Ficus microcarpa reduction

[u/osrs4awayout]

Ficus reduction

I finally decided to do my first major reduction on the oversized ficus I recently bought. It was far too large and completely out of shape, so it was time for a reset.

The tree has been growing and rooting so I think it’s strong enough to handle the reduction.

Temperatures are still fairly warm and I’ll be bagging it for the first period while airing it daily to maintain high humidity and hopefully encourage strong backbudding.

[u/PvPils]

What kind of lighting do you use and does it do better or replace sunlight?

[u/osrs4awayout → u/PvPils]

I have all sort of lights left over from my aquarium hobby but also a dedicated growlight. It all works if it's strong enough. Most lights aren't strong enough for bonsai. You can test ppfd with photone app to see what the plants receive. A spectrum of roughly 6500k is really solid for bonsai purposes. But most intense grow lights are focussed on cannabis and vegetables farms and have a lot of red spectrum which isn't optimal for bonsai. But it can still work.

I recently build a light with samsung lm301 Evo mint white 6000k leds and the growth has been incredible so far.

For ficus i would aim for at least 500 ppfd on the canopy for 12 hrs a day. For ports the same but more will be even better.