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I have had a plant which I think is a Ginseng Ficus for a couple of years and I love it. One of it's branches recently shot up taller than the others so, I trimmed it. I didn't want to throw the cutting away so I put it in water and it has rooted. Now I'm not sure what to do with it. Does anyone know what type of soil I need to put it in? Also, will it get a tuberous exposed root like the original plant has?

Just put in regular potting soil

And yes it will get in time the large roots.

JOSH1812,

Thanks for your help! It's greatly appreciated.

Lefty47

Although I've never tried placing an un-rooted cutting in soil, I've had 100% effectiveness in placing a fresh (and up to 4 day old) cutting into water and getting it to root.

I've got 4 that were cut and rooted in water that are now in their second repot with decent trunks and thick base, some RoR. My latest experiment, I've just potted three freshly rooted (sitting for about a month in a tall water bottle) cutting as a trunk fuse.

This particular species is practically a tank to kill and will probably root in toilet water if thats all you had (;

Just pay special attention to the pot-job as the roots (from a water-born rooting) are particularly fragile and will snap.

manIK,

I'm glad to read your post on rooting cuttings in water. I'm interested to try that myself. I've rooted houseplants like pothos and yucca in water all the times but never thought to do it with the ficus. I've always rooted them with rooting hormone in soil and have found the best success rate comes from doing it in spring time. This summer we had some warm spills and most of the cuttings I started in summer have failed. I found that sticking them in bonsai mix and not bagging them in the summer have helped preventing fungus attack.

Do you think I can root them in water this time of year also? I'd be interested to see your trunk fusion project =)

I've had luck with rooting in water, but not all cuttings will make it. If you plan on using soil, make sure you have some way of keeping the humidity high. The best way to do this is with a pop bottle cut in half or a large clear plastic bag. Just make sure to air it out every other day to get fresh air in and to keep fungus down.

An afterthought, I've never tried keeping the humidity high while rooting in water, but that might be helpful as well.

manIK wrote:Although I've never tried placing an un-rooted cutting in soil, I've had 100% effectiveness in placing a fresh (and up to 4 day old) cutting into water and getting it to root.

I've got 4 that were cut and rooted in water that are now in their second repot with decent trunks and thick base, some RoR. My latest experiment, I've just potted three freshly rooted (sitting for about a month in a tall water bottle) cutting as a trunk fuse.

This particular species is practically a tank to kill and will probably root in toilet water if thats all you had (;

Just pay special attention to the pot-job as the roots (from a water-born rooting) are particularly fragile and will snap.

Thanks for your response. My little cutting is doing fine so far. I used an all purpose potting soil and added a small amt of sand. I did that because I live in Florida and it's plentiful here. I'm not sure what you meant when you mentioned the trunk fuse. Did it sprout from the trunk and you cut it off and rooted it? Sorry but I'm rather new at this.

Thanks again,
Lefty47

JTred wrote:I've had luck with rooting in water, but not all cuttings will make it. If you plan on using soil, make sure you have some way of keeping the humidity high. The best way to do this is with a pop bottle cut in half or a large clear plastic bag. Just make sure to air it out every other day to get fresh air in and to keep fungus down.

An afterthought, I've never tried keeping the humidity high while rooting in water, but that might be helpful as well.

Thanks for your input!
I wasn't sure it would root. I remember my Mom used to root different cuttings in water so, I tried it and it worked with the Ginsing Ficus. Much to my surprise. I didn't even think about humidity but since you mention it, I don't think it will be an issue for me. I live in Florida and it's humid here all the time. I will watch it carefully and look out for fungus which is something I hadn't even thought of.

Thanks again,
Lefty47

Lefty47 wrote: I'm not sure what you meant when you mentioned the trunk fuse. Did it sprout from the trunk and you cut it off and rooted it? Sorry but I'm rather new at this.

Thanks again,
Lefty47

Check out this project.

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3524&highlight=ficus+fuse