performed manipulation contributes to:
- rejuvenation, restoration of a houseplant;
- the formation of a beautiful crown.
Cutting time and tool preparation
Partial removal and shortening of individual parts, carried out during a period of vigorous growth, will help to make the crown of the ficus voluminous and fluffy.
Trimming tools
A specific period is recommended for each type of trim. The formation of the crown is carried out from early spring to mid-summer. How to form ficus properly at home, why can not remove parts of the branches, foliage in the winter?
A species is popular among Russian plant growers - ficus rubber-bearing pruning and the formation of which is strictly prohibited from January to March. Coming out of the dormant state, the plant begins to release the shoots from the side where the branches were cut. The bush becomes skewed to one side.
Note! New shoots are formed due to the stocks of useful substances remaining from the autumn. It is harmful to the bush. Actively growing new branches weaken the indoor plant.
You can not trim immediately after transplantation. The ficus flower is still undergoing adaptation, and pinching and removing shoots will cause additional stress. After transshipment of the bush into another pot, sanitary pruning is necessary.
In the process of forming a bush use:
- secateurs;
- gardening scissors;
- sharp knife (scalpel).
Before manipulation, you need to prepare antiseptic agents:
- garden var;
- alcohol;
- Activated carbon.
Alcohol-containing products by calcination on fire disinfect tools. Slices on the trunk, branches are treated with garden var. Removal of unnecessary processes is done with a sharpened knife. With a blunt tool, it is impossible to gently cut off an unnecessary escape. At the cut point, the bark will be "ragged." Pathogenic bacteria can enter the trunk through the injured area.
Garden Var
General rules for trimming ficus
Removing healthy twigs can only be done during active growth. Before that, in two weeks, plants need to be fed with nitrogenous fertilizers.
Some species of ficuses stop in vertical growth, pinching a single central stalk. Usually, instead of a single trunk, several shoots appear. In rubber-bearing ficus, lateral branches do not form after pinching.
Slices are made above the kidneys in a horizontal direction. Branches are cut close to the stem. High stumps spoil the appearance of the flower. Over time, these short sticks dry out and become a breeding ground for fungi and pests.
It's important to know! Thick stubby branches are removed at an angle of 45 degrees, and thin green shoots should have a straight cut.
Milk juice is removed from fresh wounds of ficus with a cotton swab, then the damaged areas are treated with crushed activated charcoal, garden var. These measures will make it possible to disinfect the section and protect the ficus from infection.
The milky juice of the ficus is very thick. If the instruments were calcined and wiped with alcohol, the wounds on the cortex can not be treated with cook and coal. Drying juice, clogs the slice. Therefore, trimming rubber ficus can be carried out without antiseptics.
The knife and other items that were used during trimming are thoroughly washed immediately after manipulation. If this is not done, the frozen juice will be difficult to remove.
How to trim ficus
A magnificent crown from a ficus is obtained if the shoots are nipped regularly. The pinning of the growth points of the branches results in the active growth of new lateral shoots.
Preparing ficus for pruning
In order not to spoil the indoor flower as a result of pinching, the bush is inspected before manipulation. Weakened, ugly processes are chosen, they think over the form that should result from processing. Buds located below the branches will become a place of growth for future lateral branches.
Additional Information! New shoots will grow in those directions where the kidneys are directed.
With regular tweezing, the size of the leaves decreases. Leaf blades on the side branches have a smaller area than those growing on the central stem.
Pruning to rejuvenate the plant
To give new vitality, recovery, it is recommended to cut off all damaged branches. Anti-aging pruning is performed when the plant has been frostbitten or has begun to dry out due to illness.
If the ficus has lost foliage after hypothermia, and the top has begun to die, pruning can help. Indoor flower, getting rid of the diseased part, will quickly recover due to young shoots, which will go from living roots. In this way, it will be possible to rejuvenate Carican ficus (figs).
If desired, you can leave a few shoots and grow a flower in the form of a bush. Standardly, flower growers choose the strongest stem, cut the surrounding sprouts, then form a plant in the form of a small tree. The choice of form depends on personal taste.
Note! If you again want to get a lot of shoots, remove the central shoot "on the stump", after a while root sprouts will appear from the ground. Dwarf ficuses respond well to such manipulations.
Patients who dry flowers are pruned. Delete all damaged branches. Leave only 2 kidneys. Cut material is used on cuttings. Long branches are shortened so that 4 buds remain on them. Two are buried, the remaining are left above the surface of the soil. All sections are pre-treated with activated carbon.
Pruning for plant rejuvenation
Sanitary pruning
Dry, broken branches, leaves that began to turn yellow are removed throughout the year. Poorly developed, diseased shoots cannot be left, they spoil the appearance and can become a source of infection of the whole plant.
The flower is periodically inspected. On some varieties of deciduous ficus branches are exposed after September. You can detect diseased areas after they have gone into a state of rest. Each unhealthy sprout is removed immediately after it has been detected. Trimming is done regularly.
Old and diseased branches become food for fungi. Decaying gradually, such sites attract pests. Larvae are laid on them. Sick shoots growing from the soil are removed at the very root.
Crown and general formation
Beautiful appearance, fluffy crowns are formed in the process of regular painstaking work. The shape of the apical part of the flower is planned in advance. It is necessary to determine what ficus will be in height. It is important to understand right away whether it will be a standard plant or a fluffy bush. The owner of the flower himself decides how to form a ficus.
When there are too many internal shoots, the crown can be thinned out. They leave kidneys that are not directed along the trunk, but out. If the task is to form a round crown, leave an equal number of branches directed horizontally and vertically. Pruning of shoots is carried out in a circle at an equal distance from the point outlined in the center.
The formation of the crown of a plant includes:
- pruning of apical shoots;
- shortening side branches;
- the direction of the processes in a certain direction.
Bending, fixing is done using wire, ropes, pegs. Branches growing in the wrong direction are leveled, fixed with tensioning devices. It is not always necessary to cut healthy strong shoots under the root. It is better to give them the desired shape. There is no guarantee that the new branches will grow even and strong enough.
You can give the desired direction if you bend the branch away from the central trunk, it is enough to fix it at the right distance with a spacer or slingshot.
Note! In order not to injure the bark, foam rubber, fleece, fabrics are placed under the tip of the stick.
Looks beautiful crown formed in the form of a ball, cone. The apical part of the ficus can be sheared in the form of any geometric shape. From several shoots form a single intertwined trunk with a common crown. Such a tree will be a decoration of the office, home winter garden.
For the formation of the stem, all shoots are cut, except for the five apices. When the ficus has grown to the desired height, pinch the central stem, then shorten all the overgrown branches in a circle. Such manipulations are possible only with young plants.
Create fancy shapes
The standard ficus looks beautiful, many beginner growers do not know how to form its crown. Some ficuses are grown in the form of a small tree. Most of the stem trunk is freed from lateral branches. The apical part of the plant is attached to any geometric shape.
There are interesting options for the formation of an intertwined single trunk from the root shoot. As they grow, several shoots intertwine.
Additional Information! Over time, the stems grow together. To create a single trunk using any scheme of weaving braids.
To braid ficus, it is worth waiting until the shoots grow up. Young, non-stubborn sprouts give in to formation. Depending on the amount of material, weaving can be created in the form of:
- spirals;
- hedges (wattle);
- gratings;
- pigtails.
Unusual trunk shapes
An important rule of design. The more complex the shape of the trunk, the simpler, more natural the apical part should look. On a simple single stem, the crown, harmoniously looks, having the form:
- spheres;
- cone;
- hemispheres.
How to cut home ficus so that it is fluffy, the owner makes a decision after a thorough examination of the branches and the location of the buds. If the grower decided to create a single plant from several shoots, they need to be shortened at the same height. Stems with lateral branches removed are suitable for weaving. Patching of the apex activates the lateral kidneys. If the manipulation is carried out regularly, a beautiful magnificent crown is formed in the ficus.
Post Trim Activities
It is impossible to grow a beautiful indoor culture without quality care, which includes:
- regular watering with warm water;
- balanced top dressing;
- protection against viruses, bacteria and pests.
Ficus dressing
Before and after forming the flower, you need to make dressing. For quick restoration, the plant needs useful substances and careful loosening of the soil. When the plant is actively growing, choose nitrogenous fertilizers.
Important information! Pure organic matter can not be made. Compost, tincture of manure is disinfected. Homemade fertilizers often cause infection.
In order to avoid infection with pests, ficus leaves can be periodically irrigated with infusion of garlic and onions. This drug is also suitable for watering the crop. It is simultaneously used as protection and foliar application.
Transplanting indoor flowers after pruning is not recommended. Additional stress can lead immature bushes to death. During transshipment, too long, sick, rotten roots are removed.
With the right comprehensive approach to the care and protection of plants, high-quality regular pruning, a magnificent crown is formed. When there is a ficus in a house, how to form a crown is a secondary question. The unpretentious culture tolerates removal, pinching of branches well.
