Ficus - Root buds or something else?

[JTred]

As some of you may know I'm trying to work towards a banyan style root system to cover up the mild "ginseng" look it currently has. So far I have 2 nice roots that wrap around to the front from the back, but I was really hoping to get some that come directly out of the front of the largest root.

I figured since the back of the tree was producing all of the roots that it must be an issue of light, so in addition to the plastic bag I had been using for the past month, I added some tin foil and it has been on for about 2-3 weeks. I'm doing my best to keep the portion of trunk above the soil damp, which usually involves spraying it when I wake up, get back from class, get back from practice, and before I go to bed.

Now in the front, instead of the type of roots I got in the back which are hairlike, I'm getting these large splits in the bark, revealing whitish yellow flesh. I'm not sure if these are root buds or something different. I'm not sure what to do because if these aren't root buds then I'm afraid they could turn into scars if they get bigger. My initial guess is that they are, in fact root buds, but because they get more moisture than the back did (I neglected it a bit more and it went dry for longer periods of time), they don't really work hard to elongate, they just thicken to absorb more. This would lead me to simply spray the front less, but I'm afraid that if they dry out that they will die and become ugly scars. So what should I do, should I continue as usual (plastic bag, tin foil, frequent sprayings), or cut back on spraying, remove tin foil, remove bag etc.?

This attempt to work towards a banyan style has proven to be the most frustrating part of this tree thus far. I recently lost an important growth tip on a branch I'm hoping to ground layer, which will probably set me back quite a bit. In the end if all goes according to plan I think that this could remedy some of the major flaws of this tree.

[img]https://img136.imageshack.us/img136/3691/ficus12409004w.jpg[/img]

[img]https://img266.imageshack.us/img266/8264/ficus12409002.jpg[/img]