Seven years ago I was gifted some seedling Sacred Bodhi trees (Ficus religiosa) from a friend. Read more about the tree here. I gave one of those seedlings to my mother-in-law for insurance. I'm glad I did because my tree died a couple of years ago when it got too dry in my greenhouse. My mother-in-law's tree goes through a series of phases: rapid growth, scale infestation, dropping all the leaves - repeat. We're not sure why the scale keeps coming back, as it seems completely free of them when it is in it's rapid growth phase. Anyway, it seems to be an established pattern now.
I recently took two cuttings of her tree when it was in a rapid growth phase and one of those cuttings has rooted. I started the cutting in pure vermiculite. After I was sure that roots were established I transferred it to potting soil. It's now producing new leaves and seems to be pretty happy. In a humid tropical climate this tree would easily be meters tall by now, but in our temperate Oklahoma climate (and my mother-in-law's plant being grown indoors) it is staying fairly small, almost a bonsai. I'm so thankful to have this little tree back in my collection and will monitor it closely.
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| Sacred Bodhi Tree sapling (Ficus religiosa) |
I recently took two cuttings of her tree when it was in a rapid growth phase and one of those cuttings has rooted. I started the cutting in pure vermiculite. After I was sure that roots were established I transferred it to potting soil. It's now producing new leaves and seems to be pretty happy. In a humid tropical climate this tree would easily be meters tall by now, but in our temperate Oklahoma climate (and my mother-in-law's plant being grown indoors) it is staying fairly small, almost a bonsai. I'm so thankful to have this little tree back in my collection and will monitor it closely.
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