Variegated Ficus

Feb 2009

We got this beautiful variegated ficus clump some 10 years ago, and after doing so well, some years ago it had a devastating attack of scale. My heroic attempts to control the scale with alcohol, insecticidal soap, ear buds, etc. were in vain, and I just couldn't restore it to health. With a heavy heart I took the plant outdoors, and there it languished for probably two years, barely alive, but putting on a fight.

One of the cuttings: April 2019

Because I didn't want to completely lose the plant, I had made a couple of cuttings from the better branches and they have survived and are now thriving.

Original Clump: April 2019

About year and a half ago, I decided to rescue the original clump (whatever was left of it), and moved it to a shady spot, sprayed and debugged it, re-potted it and it responded very nicely. So nicely that I decided to move it indoors again. Thanks to better light. the variegation is even better now, though the tree is a slimmer and a tad sparse, having lost a number of trunks and branches. But it still looks quite nice and healthy.












Back in the summer of 2017, I started another cutting from this tree. I was a little ambitious, and tried to root not a simple cutting, but a substantial portion of a trunk, almost two feet long, with several branches. You can get away with this with a healthy ficus, but this one wasn't very healthy when I started it.

It took its sweet time and put out a couple of roots.

August 30, 2017

Oct 4, 2017

Oct 11, 2017

Oct 18, 2017

Oct 24, 2017

Dec 31st, 2017

I probably rushed potting it. But it looked okay at that time, and I had high hopes for it.

April 2019

An year and a half later, it's state is sad. Perhaps it didn't like staying outside all the time. Perhaps it didn't have a chance to develop good roots. When I made the cutting, the parent tree was not in good shape, and so the cutting probably never attained enough vigor.

I am going to make another attempt to revive this one... can't let go yet. I took a look at the roots, and they looked ok. Not a lot of them, but no rot, no tubers, etc. May be it's a combination of being outdoors and some pests. We shall see.